Wyoming: Leave groundwater regs to state

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal signed a resolution asking the US Congress to not pass legislation that would diminish the state’s authority to regulate oil and gas well completion or diminish the state’s authority to protect its groundwater supplies.

The resolution stemmed from concerns about hydraulic fracturing. Wyoming lawmakers say they have extensive oil and gas production regulations in place, and that state regulators have the expertise to enforce these regulations.

State Sen. Bill Vasey, a Democrat, was a cosponsor of the resolution, which was sponsored by a bipartisan mix of both House and Senate members in the Wyoming legislature.

“Washington regulators should not be imposing new administrative costs and mandates that would not add to environmental protection,” Vasey said.

The US Environmental Protection Agency and the Groundwater Protection Council found no documented cases of groundwater contamination associated with hydraulic fracturing. Nearly 1 million oil and gas wells have been completed using this technology.

Vasey questions the motives of “East Coast environmental groups that are trying to shut down oil and gas development in Wyoming and elsewhere in the West. They think that they can do it by getting Congress to override state authority—and that is just plain wrong. It’s wrong on the science and wrong on the established safety record.”