Alleged

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) was vindicated Wednesday in a recent whistleblower’s case, which alleged negligence by the utility in its handling of pipe welds on critical parts of its 6,000-mile natural gas transmission system.

As the deadline for moving proposed bills out of finance committees came and went Thursday, the California state legislature again gave up on measures designed to more closely regulate hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

Critics of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in California lament an alleged lack of information from the oil/natural gas industry, but producers are trying to counter what they consider to be gross misinformation on the drilling practice.

There is a need for a single “rulebook” to analyze alleged market manipulations in the wholesale electricity and natural gas markets of the United States and European Union (EU), according to a pair of economists with The Brattle Group, who propose an economic framework that they say would assist compliance efforts by distinguishing behavior that is patently manipulative and identifying safe harbors for legitimate trading.

There is a need for a single “rulebook” to analyze alleged market manipulations in the wholesale electricity and natural gas markets of the United States and European Union (EU), according to a pair of economists with The Brattle Group, who propose an economic framework that they say would assist compliance efforts by distinguishing behavior that is patently manipulative and identifying safe harbors for legitimate trading.

The couple at the center of state and federal investigations of alleged water well contamination by gas drilling activities in North Texas has filed suit against Range Resources Corp. and others, seeking damages of $4.5 million plus $2 million for mental anguish, attorney fees, as well as trebling of damages under the Texas Business and Commercial Code.

An emergency order that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued against Range Resources Corp. late last year for alleged contamination of water wells in North Texas was allowed to stand by a federal judge in Dallas pending the outcome of an appeals court case in New Orleans in which Range is seeking dismissal of the EPA order. A stay was issued in the Dallas federal court case, and the judge there also declined to impose fines on Range that had been sought by EPA. Earlier this year Range was cleared of fouling the water wells by the Railroad Commission of Texas, which had objected to EPA’s involvement in the case (see Shale Daily, March 23).

Range Production Co.’s lawsuit to compel the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide documents related to its investigation of Range’s alleged contamination of water wells in the Barnett Shale region in North Texas was dismissed without prejudice in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Judge Lee Yeakel said Range’s pursuit of the documents in conjunction with a case before the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) was rendered moot when the RRC found Range to be not responsible for methane in the water wells (see Shale Daily, March 23). Range and EPA are still battling in federal court over the agency’s enforcement action against Range.

Range Production Co.’s lawsuit to compel the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide documents related to its investigation of Range’s alleged contamination of water wells in the Barnett Shale region in North Texas was dismissed without prejudice in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Judge Le Yeakel said Range’s pursuit of the documents in conjunction with a case before the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) was rendered moot when the RRC found Range to be not responsible for methane in the water wells (see Daily GPI, March 23). Range and EPA are still battling in federal court over the agency’s enforcement action against Range.