What the Frack… Obama’s EPA Backpedals on Texas Fracking Contamination Lawsuit

Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson 

The Environmental Protection Agency’s lawsuit against Range Resources Corp, which claimed that the company had polluted water wells in rural Texas as a result of fracking, has been dropped.

Still waiting for Obama’s power-grabbing EPA to backpedal on being permitted to fine U.S. companies for not using nonexistent fuels (that’s correct, nonexistent) and its stunning killing of new coal-fired power plants, which because of its newly proposed greenhouse emission standards, will plunge a huge stake into the heart of the coal industry. And will cast thousands more hard-working Americans into the hell hole of unemployment and limit creation of electrical power across the nation.

One EPA back-pedaling action at a time, however.

From Wall Street Journal, EPA Backpedals on Fracking Contamination:

The Environmental Protection Agency has dropped its claim that an energy company contaminated drinking water in Texas, the third time in recent months that the agency has backtracked on high-profile local allegations linking natural-gas drilling and water pollution.

On Friday, the agency told a federal judge it withdrew an administrative order that alleged Range Resources Corp. had polluted water wells in a rural Texas county west of Fort Worth. Under an agreement filed in U.S. court in Dallas, the EPA will also drop the lawsuit it filed in January 2011 against Range, and Range will end its appeal of the administrative order.

In addition to dropping the case in Texas, the EPA has agreed to substantial retesting of water in Wyoming after its methods were questioned. And in Pennsylvania, it has angered state officials by conducting its own analysis of well water—only to confirm the state’s finding that water once tainted by gas was safe.

Taken together, some experts say, these misfires could hurt the agency’s credibility at a time when federal and state regulators seek ways to ensure that natural-gas drilling is done safely.

From Bloomberg Businessweek, EPA Agrees to Dismiss Well Contamination Case Against Range:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agreed to end a lawsuit that would’ve forced Range Resources Corp. (RRC) (RRC) to fix natural-gas wells the government said were contaminating water in Parker County, Texas.

The agency withdrew an administrative order yesterday and joined with Range seeking dismissal of the case in a filing today in federal court in Dallas. The government wants to “shift the agency’s focus in this particular case away from litigation” and instead test water wells in the area, the agency said in a statement.

EPA ordered Range to fix leaks in the area in 2010, saying state regulators at the Texas Railroad Commission weren’t acting fast enough after residents complained of gas in their water wells. Range, based in Fort Worth, Texas, said gas was already present in local water and its operations weren’t the cause.

Range uses hydraulic fracturing in Texas’s Barnett Shale, shooting water, chemicals and sand underground to get oil and gas from dense rock formations. Environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, say the technique known as fracking can contaminate local water supplies.

The EPA said in 2010 that the wells were fractured; it didn’t say whether fracking caused the gas leaks.

“It is very important for people who live in that community to trust that their environment, safety and health is protected,” Matt Pitzarella, a Range spokesman, said in a telephone interview. “We believe this withdrawal will help.”

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