A Texas couple that has sued Range Resources Corp. for allegedly contaminating its drinking water with hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on Thursday lost a bid for dismissal of the company’s countersuit, which alleges that the couple participated in a conspiracy to defame Range.

In response to a lawsuit filed by landowners Steven and Shyla Lipsky, Range last year told the 43rd District Court in Parker County, TX, that the Lipskys and environmental consultant Alisa Rich of Wolf Eagle Environmental conspired to incriminate the company for the occurrence of natural gas in in the couple’s well water. The company has maintained — and the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) has found (see Daily GPI, March 9, 2011) — that the gas in the Lipskys’ well came from the Strawn Formation and not the deeper Barnett Shale targeted by Range’s Barnett Shale gas well.

On Thursday the 43rd Judicial District Court in Texas sided with Range in denying the Lipsky’s motion to dismiss Range’s countersuit.

“The court references with concern the actions of Mr. Steven Lipsky, under the advice or direction of Ms. Alisa Rich, to intentionally attach a garden hose to a gas vent — not to a water line — and then light and burn the gas from the end nozzle of the hose,” wrote presiding judge Trey E. Loftin. “This demonstration was not done for scientific study but to provide local and national news media a deceptive video, calculated to alarm the public into believing the water was burning.”

Range maintains in its lawsuit (see Shale Daily, July 20, 2011) that Rich conspired with the Lipskys to do an end-run around the RRC, which already was investigating the alleged well contamination, to gain an audience with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which Rich believed would be more sympathetic to their cause.

(To read the full story go to shaledaily.com).

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