Controversy About Fracking Pollution Continues

Chemicals linked to hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," have been found again in the groundwater of a town in Wyoming that has become a flashpoint in the debate over the drilling practice.

A U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) report found traces of methane, ethane and phenol in a monitoring well in rural Pavillion, WY, where residents say fracking has contaminated their drinking water.

Pavillion was thrust to the forefront of the fracking debate in December of 2011, when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported finding groundwater contaminants in two wells there. That report, which drew harsh criticism from the natural-gas industry, represented the first time the U.S. government had made a connection between fracking and groundwater pollution.

Alisha Johnson, a spokeswoman with the EPA, told The Hill that the USGS findings are “generally consistent” with EPA’s earlier tests.

But a natural-gas industry group questioned the assertion that the USGS study matched the EPA's earlier tests, noting USGS did not test one of the two monitoring wells because the water levels were too low. In March, the Bureau of Land Management issued a report warning that a small sample size, such as the one used by EPA, could create statistical bias in the groundwater samples.