Producing oil and gas requires pumping massive amounts of water into a formation to “push” the hydrocarbons out. This amount of water can draw down surrounding residential wells, cutting water pressure for existing use such as watering cattle or irrigating fields. The produced water that comes up with the valuable oil and gas is often laced with chemicals, several times saltier than the ocean, and radioactive.
Below are stories about people living with impacts on their water from oil and gas development.
Protecting the Next Generations Right to Ranch - Rancher Terry Punt sat at the kitchen table talking about the ranch his wife’s family has been operating for the past 140 years. He talked… Continue reading → Protecting the Next Generations Right to Ranch
More than a Decade later, Pavillion Residents Continue to Face Complications due to Contaminated Water - Jeff and Rhonda Locker look out across a cut alfalfa field. Newly cut rows of alfalfa stretch into the distance. Clean mountain air blows down… 
Working to Prove Accountability: A Hydrogeologist’s Perspective on the Pavillion Water Crisis - Mike Wireman, a hydrogeologist, has spent the last five years trying to understand what is causing the Pavillion water crisis in relation to oil and gas development. 
Abundant clean water: the west’s most valuable resource - Keeping the water flowing, a rancher’s fight to limit oil and gas development As hydraulic fracturing threatens aquifers, it puts ranching and other industries at… Continue reading → Abundant clean water: the west’s most valuable resource
Pavillion Community Still Waiting on a Solution for Clean Drinking Water - Residents impacted by leaking wells look to Encana and the state of Wyoming for a solution. Evelyn stood on her deck overlooking a patchwork of… Continue reading → Pavillion Community Still Waiting on a Solution for Clean Drinking Water
Bonding Crisis Looms in Colorado as Gas Prices Tip Into the Red - Residents of Battlement Mesa and Rifle, Colorado, are on the verge of seeing gas companies abandoning their wells and leaving taxpayers to clean up the… Continue reading → Bonding Crisis Looms in Colorado as Gas Prices Tip Into the Red
Lax Permitting, Poor Construction Lead to Groundwater Contamination - Thirty years after faulty gas wells and unlined holding ponds began contaminating groundwater, residents of Pavillion, Wyoming, still can’t drink the water. Sue Spencer, a… Continue reading → Lax Permitting, Poor Construction Lead to Groundwater Contamination
When it’s in Your Backyard - Ben: I’m Ben Tipton Sharyn: I’m Sharon Tipton. We live in Battlement Mesa, Colorado. Ben: We’ve been here in Battlement Mesa for three years.… 
Standing Rock and Environmental Racism - Angie: “My name is Angie McGinnis I’m an organic vegetable farmer. My farm is located in Mandan North Dakota and I’m originally from Bismarck… 
A Cycle of Spills and Lies From the Oil and Gas Industry - “My name is Bob Arrington and I live here in Battlement Mesa. A lot of my experience comes with the fact that I’ve seen many… Continue reading → A Cycle of Spills and Lies From the Oil and Gas Industry