EPA tangles with Texas over water permits

AAS 12/02/10
EPA tangles with Texas over water permits

HOUSTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday demanded that Texas immediately take steps to reissue Clean Water Act permits to some 80 facilities that have been operating without the necessary paperwork, a request that signaled the latest round in a long battle between the state and federal governments.

The agency issued a news release with its request late Thursday, prompting a rapid back-and-forth with Texas environmental regulators. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality quickly put out a statement saying it had been cooperating with the agency to resolve the problems, already had two proposals on the table and accused the federal agency of deciding "to jump the gun prematurely with this notice."

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The latest matter involves water discharge permits. The agency says many of the facilities in question have had their paperwork delayed "due to issues regarding the toxicity of the discharges." A "significant number" of permits have not been issued because concerns raised by the agency have not been resolved, it said.

Texas, with more oil refineries, chemical plants and coal-fired power plants than any other state, leads the nation in greenhouse gas emissions and industrial pollution. Its environmental regulatory agency is the second-largest in the world, after the agency.

Texas VOX 12/3/10
Texas and EPA: Going to battle over waste water permits now?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has publically demanded that Texas immediately take steps to reissue Clean Water Act permits to some 80 facilities that have been operating without the necessary paperwork.

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The EPA and Texas/TCEQ/Gov. Perry have been locked in battle for some time now that has moved from a dispute over environmental issues into an ugly all out war over state rights with Gov. Rick Perry using the dispute during the election cycle as an example of the federal government and the administration’s meddling in what he believes are state affairs.


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The EPA’s regional director, Al Armendariz, shot back, “We are taking a stand for clean water. The streams, lakes and bayous of our great state deserve to be protected from chemicals, bacteria and toxic metals. Our children and future generations should be able to swim and fish anywhere in the state without worries about pollution.”

DMN 12/8/10
EPA: 2 Parker County homes at risk of explosion
Natural gas from drilling that used the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing has contaminated a drinking-water aquifer in Parker County, putting two homes at risk of explosion and triggering a federal emergency order, the EPA said Tuesday.

The Environmental Protection Agency ordered Fort-Worth based Range Production Co. to take steps to protect the families and water supplies after the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates natural-gas drilling, failed to act, EPA Regional Administrator Al Armendariz said.

Railroad Commission officials "acknowledge that there is natural gas in the drinking-water wells," Armendariz said. "They want more data and believe that action now is premature. I believe I've got two people whose houses could explode. So we've got to move."

Capitol Annex 12/8/10
EPA Emergency Order In Parker County Could Be Beginning Of Accountability For Producers In Barnett Shale

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The EPA issued an imminent and substantial endangerment order under the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act following tests which confirmed the presence of methane, benzene, and other chemicals associated with natural gas production in wells serving two residences in the southern part of Parker County, the Dallas Morning News reported for Wednesday’s editions.

The EPA’s actions come at a time when state agencies have steadfastly refused to do anything to curb serious environmental and health problems that have cropped up in the region–problems so severe that the city of DISH voted this week to file a class action against gas companies drilling in the Barnett Shale.

The Texas Railroad Commission, which has consistently held–though overruled by courts–that it didn’t have the appropriate authority to deny some of the permits required for drilling controversial injection wells based on some citizen objections, has steadfastly refused to address the environmental and public safety concerns raised surrounding gas drilling in the Barnett Shale.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, under fire for inaccurate test results and more, has also failed to take any significant action to protect the environment or Barnett Shale citizens.

Texas Tribune 12/7/10
EPA Tussle With Texas Regulators Spreads to Gas Wells

The tussle between Texas and federal environmental regulators is heating up in yet another arena: natural gas drilling.

The Environmental Protection Agency, invoking a special "endangerment order" under the Safe Drinking Water Act, today ordered a natural gas drilling company, Range Resources, to provide clean drinking water and other assistance to two North Texas homes whose wells, the agency said, had been contaminated with methane and benzene to the point of being at risk of an explosion.

"EPA has determined that natural gas drilling near the homes by Range Resources in Parker County, Texas, has caused or contributed to the contamination of at least two residential drinking water wells," the agency said in a release. Residents had complained to the EPA about "flammable and bubbling drinking water coming out of their tap."

NY Times 12/08/10
EPA Action on Texas Natural Gas Driller Escalates Fight Over State Regulation

An EPA official's decision to step over state regulators and take action against a Texas gas driller is likely to turn up the heat on a long-simmering debate about whether states protect their residents against the dangers of drilling.

Dallas-based EPA Regional Director Al Armendariz issued an emergency order yesterday against Range Resources Corp., charging that its drilling in the Barnett Shale contaminated at least two water wells with methane and benzene. The order gave Range 48 hours to provide clean drinking water to affected residents and begin taking steps to resolve the problem.

Armendariz's order is not simply an action against the company, but a slap at regulators at the Texas Railroad Commission, whom he accused of not doing enough to help the people living near the drilling operations in the Fort Worth area.
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The allegations also inflame an ongoing fight between Amendariz and Texas officials including Gov. Rick Perry (R) about whether the state has done enough to regulate air pollution that has grown into a fight over states' rights.

Bluedaze 12/07/10
Frackers Receive Imminent and Substantial Endangerment Order from EPA

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People in Parker County have bubbly, fizzy and flammable water; not a good combination unless you are mixing up a Fractini.

"EPA testing has confirmed that extremely high levels of methane in their water pose an imminent and substantial risk of explosion or fire. EPA has also found other contaminants including benzene, which can cause cancer, in their drinking water."

EPA used "isotopic fingerprint analysis" to determine that the gas in the water wells matched the gas from Range Resources gas well.

EPA used "isotopic fingerprint analysis" to determine that the gas in the water wells matched the gas from Range Resources gas well.

Texas Observer 12/7/10
A Big 'Fracking' Deal

For years, natural gas producers in Texas and elsewhere have insisted that the controversial practice of "fracking" has never caused contamination of groundwater. But an emergency order from the EPA this afternoon may change all that.

The regional EPA is now saying that gas wells operated by Ranger Resources in Parker County have contaminated at least two nearby residential drinking water wells with "extremely high levels of methane" and cancer-causing benzene. The agency is ordering Ranger to immediately provide drinking water to the residences and conduct a full-scale investigation.