The EPA has issued its draft plan to study the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water in the U.S. Two state regulatory authorities have absolved frac’ed wells from responsibility for contaminating drinking water in Colorado and Texas. Maryland’s top einvornmental regulator urged lawmakers to impose a two-year moratorium on…
Here is the closing statement of Range Resources filed with the Texas Railroad Commission after its hearing on complaints that Range’s Barnett Shale wells in Parker County have contaminated groundwater. It provides a good summary of the events to date and the evidence produced at the hearing. Range Production Company…
Josh Fox’s movie Gasland has been nominated for an academy award for best documentary. Gasland, widely criticized by the oil and gas industry, alleges that hydraulic fracturing is the cause of contamination of underground water resources across the country. (See my previous post about controversy surrounding the movie here.) The nomination,…
Last week, a hearing was held before examiners at the Texas Railroad Commission to determine the source of water well contamination in Parker County. The Environmental Protection Agency had previously entered an emergency order finding that Range Resources was responsible for charging rural water wells with natural gas in Parker County,…
Dallas attorney Windle Turley has filed three lawsuits in federal court in Dallas on behalf of landowners alleging contamination of their groundwater by Barnett Shale Wells: one on behalf of Jim and Linda Scoma of Johnson County, against Chesapeake, filed last June; one on behalf of Doug and Diana Harris, against Devon…
Range Resources has written to Al Armendariz in EPA’s Dallas office again asserting that it is not responsible for the groundwater contamination in Parker County. Range’s letter can be viewed here: 12-27 Armendariz letter.pdf For my previous posts on this controversy, go here and here. Range met with EPA staff on…
EPA’s order against Range Resources for allegedly charging groundwater with gas from its Barnett Shale wells has caused quite a stir. The Texas Railroad Commission has issued two news releases, one on December 7 and one on December 8. Commission Chairman Victor Carrillo said that he has told EPA Regions…
Recent news items of interest: Southwest Energy and Environmental Defense Fund Developing Best Practices for Hydraulic Fracturing. Scott Anderson, senior policy advisor for the Environmental Defense Fund, and Mark Boling, Executive Vice President of Southwestern Energy, have begun talks to bring together representatives of energy and environmental groups to…
James Fallows is a national correspondent for Atlantic Monthly. ( jamesfallows.theatlantic.com ) In the last few years he has lived in and written about China. He has written the cover article for Atlantic’s December issue, “Dirty Coal, Clean Future.” I am a big fan of James Fallows; he writes clearly about big-picture issues,…
The Dallas Office of the Environmental Protection Agency issued the following press release today: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ordered a natural gas company in Forth Worth Texas to take immediate action to protect homeowners living near one of their drilling operations who have complained about flammable and…