This photo taken Feb. 7, 2012 shows the oil fields of the Uintah Basin, southeast of Vernal, Utah. Four in 10 new oil and gas wells near national forests and fragile watersheds or otherwise identified as higher pollution risks escape federal inspection, unchecked by an agency struggling to keep pace with America's drilling boom, according to an Associated Press review that shows wide state-by-state disparities in safety checks. Roughly half or more of wells on federal and Indian lands weren’t checked in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, despite potential harm that has led to efforts in some communities to ban new drilling. (AP Photo/The Salt Lake Tribune, Trent Nelson)
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