The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking nominees to take a close look at an EPA draft report that theorizes a link between hydraulic fracturing and groundwater pollution in a Pavillion gas field.
A federal notice this week says members of the peer review panel must have technical experience in areas including petroleum engineering, hydrology, geology and chemistry. The panelists must also not have any conflicts of interest.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a method for breaking open rock deposits inside oil and gas wells. The EPA draft report released last month theorized that industry activity including fracking might have polluted groundwater in the Pavillion area.
A 30-day peer review will follow a public comment period on the report that began Dec. 14.
