© 2024 Wyoming Public Media
800-729-5897 | 307-766-4240
Wyoming Public Media is a service of the University of Wyoming
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Transmission & Streaming Disruptions

EPA hesitates to allow waste water disposal in Madison Aquifer

The Environmental Protection Agency is asking for more information from Encana before it okays an aquifer exemption allowing the company to pump waste water into the Madison aquifer near Casper.

Last month, The Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission voted to allow the exemption, but Monday, the EPA sent the Commission a letter saying that the conceptual model of the well appears to be too broad. The letter goes on to say that such a generalized model will not be able to accurately evaluate “the fate of the plume” and recommends that the model be modified to better reflect the local hydrologic and hydrogeologic conditions in the area.  

Encana asked for the exemption based on the conviction that that particular part of the aquifer is economically and technologically impractical to use for drinking water, but the EPA says Encana does not make a case as to why that is.

E-P-A needs to approve Encana’s plans before they can start using their injection well. For Wyoming Public Radio, I’m Irina Zhorov.

Irina Zhorov is a reporter for Wyoming Public Radio. She earned her BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MFA from the University of Wyoming. In between, she worked as a photographer and writer for Philadelphia-area and national publications. Her professional interests revolve around environmental and energy reporting and she's reported on mining issues from Wyoming, Mexico, and Bolivia. She's been supported by the Dick and Lynn Cheney Grant for International Study, the Eleanor K. Kambouris Grant, and the Social Justice Research Center Research Grant for her work on Bolivian mining and Uzbek alpinism. Her work has appeared on Voice of America, National Native News, and in Indian Country Today, among other publications.
Related Content