CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - Wyoming regulators approved an energy company’s request to inject millions of gallons of oil and gas wastewater into a freshwater aquifer as part of its drilling process.
The Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission approved an aquifer exemption application by Aethon Energy Management LLC Tuesday, The Casper Star-Tribune reported.
Aethon submitted the application to the commission in August to lift existing water protections and allow the company to inject the wastewater underground into the Madison and Amsden formations.
Aethon hopes to drill more than 4,000 wells at the Moneta Divide field, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) east of Riverton.
The company needs a place to expend millions of gallons of dirty water rising to the surface during drilling each day. The water is typically brackish and loaded with salts, minerals, metals and other chemicals.
Companies applying for the state exemption from existing safe water regulations must meet several requirements, including demonstrating the aquifer water “cannot now and will not in the future serve as a source of drinking water” because of its depth or location.
The state commission will issue its recommendation to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which has final approval authority.
Public comments during the video hearing Tuesday included concerns that disposing water underground in a freshwater aquifer would compromise a viable future water source.
Commissioners previously rejected the company’s exemption request in 2016, partly over similar concerns that injecting water into a well at the site would pollute a potential freshwater resource.
Aethon argued the Madison formation is so deep that accessing the water and developing it for drinking is neither economic nor practical for even the closest towns, while sufficient access to shallower water is already available.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.