PA Environment Digest

Range Resources Corporation announced this week it has submitted its first hydraulic fracturing disclosure forms to the Department of Environmental Protection and has posted the information on the Range website.

The information covers the first three Marcellus Shale wells in Pennsylvania that Range has hydraulically fractured since implementation of the voluntary initiative. As additional Marcellus wells are drilled, Range will provide similar information within approximately 30 days of completion.

On July 14 Range announced its voluntary initiative to disclose Marcellus Shale hydraulic fracturing additives. The purpose of the initiative is to provide regulators, landowners and citizens of Pennsylvania an accounting of the highly diluted additives used at each well site.

Commenting on the effort, U.S. Congressman Mike Doyle (D-PA) said, “With many questions about the environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale still unanswered, I commend Range Resources for its decision to voluntarily disclose information about the contents of the fluids they are using in that process on a per well basis, and I strongly encourage other companies drilling in the Marcellus Shale to disclose the components of their fluids in that kind of detail as well.”

“We are very pleased with the response we have received to our initiative and our commitment to achieving the proper balance of pursuing the enormous opportunity that the Marcellus Shale provides and implementing a standard of care for the environment and the communities where we live and work. We’re hopeful that our voluntary effort will help to dispel misconceptions about the process and allow Range and others to deliver on the potential of this extraordinary resource base,” said John Pinkerton, Chairman and CEO of Range Resources. “Our voluntary initiative represents the beginning of a series of announcements and efforts that Range is undertaking to allow people to better understand that natural gas is a valuable resource that can be pursued responsibly and for the benefit of the citizens in the regions where it’s developed and for the future of the United States.”

Over the last two and a half years, Range’s commitment to education, transparency and accountability has included more than 1,000 educational initiatives that include town hall meetings, small group presentations, individual meetings and field tours for interested people and organizations.

As part of these efforts, Range recently participated in a field hearing of the Senate Health Education, Labor and Pensions Committee entitled “Emergency Response in the Marcellus Shale Region,” hosted by U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA).

Range extends an open invitation to all interested policy makers to see first-hand Range’s commitment to conducting Marcellus operations in a balanced and responsible way and to contribute to the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that clean-burning natural gas presents to Pennsylvania and to the United States.

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