EPA Sets New Air Quality Standards in Wyoming’s Pinedale Region

By Kyle Lehman, 3-13-08

Wyoming’s natural gas-rich Pinedale region faces tightening air quality regulations, the EPA announced Wednesday. The new EPA regulations would cut the area’s allowable amount of ozone by six percent.

As Chris Merrill reports today in the Casper Star Tribune, officials with Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality say the new standard will necessitate changes in the region’s natural gas industry.

An article by Cory Hatch in Tuesday’s Jackson Hole News and Guide described the EPA’s concern for the region’s air and water quality as the primary motives for the new standard.

On Monday and Tuesday, the Wyoming DEQ issued ozone warnings for Sublette County residents warning of potential respiratory problems for children and the elderly. Hatch’s article mentions some 500 gas wells on the Pinedale anticline and noted that industry officials have proposed adding 4,399 more, a move the EPA is strongly criticizing.