Drillers, but Not Fracking, Tied to Tainted Water
Oil and gas activities – but not hydraulic fracturing – tainted drinking water wells atop North Texas’ Barnett Shale and Pennsylvania’s Marcellus formation, according to a new study. Full Story
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![Steve Lipsky shows the methane contamination of his well by igniting the gas with a lighter outside his family's home in Parker County near Weatherford on June 17.]()
Credit: Cooper Neill -
Railroad Commissioner Raises Concerns About a Russian Threat
Texas Railroad Commissioner David Porter on Monday became the second of the state's three oil and gas regulators to raise concerns that Russia is waging a misinformation campaign against hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. Full Story
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![Railroad Commission Chairman David Porter.]()
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Tainted Well Prompts Free Speech Dispute
A tainted water well in North Texas has already stirred national debate about the impacts of oil and gas production. Now it stars in a free speech dispute that has landed in the Texas Supreme Court. Full Story
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![Steve Lipsky shows the methane contamination of his well by igniting the gas with a lighter outside his family's home in Parker County near Weatherford, Texas on June 17, 2014.]()
Credit: Cooper Neill -
On Climate Rules, Texas Regulators Look Beyond Litigation
Texas should not bank on legal action to free itself from the Obama administration’s proposal to tackle climate change, two state regulators said Friday at a Public Utility Commission workshop. Full Story
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![Gov. Rick Perry has said that a new federal proposal to cut carbon emissions is "the most direct assault yet on the energy providers that employ thousands of Americans."]()
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Christi Craddick: The TT Interview
The Railroad Commission's new chairman on the agency's dual role as an industry watchdog and champion, the push to ban fracking in Denton and the commission’s efforts on earthquakes and disposal wells. Full Story
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![Railroad Commissioners Barry Smitherman (center), David Porter (left) and Christi Craddick (right) are shown at a Jan. 15, 2013, meeting in Austin.]()
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Disposal Well Plan Seen as First Step in Addressing Earthquakes
Two candidates for the Railroad Commission welcomed the agency's newly proposed requirements for disposal well applications, saying they were a good first step in addressing the spate of earthquakes that have shaken up parts of North Texas. Full Story
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![Lynda Stokes, the mayor of Reno, Texas, testified before the Railroad Commission of Texas on Jan. 21, 2014. She voiced her concern about an increased number of earthquakes around Eagle Mountain Lake.]()
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Pipeline Proposal Prompts Eminent Domain Debate
Landowners and pipeline companies are closely scrutinizing proposed rules aimed at clearing up confusion over a status that gives pipeline companies the right to claim private property using eminent domain. Full Story
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![One of the many pipeline markers sprinkled across David Holland's family farm near Beaumont, Texas. Holland is involved in major litigation involving common carrier status against Denbury Resources, which built a pipeline across his land.]()
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Denton Fracking Ban Could Spur Legal Clash
A North Texas town's effort to ban hydraulic fracturing may prompt an unprecedented showdown between two powerful rights: a city's authority to shape development and mineral owners' right to tap their resources. Full Story
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![A gas well is shown in 2014 sitting less than 400 feet from a home in Denton.]()
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Race for Railroad Commissioner Revives Overhaul Talk
Several thwarted legislative proposals to overhaul the Texas Railroad Commission — the state's curiously named oil and gas regulator — have resurfaced in the race for an open seat on the commission. Full Story
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![Steve Brown (l.) and Ryan Sitton, Democratic and Republican nominees for Railroad Commissioner.]()
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Denton Council Punts Fracking Ban Proposal to Voters
Voters will decide whether Denton will become the state's first city to ban hydraulic fracturing after the city council rejected a proposal to ban the method of oil and gas extraction. Full Story
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![A hydraulic fracturing site in Fort Worth on Sept. 27, 2013.]()
Credit: Mark Graham -
Methane Inquiry Closes, but Questions Linger
Last month, the Railroad Commission of Texas rejected an argument that drilling activity was to blame for methane migrating into a North Texas neighborhood's water supply. But independent geoscientists remain divided on the issue. Full Story
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![Steve Lipsky shows the methane contamination of his well by igniting the gas with a lighter outside his family's home in Parker County near Weatherford, Texas on June 17, 2014.]()
Credit: Cooper Neill -
Railroad Commission's Media Policy Has Some Expressing Concerns
A key Republican lawmaker and a Democratic candidate for railroad commissioner are among those expressing concerns about the Railroad Commission of Texas' practice of preventing staffers from talking to members of the media. Full Story
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![State Rep. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, and Steve Brown, the Democratic candidate for Texas railroad commissioner.]()
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Scientists: Data Shows Fracking's Link to Methane in Well
While Barnett Shale gas producers deny any connection between methane-contaminated wells and their operations, a pair of scientists dispute that. They say test results just released by state regulators provide concrete evidence of a link. Full Story
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Railroad Commission Sides With Driller on Well Protest
UPDATED: The Railroad Commission on Thursday sided with Marathon Oil Company’s bid to dismiss a groundwater conservation district’s protest of its application to inject waste into part of South Texas’ Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer. Full Story
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![Each day, dozens of trucks hook up to the Gulf Coast-run fracking fluid disposal well site near Gonzales, Texas.]()
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Mayors: State Must Act Faster on Earthquake Study
More than six months after a series of earthquakes surprised parts of North Texas, the mayors of two shaken-up towns told a state House subcommittee Monday that the state has moved too slowly in investigating what’s behind the phenomenon. Full Story
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![Texas Railroad Commission lead engineering technician for districts 1 and 2, Michael Polasek, inspects a salt water disposal injection well at a Heckman Water Resources commercial disposal facility on the LAMZA lease near Highway 80, January 22, 2012.]()
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Analysis: Smitherman Lost, but Stays in Game
Railroad Commissioner Barry Smitherman lost his bid for attorney general, but he remains an oil and gas regulator and has sought industry help retiring campaign debts and perhaps landing a job. Full Story
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![Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Barry Smitherman in his office on May 31, 2013.]()
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GOP Railroad Commission Hopefuls Trade Ethics Barbs
A former Texas Railroad Commission chairman is helping Ryan Sitton fight back against conflict-of-interest allegations in the Republican primary runoff for an open seat on the commission. Full Story
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![Candidates for Texas Railroad Commissioner, Ryan Sitton, left, and Wayne Christian.]()
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Rookie Candidate Meets Big State, Crowded Ballot
In his first run for public office, Malachi Boyuls encountered a big state, a crowded ballot and some difficulty with names — both his own and that of the office he sought. Full Story
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![Malachi Boyuls speaks during the Regulating Energy panel at The Texas Tribune Festival on Sep. 28, 2013.]()
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Railroad Commission Hires Seismologist
The Texas Railroad Commission has hired a seismologist to research the oil and gas industry's ties to the spate of earthquakes that has rattled North Texans. Full Story
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Ethics Debate Swirls in Race to Be the Next Railroad Commissioner
Ryan Sitton, a Republican candidate for railroad commissioner, says that if elected, he would remain involved with his company, which consults with some of the world’s largest oil and gas companies. Some of his opponents have raised concerns. Full Story
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![GOP Candidates for the Railroad Commission of Texas. Clockwise, from top left: Becky Berger, Malachi Boyuls, Ryan Sitton and former state Rep. Wayne Christian.]()
Credit: Illustration by John Jordan