Contamination

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has fined a Chesapeake Energy Corp. subsidiary $565,000 for three incidents that occurred in the northern part of the state in the Marcellus Shale, including a blowout at a Bradford County well last April (see Shale Daily, April 25, 2011).

Pennsylvania regulators say “improper” construction at Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. wells in northeastern Pennsylvania led to contamination at nearby private water wells.

An Encana Corp. official in December delivered a blistering response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent draft report linking water contamination in Pavillion, WY, to chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

An Encana Corp. official Tuesday delivered a blistering response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent draft report linking water contamination in Pavillion, WY, to chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

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.

Mainstream media coverage of natural gas development in the Marcellus Shale has turned negative, according to a recent study conducted by a Pennsylvania-based public relations firm in conjunction with a Marcellus online discussion forum.

A bill filed last Friday by the Republican chair of the Texas House Committee on Energy Resources to require disclosure of the contents of hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) fluid has bipartisan support as well as industry and environmentalist fans.