KOTA Territory NewsFracking: Oil company says not to blame for tainted Wyo. water

Fracking: Oil company says not to blame for tainted Wyo. water

A lot of natural gas and oil reserves are somewhat inaccessible, hidden beneath layers of rock.

That's when energy companies turn to hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking."

It's a process of pumping water and other chemicals into that rock to break it apart and allow fossil fuels to flow through.

But some people, including Wyoming rancher L.J. Turner, worry this drilling technique isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Turner started noticing problems with his tap water at his ranch in Wright, Wyo., a few months ago.

He thought it had something to do with a recently-fracked oil well not far from his house.

"We're seeing some definite changes in the quality of the water," said Turner.

Changes that make his tap water smell like rotten eggs.

"It's about like getting fumigated whenever you take a hot shower because you get so much sulfur smell," he said.

Three generations of Turners have been on the same land for almost a century. But recently, an oil company started fracking a well not far from his house.

"We didn't have the problem until they started," he said.

So the well's owner, Yates Petroleum, did some tests.

"Facts are what solve problems," said Tim Barber, an environmental supervisor for Yates.

And in this case, Barber said the facts point to issues with the water well, not the company's oil well.

"There's a pretty substantial amount of iron-related bacteria in the well," he said, "and there's also some sulfur-related bacteria in the well," problems often found in water wells.

But that doesn't stop some from worrying.

The Environmental Protection Agency blames water pollution in western Wyoming on gas well fracking.

And on the East Coast, concerns about earthquakes are giving people pause.

"Very, very seldom do they really cause those sorts of problems," countered Bill Roggenthen, a scientist at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.

He said the energy industry is getting more responsible about fracking.

"It's not necessarily a new technique," Roggenthen said, "but it's one that's been perfected over the last 10 to 15 years."

That doesn't mean there aren't still potential problems.

"Many of the problems that I guess I have seen," he went on, "have actually been more of leakage around casing," a problem Yates denies.

And though the tests back them up, Turner still doesn't support fracking.

"If I was an oil company and trying to improve my bottom line," he'd definitely be in favor of it, he said. "If I was a rancher trying to preserve the water, definitely not."

We spoke with Turner again after he got the water test results, and he stressed that he was happy about how Yates handled his concerns.

He called it "the best company" he's worked with.