At a meeting with Pavillion residents this morning, Governor Mead said he wants to continue providing people with safe water.
Pavillion is at the center of an EPA investigation about whether hydraulic fracturing has contaminated the town’s drinking water supply. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease recommended that residents refrain from drinking the water AND shower with their windows open, and as a result, area oil and gas producer EnCana, and the state of Wyoming, are now paying to have bottled water delivered to residents.
Mead says he’s hopeful that residents of Pavillion and the Wind River Tribes can come to a solution for safe drinking water.
“I’m going to keep driving this because there’s a lot of debate out there, a lot of discussion about the EPA and fracking and all that,” says Mead. “But that’s going to take years, I think, to sort out and my message is ‘hey, let’s see if we can just tackle the water problem, let’s get started today and see if we can make some progress’.”
The Wyoming Water Development Commission is looking at additional funding options that would reduce the cost of delivery to the area. Mead’s office says that when that information has been gathered, they will hold more public meetings in Pavillion.