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 frac’ing, as Maryland’s legislature considers additional laws to regulate the practice. Meanwhile, the boom in shale gas drilling continues.
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 Closing Statement.pdf
Here is a link to a summary of the Range dispute prepared by Gene Powell, Editor of the Powell Barnett Shale Newsletter.
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, and the Fox’s movie about the alleged dangers of frac’ing, have made him into a celebrity.
In response to the Oscar nomination, Energy in Depth, a website sponsored by oil and gas associations including the Independent Petroleum Association, Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners’ Association, the Independent Oil & Gas Association, and Colorado OIl and Gas Association, has published a letter (Energy In Depth letter.pdf) addressed to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In the letter, Energy in Depth calls the film an “expression of stylized fiction” not meeting the Academy’s criteria for a documentary. The letter says that the movie misstates the law and the rules, mischaracterizes the frac’ing process, and “flat-out makes stuff up.”
Josh Fox does not take this lying down. He has published a detailed rebuttal of Energy in Depth’s letter. Josh has own his own website, www.gaslandthemovie.com, and his own facebook page about the movie and the frac’ing debate, and he was even awarded the Yoko Ono “Grant for Peace.” Clearly, he is enjoying his celebrity. Josh’s rebuttal is no small refutation. It runs to 38 pages and contains responses from his “amazing team of experts,” including Ron Bishop, PhD, lecturer in chemistry and biochemistry at SUNY Oneonta, Anthony Ingraffea, PhD, the D.C. Baum professor of engineering at Cornell,and Weston Wilson, a retired EPA engineer. Energy in Depth’s letter to the Academy is not likely to lessen Josh’s time in the limelight and may actually increase his chances of grabbing that Oscar.
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, a finding that Range has vehemently denied. The Railroad Commission called the hearing after the EPA issued its order, to receive facts and testimony on the source of the contamination.
I have posted previously about this controversy, here, here, and here.
Range contends that the water wells are contaminated from gas migrating from a shallow gas-bearing formation just below the water table, the Strawn formation. The EPA’s order says that it did an isotopic fingerprint analysis of the gas found in the water wells matched the gas from Range’s nearby wells producing from the Barnett Shale.
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 Energy, and one on behalf of Grace Mitchell against Chesapeake and Encana. The suits contend that plaintiffs’ groundwater has been contaminated by drilling and hydraulic fracturing operations. A copy of the Harrises’ suit can be viewed here. Turley says more such suits will follow. Turley’s website has a page dedicated to such suits, which says that, “when hydro-fracking occurs, it is possible for the property owner’s groundwater to become contaminated and/or for gases to be forced into the groundwater. When this happens, the oil company may be liable to the property owner for property damages and injuries. … The Turley Law Firm is very concerned over the damage done and future risk to property and individuals in the Barnett Shale area, and is filing damage suits on behalf of property owners.” Groundwater contamination lawsuits may become new fertile ground for plaintiffs’ attorneys.
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 December 15, and it says that, as a result of the meeting, Range and EPA agree that “hydraulic fracturing in the Barnett Shale cannot be the cause of natural gas occurring in the domestic water wells identified by the EPA.” Range also made clear in the letter that, while it was complying with the requirements of EPA’s order, it did not believe that the EPA had authority to issue its order, since Range was not responsible for the pollution and the order was issued “without any prior notice or opportunity for Range to present important objective facts.”
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 6 Administrator Al Armendariz that “EPA’s actions are premature as the Railroad Commission continues to actively investigate this issue and has not yet determined the cause of the gas. This EPA action is unprecedented in Texas, and commissioners will consider all options as we move forward.” Commissioner Michael Williams said “this is Washington politics of the worst kind. The EPA’s act is nothing more than grandstanding in an effort to interject the federal government into Texas business.” The December 8 press release said that the Commission has called a hearing for January 10 and “expects both parties, the EPA as well as Range Resources representatives, to appear before Hearings Examiners and testify as to the allegations made yesterday.” Range has said it will attend the hearing, but it understands that the EPA will not.
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 propose uniform standards for best practices for hydraulic fracturing, in hopes that such standards will be adopted by states and give the public assurance of the safety of the completion technique. The talks have resulted in a 40-page draft of proposed model regulations to be presented to state officials, covering public disclosure of frac fluid additivies, standards for casing and cementing wells, and pressure monitoring. An inverview of Scott Anderson on the efforts can be found here. “It is our obligation as an industry to let [the public] know what the issues and obstacles are and show them we are willing to work with environmental groups and state regulators to come up with solutions,” said Boling.
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, is a deep thinker, and does not talk down to his readers. Mr. Fallows’ article is about the future of coal as a source of energy in the world, and how China is developing “clean coal” technology.
Much has been made recently of new discoveries of natural gas in the U.S.; it has been touted as a solution to our dependence on foreign oil and as a way to reduce emission of greenhouse gases, by replacing coal-powered electric generating plants. Mr. Fallows does not write about new gas discoveries, but his discussion of the future of coal puts our domestic natural gas discoveries in perspective. Below are some excerpts from and summaries of Mr. Fallows’ discussion. I recommend that you read his article in full.
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 bubbling drinking water coming out of their tap. EPA testing has confirmed that extremely high levels of methane in their water pose an imminent and substantial risk of explosion or fire. EPA has also found other contaminants including benzene, which can cause cancer, in their drinking water.
EPA has determined that natural gas drilling near the homes by Range Resources in Parker County, Texas has caused or contributed to the contamination of at least two residential drinking water wells. Therefore, today, EPA has ordered the company to step in immediately to stop the contamination, provide drinking water and provide methane gas monitors to the homeowners. EPA has issued an imminent and substantial endangerment order under Section 1431 of the Safe Drinking Water Act. Parker County is located west of Fort Worth, Texas.
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