Rendell Downplays Role in Range Contamination Case

Susan Phillips

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Susan Phillips tells stories about the consequences of political decisions on people's every day lives. She has worked as a reporter for WHYY since 2004. Susan's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election resulted in a story on the front page of the New York Times. In 2010 she traveled to Haiti to cover the earthquake. That same year she produced an award-winning series on Pennsylvania's natural gas rush called "The Shale Game." She received a 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award for her work covering natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. She has also won several Edward R. Murrow awards for her work with StateImpact. In 2013/14 she spent a year at MIT as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. She has also been a Metcalf Fellow, an MBL Logan Science Journalism Fellow and reported from Marrakech on the 2016 climate talks as an International Reporting Project Fellow. A graduate of Columbia School of Journalism, she earned her Bachelor's degree in International Relations from George Washington University.

February 7, 2013 | 12:46 PM

Chris Kleponis / Getty Images

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell.

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell says gas driller Range Resources never authorized him to speak on their behalf to the EPA about a Texas contamination case. On Tuesday, EnergyWire published a piece quoting email exchanges between EPA officials that would suggest Rendell went to bat for Range over a high-profile methane migration case in Parker County, Texas.
Rendell tells StateImpact that he did speak to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson about the case, but downplayed his role.
“I visited EPA in 2011 to discuss a number of issues with Administrator Lisa Jackson and her staff,” wrote Rendell in an email. “I was made aware of the EPA’s enforcement action against Range Resources prior to my meeting and suggested to EPA staff that a settlement could lead to increased cooperation between EPA regulators and the industry. I was not authorized by Range Resources to make a settlement proposal, nor did I offer one.”
The EPA had just begun a study into the impacts of fracking on drinking water supplies, and needed industry cooperation. Rendell intervened on behalf of Range at a time when he publicly chastised industry representatives for ignoring environmentalists’ concerns.
The Texas-based Range Resources drilled the first Marcellus Shale well in Pennsylvania and with almost 900 currently drilled wells, it’s one of the most active drillers in the state.