If Range Resources Corp. is reading it right, last Tuesday’s deposition by the company of an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employee in an ongoing Barnett Shale well water contamination case is proof that it’s good to talk things out.

Since December, when EPA said in an emergency order that Range contaminated Barnett Shale area water wells with its gas drilling operations (see NGI, Dec. 13, 2010), Range has maintained its innocence and lamented that it had no opportunity to provide input into EPA’s investigation. That apparently changed Tuesday in the U.S. Attorney’s office in New Orleans during a nearly day-long deposition of an EPA representative.

“At the end of the day, all parties will have all of the facts,” Range spokesman Matt Pitzarella told NGI, adding that ultimately he expects there to be agreement “that Range’s operations were not the cause of this issue.

“It was a real breakthrough for us in terms of discussion and dialogue that we were able to have as part of this deposition. We look forward to continuing the discussion to actually look at the facts.”

Range is challenging the EPA’s emergency order in the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

“…Range is confident, based on the extensive testing conducted by Range’s highly qualified experts as well as the analysis of the Railroad Commission, that its production activities have not impacted the subject water wells and that the [EPA] order is both factually and legally unsupportable, in addition to being unnecessary given the prior and ongoing efforts of both Range and the Railroad Commission,” Range said in its petition to the Fifth Circuit court.

The case involves an emergency order issued by the EPA against Range on Dec. 7, claiming that at least two drinking water wells in Parker County, TX, “have been significantly impacted by…methane contamination” from its oil and gas production facilities in the Barnett Shale. That move sparked a battle of wills between the federal regulator and the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC), which said it was already investigating the charges.

Range asked the Fifth Circuit court to find that the EPA order does not constitute a final agency action and is not subject to review under Section 1431 of the Safe Drinking Water Act. The EPA Region 6 took its action under that act.

“EPA, without legal or factual support, concludes in the order that Range’s Butler and Teal Wells somehow ’caused or contributed to the endangerment’ identified in the order,” the company’s petition said.

Pitzarella said the company hopes to file a transcript of last week’s deposition with the RRC in the coming days. As of last Friday a transcript of the deposition was not yet available.

The RRC has left its investigation open following a hearing two weeks ago to allow Range to enter depositions of EPA and others (see NGI, Jan. 24). The RRC case could be resolved by some time in April, Pitzarella said, noting that this could also resolve Range’s battle with the EPA.

“I don’t envision this to be a long, dragged-out type of an issue, at least we’re hopeful,” Pitzarella said.

A U.S. Department of Justice spokesman would not comment on the deposition last week.

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