For the first time, EPA links fracking to groundwater pollution

The totally objective and trustworthy EPA, that is. The Post:

Hydraulic fracturing, a controversial oil-and-gas production technique used in Colorado and across the country, has been linked for the first time to groundwater pollution in a case near Pavillion, Wyo.

The finding by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday set off calls for tighter rules on the so-called fracking process, which pumps fluid into wells under pressure to fracture rock and release oil and gas.

"This could be a game changer," said Frank Smith, an organizer with the Western Colorado Congress, an environmental group.

As he masturbated furiously into an organic Fleshlight. But read the story. Lots of disputation about what might or might not be going on in Pavillion. The evil oil company spokesman even has the nerve to point out that the origin of the various chemicals found in the local wells is still not certain. Even the EPA is cautious, noting that,

"EPA's draft findings are specific to the production conditions at Pavillion in which fracturing occurred in and below the drinking water aquifer and in close proximity to drinking water wells," Richard Mylott, an EPA spokesman, said in a statement.

This is not usual, as the story points out:

In Colorado, wells are drilled to oil-and-gas zones 6,000 to 12,000 feet deep, except for shallower coal-bed methane wells.

State rules require that surface casing extend below the aquifers, which are usually no more than 1,000 feet deep, and the casing must be surrounded by a cement jacket.

Thought that was called a "cement overcoat." Anyway, in the Wyoming case,

The Wyoming wells were drilled to a depth of about 1,200 feet, and surface casing — pipe to protect groundwater — went to about 360 feet, leaving part of the aquifer exposed, according to the EPA report.

These facts, of course, will be ignored by the envirotards. Oh well. Time to get out the whale-oil lamps.

Update: AP story in the Wapo goes into somewhat more, uh, depth, including the first use of the term (that I've seen, anyway) "fracking community."