HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania environmental regulators and the state’s most active gas driller have reached a settlement on claims the Fort Worth-based company failed to repair a natural gas well that contaminated groundwater and a stream.
The Department of Environmental Protection had initially pursued a record $8.9 million fine against Range Resources over the methane contamination in Lycoming County.
Settlement documents filed this week do not require Range to pay a penalty, but give the department the right to pursue one in the future. The settlement says Range and the state agency dropped litigation to “focus their limited resources on a technical resolution of the matter.”
The agency said the colorless, odorless gas was detected in private water supplies and a stream following drilling and hydraulic fracturing at a Lycoming County site in 2011.