"Wyoming Community Blames Fracking for Water Woes"

"PAVILLION, Wyo. -- A glass of water drawn from John Fenton's underground well outside his rural log home built against a rocky ridge looks and tastes as clear and refreshing as any bottled water.

But Fenton's water contains traces of arsenic, barium, cobalt, copper and other compounds identified in water tests that cannot be seen, smelled or tasted.

'It definitely makes you think every time you turn the faucet on,' said Fenton, who farms hay on about 200 acres outside his home, located about 130 miles west of Casper.

He and other residents outside this small rural, farming community blame their water woes -- and what they perceive to be the unusual health problems in their midst -- on hydraulic fracturing, or 'fracking,' a common technique used in drilling new oil and gas wells."

Bob Moen reports for the Associated Press September 6, 2009.