KRGV.com

WEATHERFORD, Texas (AP) After the Environmental Protection Agency learned that some water wells in a Fort Worth suburb had been contaminated with methane, the agency concluded that an oil company may have done the damage while drilling for natural gas.

Initially, the EPA declared an emergency and ordered Range Resources to clean up the tainted water. Then it reversed itself with no explanation.

Now a confidential report obtained by The Associated Press and interviews with company representatives show the agency had scientific evidence against the driller, Range Resources. But the EPA changed course after the company threatened not to cooperate with a national study into a common form of drilling called hydraulic fracturing.

Regulators set aside an analysis that concluded the drilling could have been to blame for the contamination.