...conclusion

While he suffered, EPA took its biggest step on the fracturing issue in more than six years.

In March 2010, EPA administrator Lisa Jackson announced that the EPA would undertake a major national study of risks to water supplies from hydraulic fracturing far bigger than the Pavillion study. This time, scientists would broaden their definition of fracturing beyond the energy industry’s version, and examine every aspect of the process, from the transportation and disposal of the chemicals to the water supplies needed to make the process happen.

In New York, Gov. Paterson issued an executive order banning one type of hydraulic fracturing until July 1, 2011, by which time he hoped environmental officials would have thoroughly examined its safety. And in several states, including Wyoming, laws were passed to require drilling companies to disclose the chemicals they pump into the ground. A group of Democratic members of Congress ratcheted up the debate by revealing that fracking companies had continued to inject tens of millions of gallons of diesel fuel and diesel mixtures into the ground as part of the fracturing process long after they promised not to in 2005.

In Pavillion, the EPA’s research continued.

A few months after the agency announced its national study, Chavez, Oberley and the others returned to announce the results of a second round of water testing. Residents, including Louis Meeks, were told not to drink their water under any circumstances and to open windows for ventilation when they showered or washed clothes to avoid building up enough methane to cause an explosion. The agency found the worst contamination in test wells it drilled near the abandoned pits, raising fresh questions about whether the pits might be the source of the groundwater contamination in Pavillion, or whether, as Meeks remained convinced, the damage might also be coming from the gas wells.

The tension in Washington, however, has sharpened. Last fall the EPA received an enraged call from a staff member to James Inhofe, the conservative senator from Oklahoma known as a staunch defender of and leading campaign finance recipient from the oil and gas industry. Inhofe then sent a letter to EPA administrator Lisa Jackson questioning the EPA’s motives in Pavillion and characterizing its Region 8 staff as insubordinate and uninformed.

Whatever the EPA does, its environmental research is guaranteed to go slower than the pace of drilling development. In 2010, another 14,324 new gas wells were drilled in the United States, including in Wyoming. “If things don’t change now it’s going to be just a big polluted dump,” said Meeks Jr.

Meanwhile Meeks is still living on his ranch, still tracking the latest national developments in the hopes of finding more clues to the mystery of what happened to his water. The state is considering proposals to pipe municipal water through a public system out to his neighborhood. Until then, he and Donna, who is back home again, and at least 20 other Pavillion families are drinking bottled water paid for by EnCana through an intermediary. His granddaughter eats on paper plates, and Meeks won’t let her wash her hands before dinner. There is still no clean water to bathe in, or to water the vegetables or to feed the animals. In November, he had a heart attack. His doctors tell him it was probably caused by stress.

“I think a lot of people look at me and think what did I end up with after five years,” Meeks says. “I’m stupid for going up against a billion-dollar company.”

“There is no end in sight,” he adds. “But at least they are listening now.”

ProPublica’s Nicholas Kusnetz contributed to this story.

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