By Peter O'Dowd

Laramie, Wyo. – Nine industrial wells in the Pinedale area showed such potentially dangerous levels of gas contamination that workers were unable to carry out tests on the water.

That's according to members of a water quality task group that met this week. Member Leslie Schwabacher says the gas industry and the Bureau of Land Management are trying to find a way to safely test these wells for toxic hydrocarbons.

By AP

Washington, DC – A Senate committee has approved legislation that would allow states to collect abandoned mine land money with no strings attached.

The legislation, passed Thursday, would require the federal government to pay the dollars directly instead of through grants
that the states must apply for.

The money comes from the abandoned mine lands program, which uses taxes on coal production to clean up abandoned mine sites and related pollution.

By AP

Washington, DC – Legislation to compensate livestock owners
whose animals are killed by wolves is one step closer to passage.

A Senate committee on Thursday approved a bill sponsored by Democratic Sen. Jon Tester of Montana and Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming to approve federal matching money for state trust funds that pay ranchers for those losses.

The Bush administration has objected to the bill, saying the payments should be a state responsibility.

By AP

Gillette, WY – The National Science Foundation has awarded a three-year, 850,000 dollar grant to community colleges in Gillette and Sheridan.

The money will go to providing education for advanced technicians in the energy sector.

Another focus of the grant is to look to the future of the state's energy workers. As part of the grant, a pilot summer camp project will be created for fifth- through ninth-graders to introduce them to the energy industry through education and hands-on activities.

By Addie Goss

Laramie, WY – The Wyoming Department of Education has announced an error in the state's Proficiency Assessment for Writing Students.

Writing responses for 37 students were scored incorrectly. The problem has been traced to a single scorer at Pearson, the company that scores PAWS assessments.

Pearson has rescored the assessments for all 37 students. The revised scores may change Adequate Yearly Progress determinations for eight school districts.

Pinedale, Wy – The Upper Green River Valley Coalition says some companies in the oil and gas industry are doing a better job than government agencies tackling water contamination in the Pinedale Anticline. Linda Baker says Shell has been proactive trying to resolve the presence of toxic hydrocarbons in local water supplies.
"They are trying to make improvements on their techniques for drilling water wells, they are doing soil testing, they are trying to take into consideration all of the ways contamination might be occurring and I see this as a proactive step."

Laramie, Wy – A top official at the University of Wyoming has refused to fill out a survey issued by the most popular college ranking publication in the country. Myron Allen says the ranking system is flawed.
The latest edition of the U-S News and World Report came out last week. It places Wyoming in the third tier among schools ranked 134th to 188th. Allen says the system is unfair it places too much emphasis on selectivity, student retention and a survey filled out by presidents and provosts at other universities.

Laramie, Wy – University of Wyoming President Tom Buchanan says it is time to beef up the school's graduate programs. As he looks to the future, Buchanan says graduate programs are every bit as important as undergraduate programs. Several years ago, U-W cut back on graduate programs to focus on improving undergraduate education. But Buchanan says that mission was accomplished, so it's time to focus on making graduate education better. This includes attracting more and stronger students.

Wind River, Wy – Utility provider SourceGas is looking at
installing pipelines that would deliver natural gas to homes on the
Wind River Indian Reservation.
Many homes on the reservation rely on tanks filled with the more
costly propane for heating and other uses.
Switching reservation homes from propane to natural gas could
save up to a total of $500,000 in one year.
SourceGas is still working to determine how much it will cost to
install the pipeline infrastructure.

Laramie, Wy – The University of Wyoming has received another donation to strengthen oil and natural gas research. Anadarko is giving U-W one point five million dollars to establish an endowment to allow U-W students and faculty to work with company employees.
The state will match the donation, increasing the endowment to three million dollars.