On June 12, 2015, the
Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board dismissed an appeal filed by a Washington
County landowner who asserted that Range Resources-Appalachia, LLC, polluted
his drinking water supply through unconventional gas operations.
Landowner filed an
appeal objecting to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP)’s determination that the unconventional wells drilling were not the
proximate causation of the polluted water supply. The landowner argued that DEP
made various errors in reaching its decision based on their method of reporting
laboratory results and that DEP was not informed of such pollution until after it
made its decision.
In the opinion, the Hearing
Board concluded that the landowner “did not demonstrate by a preponderance of
the evidence that a hydrogeological connection exists between his water well
and Range’s operations at the [well-site].” The Hearing Board reached this
conclusion even though they determined in the Finding of Facts that Range
Resources-Appalachia, LLC, failed to report water sampling results to the DEP
that may have showed a leak in the impoundment.
Despite established
evidence of leaks and spills discovered from 2010 to 2011, and the presence of
several chemical components into the water, the Hearing Board, in its Finding
of Facts, emphasized that “the consistency of [the landowner]’s water sample
results over time indicates that the water quality is attributable to natural
conditions, rather than spills or releases related to oil and gas activities.”
Full text of the
adjudication can be found at: http://ehb.courtapps.com/public/index.php
- docket No. 2011149.
Written by Chloe Marie - Research Fellow
06/15/2015
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