Wyoming, tribes suffering ozone exposure, fracking pollution

Air pollution levels in Sublette County, Wyoming are breaking new records and causing illnesses never before seen in a state previously known for pristine air quality:

Ozone levels exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency limit on 13 days in February and March. Preliminary data show ozone levels topped the worst readings in many large U.S. cities all last year. The Upper Green River Basin is one of the nation's top gas-producing areas. Gas producers say they've taken steps to reduce the air pollution that causes wintertime ozone under conditions that include bright sunshine and snow on the ground.

From American Public Media's Marketplace:

A study out this week says the carbon footprint of clean-burning natural gas is bigger than coal's because extracting gas releases methane.

NPR reports:

A study released this week by professors at Cornell University found that significant amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas, may be escaping into the atmosphere as a result of shale gas extraction. The natural gas industry calls the study flawed — and says the timing is intended to influence the debate in Albany over how and when new gas drilling in New York State can begin.

From Indian Country Today:

Fracking fluids have been found in wells and groundwater elsewhere in the U.S., as in the 2010 case on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming, when the Environmental Protection Agency investigated after detecting benzene, metals, naphthalene, methane and other contaminants.