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Contaminated wells concern Pavillion-area residents
Casper Star-Tribune
July 31 2008
By CHRIS MERRILL - Star-Tribune environment reporter
http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2008/07/21/news/wyoming
LANDER -- It's distressing
when you don't know if the water you draw from your own well is even safe to
drink anymore, a Pavillion-area resident said Friday.
And it's equally worrisome when you suspect the air you're breathing on your
family farm might be making you sick.
Dozens of inhabitants in and around Pavillion are concerned that oil and gas
development on their farms and ranches could be poisoning the air and
contaminating their drinking water, and they're trying to find out, for
certain, if their collective health is being imperiled by industrial
contamination.
Nearly 100 residents, including Pavillion Mayor Gary Hamlin -- with the
support of the Fremont County Public Health Department -- are calling on
state and federal officials to complete what's called a Health Impact
Assessment of ongoing oil and gas activities. The assessment is a type of
study created by the World Health Organization, which includes a thorough
investigation of the impacts that projects and other human activities might
on human health.
"My mother-in-law and my wife both have
experienced strange things," said John Fenton, a farmer who lives and works
about five miles east of Pavillion. "My mother-in-law has completely lost
her sense of taste and smell, and my wife has lost her sense of taste
off-and-on."
Fenton's neighbors have also experienced "strange" and "random" symptoms
that they can't pin down, he said, some of them very serious.
Deb Thomas, an organizer for the Pavillion Area Concerned Citizens, said
several water wells in the vicinity of the Pavillion and Muddy Ridge oil and
gas fields have become contaminated in recent years, and Pavillion-area
residents are simply looking for answers to some basic questions regarding
the potential impacts that past and present mineral extraction might be
having on them.
"At this point about eight water wells are unfit for human or animal
consumption, and can't be used," Thomas said. "Two on Louis Meeks' place,
two on the Walker place, two on the old Garner place, the Foxworthy's well
just came back as unfit for human and livestock consumption, and several
other people are worried about their wells, also. Whatever it is that is
contaminating the wells, we need to know. Regardless of whether it's the
development or not, we need to know what is going on out there."
In a phone message left with the Star-Tribune, Meeks said he has been
bed-ridden with illness in recent days.
Mayor Hamlin, in a prepared statement, said area residents have, indeed,
reported health impacts they believe to be related to nearby oil and gas
development.
In a letter sent Tuesday to federal, state and industry officials, Hamlin
and local health professionals expressed concern that ongoing oil and gas
development plans for the region do not adequately address the issue of
human health.
"What makes concern even greater are the known impacts to groundwater and
private drinking water wells in the Pavillion-Muddy Ridge gas field area,
where approximately 400 people live," the signatories wrote.
'Bad quality water'
Doug Hock, spokesman for EnCana Oil and Gas Inc., which is the primary
producer of oil and gas in the area, said his company appreciates that
people around Pavillion are concerned, but any action EnCana takes has to be
based on science rather than emotion.
"We understand their concerns and we've worked with independent laboratories
to analyze this in conjunction with government agencies," Hock said. "At
this point the independent scientifically collected data shows no
hydrocarbon contamination."
Mark Thiesse, district supervisor for the Wyoming Department of
Environmental Quality's water quality division, confirmed that at least two
private water wells that Thomas mentioned are contaminated, and he's been
informed of a few other wells that are possibly contaminated.
But, he said, the DEQ has yet to establish a connection between oil and gas
development and the polluted wells.
So far the DEQ has focused its attentions on one well in particular, which
is producing bad-smelling water with an oily sheen.
At first, Thiesse said, he was certain the well would be a "slam dunk" for
finding some kind of hydrocarbon pollution, because it looked the part and
smelled like gear oil.
It appears, however, that a type of iron bacteria might be causing both the
smell and the appearance.
His agency has ordered several chemical analyses on different samples from
the same well and, surprisingly, the only consistent finding so far has been
elevated levels of this bacteria, he said.
One sample showed trace amounts of glycol, he said, but no previous or
subsequent sample has, and glycol is a common laboratory-introduced
contaminant.
Other samples have been either poorly handled, or the collection method or
mode of analysis has been sub-par, which has delayed the process, Thiesse
said.
"The bottom line is that after all this testing, there are no confirmed
detections of any sort of chemical compound that would definitely come from
oil and gas drilling," Thiesse said. "Everybody's in agreement that the well
is messed up. It's bad quality water. The problem is determining if the
bacteria is a natural thing, or if it came from [the land owner], or from
oil and gas drilling. One of our working hypotheses is that the oil and gas
activity has introduced something into the sub surface that has increased
the bacteria in this well."
The DEQ has asked EnCana to collect yet another sample of the water, which
Thiesse hopes will finally offer a definitive answer.
After that, the DEQ will turn its attentions to another area resident's well
that produces water that turns black after being drawn, and leaves black,
orange and rust-colored residue on the water filter.
