Energy Environmental Blog

Lesson: The Science Matters

Written by Greg Russell | Mar 23, 2011 10:36:26 AM

That's the message from the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) to U.S. EPA, according to this article in the WSJ.  After exonerating Range Resources from claims that its operations had contaminated nearby drinking water wells, one RRC Commissioner observed:  "'This is an example of overreaching at its worst,' said Michael Williams, one of three elected commissioners who oversee oil and gas drilling. The EPA 'has a built-in bias against the fossil fuel energy industry.'" (Emphasis is ours.)

We first mentioned the issue here - U.S. EPA had issued an imminent and substantial endangerment order against Range, claiming that its operations had resulted in natural gas migration into nearby domestic water wells.  Range, already investigating the issue with RRC involvement, contested that finding and demanded proof.  The WSJ article addresses the RRC finding - after a hearing on the matter - that Range's operations were not at fault, and that the gas is likely the result of other methane naturally migrating from a shallower formation - something that has frequently been observed in the area.  U.S. EPA never seriously looked into that possibility.

You can find copies of the order and background materials here.  You can find copies of related deposition transcripts and emails from/between U.S. EPA personnel and environmental consultants/activists here.

Naturally, the WSJ is reporting that U.S. EPA intends to continue to move forward against Range.

[Update:  For a related article in the Houston Chronicle, see here.  "Investigators included geochemical 'fingerprints' of the gas in the water wells, which they said show it didn't come from the Barnett shale formation, where Fort Worth-based Range was drilling, but rather the shallower Strawn gas field, which begins 200 to 400 feet below the surface."]