"The Interior Department has thousands of mismanaged injection wells on federal lands, threatening the nation's underground supply of drinking water, according to a newly released inspector general report.

Interior's bureaus also have inconsistent guidelines on how to comply with U.S. EPA's underground injection rules and have not effectively tracked or managed their wells, the IG report found.

"With hundreds of thousands of acres under the management of the department's bureaus, the possible impact of non-compliance with EPA's safe drinking water regulations is significant," the report said."

Phil Taylor reports for Greenwire April 3, 2014. [2]