The Casper Star-Tribune reports that “Wyoming’s oil belt also has the state’s lowest air quality standards, prompting calls in recent years from environmentalists and landowners to clamp down on pollution as drilling accelerated.”  

“State regulators are now seeking to do just that. A proposal from the Department of Environmental Quality calls for establishing more stringent pollution limits on oil wells in eastern Wyoming.”  

“‘We’re seeing more of a concentrated type of development that is occurring in different parts of the state,’ said Cole Anderson, interim director of DEQ’s Air Quality Division.”  

“Wyoming has previously taken a regional approach to air quality regulation. Gasfields in the western part of the state are subject to stringent pollution requirements while standards for the oil patch in its eastern half are more lax.”  

“However, Wyoming’s oilmen are wary of any plan that would add to the cost of doing business, especially at a time when crude prices are in the dumps and drilling has slowed to a near standstill.”