Oil and gas companies are required to submit a groundwater baseline sampling and monitoring plan with an Application for Permit to Drill (“APD”). Wyoming law requires companies to do three rounds of water tests for water wells or other water sources within one-half mile of a proposed oil and gas well – but only from water sources identified in the company’s sampling plan.

You should request a copy of the water testing plan from the WOGCC or the oil and gas company. If your well is not included, you should ask the company to include it in their sampling plan. Even if your well is included in the sampling plan, you should consider getting your well independently tested to establish your water quality prior to development. This will be important to protect your rights if your water becomes contaminated during or after drilling.

Find a nearby lab here.

According to the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (WOGCC) rules, an oil and gas well, as measured from the center of the wellhead or the corner of any production facilities, should not be located closer than five hundred feet (500’) to the closest corner or wall of an existing home, business, or school. This is called a “setback distance.” However, a homeowner can request a greater setback to be approved by the WOGCC Supervisor.

If you know a company has applied for an Application for Permit to Drill (“APD”) in your area, get a copy of that permit from the WOGCC or the company and evaluate the need for a greater setback. Our staff can help you with this evaluation. There will be a short timeline for making a request for a greater setback so it is important to act quickly if you know an APD is pending in your neighborhood.

Alternatively, the setback distance and other measures in the setback rule will not be required if the owner of the home or business waives this requirement, in writing. A waiver can be included in any document requiring a signature by an oil and gas company. 

Do not sign any documents you have not carefully read and fully understand. You may inadvertently give up your rights to protect your health and safety

If a proposed well or production facility is located within 1,000 feet of an existing home, the oil and gas company must notify the owner of the home of the following:

• Name and contact information of the owner and operator of the well.
• Its plan to drill a new well(s) and the estimated construction, drilling, and completion timeline.
• The specific location of the well(s) within the county
• The name and details of constructing and operating the new well(s).
• A mitigation plan which is a description of specific measures the oil and gas company plans to undertake to minimize possible impacts to the owner of the home near the wellsite. You should review the mitigation plan and request, in writing, any additional measures you feel should be included to prevent noise, light, dust, and other impacts, including risk of blowouts and other industrial accidents. 

This notification must happen no less than 30 days and no more than 180 days before construction of a drilling pad or site for production facilities.

The oil and gas industry is required to hold meetings to discuss what development is planned near your home and what mitigation measures you can ask for.

• Once wells are approved, the oil and gas company, with the WOGCC Supervisor, must schedule community meetings to inform homeowners of development plans within 1,000 feet of homes. The oil and gas company must also notify the appropriate county commission, through the county clerk’s office, of any meeting scheduled. You should plan to attend all of these meetings. You should also communicate with your local government about impacts in your area.
• The oil and gas operator must report to the WOGCC supervisor the actions taken to communicate with the homeowners 15 days before the well construction, and any comments received from the homeowners regarding best management practices and measures to minimize impacts of drilling. The supervisor may waive this requirement for a company if the owner(s) of all homes within the 1000 foot area waive this requirement, in writing, on a form approved by the Commission.