Wyoming’s Oil and Gas Supervisor Tom Doll resigned his position last week following a comment he made about possible groundwater contamination in Pavillion, Wyo., amid controversy about whether hydraulic fracturing played a role.
“I really believe greed is driving a lot of this,” Doll said of the Pavillion controversy while he was in Canada at an energy conference.
“I think they’re just looking to be compensated,” he said of some Pavillion residents.
Gov. Matt Mead’s office issued a statement saying Doll’s comments did not reflect Mead’s opinion.
“The comments made by Mr. Doll are contrary to the governor’s expectation,” the statement said, adding that Mead has directed state agencies to ensure an open and transparent process to address the concerns of Pavillion residents.
Appointed as oil and gas supervisor in 2009, Doll directed the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
During March 2009-April 2010, the US Environmental Protection Agency collected samples from water wells near Pavillion gas field, which has 169 vertical production wells.
In a draft report, EPA said fracing possibly contributed to water well contamination.
Encana Oil & Gas (USA) questions the source of some chemicals found in the EPA water well samples (OGJ Online, Jan. 2, 2012).