"I'm suspecting it's the oil and gas activities, but I don't know that yet
for sure," Thiesse said.
Hock said EnCana will continue to work with the state agencies and continue
to look to the DEQ for guidance.
"Anything we do needs to be based on scientific fact," Hock said. "If there
are problems found, we will certainly address those. We don't believe that
will occur, and it hasn't to this point, but if that were to occur it's our
responsibility to clean it up."
'Sage chickens' treated better?
Fenton, who is also the chairman of the Pavillion Area Concern Citizens,
said his family has 24 wells on its land, most of which have been drilled
within the last 10 years.
"Our water well seems to be okay, but our greatest concern is the air
emissions," Fenton said. "They don't do any of what I'd guess you'd call
'green completions.' All of the emissions are vented straight into the
atmosphere."
When he's out farming, he said, he always seems to be down wind from at
least one of the wells, and they stink. Sometimes in the house his family
will have to close all the doors and windows because the home becomes
engulfed in a foul emissions cloud, Fenton said.
And because many of the industrial fluids EnCana uses in its drilling and
extraction activities are proprietary trade secrets, he and his neighbors
have no idea what they're being exposed to, Fenton said.
"They're not making sure they're polluting the least that they can," he
said. "I almost feel like if we were a bunch of sage chickens out here,
they'd be treating us better."
Fenton said although a Health Impact Assessment is not required in the
United States, companies in other countries often perform them before
development occurs because the studies are required either by law or by
financial backers.
"It seems only reasonable that [Health Impact Assessments] should be part of
the planning and approval process in our own country and especially on our
own property," Fenton said.
Most of the land where the oil and gas development is taking place around
Pavillion is privately owned agricultural and ranching land. The rights to
the oil and gas underneath the surface, however, are owned, for the most
part, by other interests, such as area tribes. Today, most of the mineral
rights in the Pavillion and Muddy Ridge gas fields have been sold or leased
to EnCana.
NEWS TRACKER
Last we knew:
A group called the Pavillion Area Concerned Citizens formed late last year
because of concerns about the impacts of area oil and gas development on
water and air quality.
The latest:
The group is requesting that federal and state agencies take an in-depth
look at how oil and gas development in the region is affecting human health.
What's next:
The organization is waiting for responses from the state, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, and the Wyoming Department of Environmental
Quality.
This is a post from one of
Pavilion's affected residents. It was originally written as a letter to the
editor in the Casper Star Tribute (see article above), but it was also sent
to the Grand Junction Sentinel (below) as a blog post. It is reprinted here
with permission from Mr. Meeks.
Grand Junction Sentinel
http://community.gjsentinel.com/2008/07/28/story-favors-industry/
RanchersWife2
Posted
July 29th, 2008 at 9:36 am Login to Send PM Report
this comment
While this letter to the editor
comes from Wyoming, I thought I would post it here. This stuff happens in
Colorado. It happens in Garfield County, Mesa County, and every other
country that drilling occurs. This is the kind of stuff that Ritter wants to
stop, and reforming the COGCC and rewriting some of the rules is a good
starting point.
It’s also another great example of Encana acting as a good neighbor..yea
right!
Editor:
This letter is in response to the
July 21 Casper Star-Tribune article, “Contaminated wells concern residents,”
by Chris Merrill.
My wife and I own two water wells
that we believe have been contaminated by EnCana gas development in the
Pavillion/Muddy Ridge gas field.
A gas well is drilled less than 500
feet above our water well, and after living on our place for more than 30
years with good water, we now have no water. We’re stupefied as to why Mark
Thiesse, of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, would suggest
we’ve polluted our own water well.
Hauling water to drink and cook with
is not fun; having huge tanks of water for our household use is not easy;
wondering how contaminated water is affecting our health is not something we
enjoy, and fighting the powerful oil and gas industry is not something we
planned on doing with our lives.
Mr. Thiesse didn’t tell the whole
story in the July 21 article. Just west of us, EnCana owns a water well that
shows the same contamination as ours. In 2005 after our well was
contaminated, we decided to drill a new well.
Migrating gas blew out the water
well we tried to drill, and a gas well 1,000 feet away from our water well
tripled in production when our water well was plugged.
EnCana hasn’t put surface casing
deep enough to protect drinking water aquifers in the Pavillion/Muddy Ridge
field, putting the whole area’s water at risk. They are loosing circulation
while drilling gas wells and putting chemicals in the drilling fluids before
they get the surface casing in.
Rather than suggesting private
citizens are contaminating their own water wells, the DEQ should explain why
they’re letting the oil and gas companies run our state.
What is the future for our children,
grandchildren and our beautiful state? We are losing our health, water, air,
soil, hunting, fishing and way of life while industry takes their wealth and
leaves us high and dry. All of this is happening with the blessings of our
state government.
LOUIS A. MEEKS, Pavillion |
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