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If you look at a topo map of the area, Pavillion, Wyo. is up on a hill. The water table is what is often referred to as a perched water table. What goes in from the surface gets pumped out with the groundwater. Vehicles leaking oil? That paint dumped in the back yard? As long as the town has been there, pollution has been accumulating in the groundwater. It isn't a flowing aquifer, more like a holding pond.

An acquaintance who lived there said the water has always been bad.

What little near-surface contamination that does get into groundwater from hydraulic fracturing gets there because it was spilled on the surface, not from the frac, which occurs thousands of feet down. The hole between the surface and the producing formation is cased (lined with steel pipe which is cemented in place). A casing bond log is run to check the quality of that cement, as well as a a pressure test to ensure there are no leaks, because leaks could result in loss of oil or gas, which is counter to the objective of producing oil and gas--if you lose some, you are losing money.

Regardless of motivation, oil companies don't want to have environmental disasters, either, and fracturing the wrong layers of rock would only ensure the oil had some place to go besides out of the well. Frankly, that's no way to make money, and could ruin a good well.

Keep in mind, too, most of the folks supervising the frac and other production activities likely live in the area. They don't want to compromise the health of the community they live in, nor that of their families, either.

I have been in the industry for over 30 years, and if I had at any point thought things were not being done correctly, I'd be the first to blow the whistle. After all, I live where I work, too.