State, federal officials clashing over well

[white cloud]

State, federal officials clashing over well
Texas supports driller on issue of contamination case
By TOM FOWLER
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
March 22, 2011, 10:09PM

Texas drilling regulators say the federal government was wrong in its accusation that Range Resources contaminated well water in rural Parker County through its natural gas drilling operations.

In a hearing in Austin on Tuesday, the Texas Railroad Commission voted unanimously to uphold recommendations from staff examiners that clear the company of claims made by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in December.

Investigators included geochemical "fingerprints" of the gas in the water wells, which they said show it didn't come from the Barnett shale formation, where Fort Worth-based Range was drilling, but rather the shallower Strawn gas field, which begins 200 to 400 feet below the surface.

Range also presented information it said shows its gas wells in the North Texas county were mechanically sound and did not leak.

Neither the EPA nor representatives of two homeowners who say their wells were tainted attended the Railroad Commission hearings, but in a statement Tuesday the EPA said it is standing by its prior findings, including an order forcing Range to pay for drinking water at the homes.

"The decision by the Texas Railroad Commission is not supported by EPA's independent, scientific investigation," the EPA said in a statement, referring to 751 pages of documents related to the wells. "EPA stands by the order issued to Range Resources and seeks to secure Range's full compliance and to confirm that actions taken by Range since the issuance of the order were performed properly."




http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/energy/7486848.html

[white cloud]

1. A ghost town now.

Springs of Texas, Volume 1

A ghost town now because of water table contaimination.


http://books.google.com/books?id=bvJ6gjatcK0C&pg=PA465&lpg=PA465&dq=los+ojuelos+ranch&source=bl&ots=W6dPR9lBwT&sig=ZyQmUfC8CuaS2r9UK_7QWV-cse4&hl=en&ei=-kuKTcvuNoOW0QG-7ISIDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQ6AEwADgU#v=onepage&q=los%20ojuelos%20ranch&f=false