Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 17, 2015
Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com
Pennsylvania environmental regulators are seeking a record $8.9 million fine against Range Resources Corp. because, they say, the shale gas producer failed to fix a Lycoming County well that is leaking methane and other pollutants into groundwater.
Fort Worth-based Range says tests show methane was in water wells before it drilled the Harman Lewis well in Moreland in 2011 and has appealed the order that led to Tuesday’s fine announcement by the Department of Environmental Protection.
The department said it first told Fort Worth-based Range in 2013 to fix defective cement on the well, which it linked to stray gas and metals in five water wells, a pond and a stream. The department on May 11 ordered Range to submit a plan to fix the well, but rejected the company’s proposal to bring the well online.
“Range Resources has the responsibility to eliminate the gas migration that this poorly constructed well is causing,” DEP Secretary John Quigley said in a statement. “Refusing to make the necessary repairs to protect the public and the environment is not an option.”
Range said it does not believe its well caused methane to contaminate the area.
“We respect and share the department’s mission to safely produce natural gas while protecting the environment. We believe we’ve complied with DEP’s requests and while we have a disagreement about this situation, we are very confident in the mechanical integrity of the well and we are equally confident that the environment and community is not at risk,” the company said in a statement.
Range, which has a regional headquarters in Cecil and is the state’s most prolific shale driller, appealed the May order to the Environmental Hearing Board, which reviews agency actions.
“We will continue to be transparent with the department with the substantial data we have that proves that the methane of concern exists naturally at the surface and subsurface in this part of the state, long before our activity, and is not in any way related to our operations,” Range said.
The board last week sided with the DEP and Range in rejecting a Washington County man’s claim that drilling and related waste storage at the Yeager well site in Amwell home tainted his water well.
A leaky wastewater impoundment at Yeager was among seven cited in an agreement between Range and the DEP last year that required fixes and the payment of a $4.15 million fine.
At that time, the DEP called the fine the highest it assessed during the shale gas era that began a decade ago. Since then, the department said it was seeking a $4.5 million fine against Downtown-based EQT Corp. for an impoundment leak in Tioga County. That case is in litigation.