Texas Cites EPA Error in Testing of Wells

Wall Street Journal
23 March 2011
By Russell Gold

AUSTIN, Texas—In an ongoing bout between Texas and the Environmental Protection Agency over the safety of gas drilling, the Lone Star State claimed a victory Tuesday and took the opportunity to criticize the federal agency.

Texas regulators said that extensive testing showed that flammable water wells west of Fort Worth were not contaminated by nearby gas drilling, as the EPA maintained. Instead, they said, evidence shows that the gas in a shallow water aquifer was migrating up from a rock formation directly underneath it.

The gas had a different "geochemical fingerprint" from gas found and extracted a mile lower in the Barnett shale rock formation, Texas officials said.

"This is an example of overreaching at its worst," said Michael Williams, one of three elected commissioners who oversee oil and gas drilling. The EPA "has a built-in bias against the fossil fuel energy industry."

Tuesday's finding by Texas officials comes about three months after an EPA order to shut down the gas wells to prevent two houses from exploding.

At the time, the EPA criticized the state agency that regulates drilling, the Texas Railroad Commission, for failing to address the situation.

In a written statement, the EPA responded that it is standing by its belief that gas drilling contributed to the contamination and said it would not comply with Texas' request to rescind its earlier order.

The state finding "is not supported by EPA's independent, scientific investigation," the agency wrote.

That didn't stop Texas officials from alleging that the federal government peddled shoddy science. "Do your job based on facts," Jim Keffer, chairman of the Texas House of Representatives energy committee, said in an interview after speaking at the hearing. "Don't go out and yell fire in a crowded theater."

Texas officials said the EPA used incomplete testing to determine that the gas found in the water wells was identical to gas found a mile below where Range Resources Corp. was cracking open shale rocks. Range, which has continued to operate the wells, is fighting the EPA in federal court to overturn the order that declared that its operations were endangering local residents and shut its wells.

"We will continue to respect the legal process and expect the EPA to rescind their order now that there is definitive scientific evidence of the natural cause of this issue and safety of residents," said Range spokesman Matt Pitzarella.

Attempts to reach the owners of the water wells and their attorneys were unsuccessful.

While the case involved only two water wells, it has drawn national attention because of EPA statements criticizing state regulators for failing to protect the public. As natural-gas drilling expands across the U.S.—and with it the use of hydraulic fracturing to break open rock formations—there has been growing fear that public drinking water isn't being protected adequately.

Texas has long looked favorably on natural-gas development and believes its oversight of the industry sets the standard. Gas production has significantly increased in recent years and the state collected $725.5 million in production taxes in its most recent fiscal year. The legislature has been actively looking for new ways to promote gas usage, from generating more electricity from the fuel to building a string of fueling stations for gas-powered vehicles.

This isn't the only showdown between Texas and the EPA. State officials have refused to comply with federal attempts to regulate greenhouse gases. The state attorney general has brought two lawsuits against the EPA to block its new greenhouse-gas rules, which require oil refineries and other emitters to reduce their emissions. Texas officials say the new rules are an attempt by the federal government to control industrial development and could choke economic growth.

Write to Russell Gold at russell.gold@wsj.com