Economy
Families And Advocates Criticize PA’s Fracking Health Studies
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State announced $3.9 M studies after pressure from families of rare cancer patients in SW PA
Environment
Trump And Biden Differ Sharply On The Environment — And That Means The Election Stakes Are High For PA
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Energy, pollution policies are felt deeply in Pennsylvania.
Energy
Study Finds Methane Leaks In PA Much Higher Than State Reports
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Estimates don’t capture leaks from ‘abnormal’ conditions, Environmental Defense Fund says
Economy
Oil And Gas Companies Asked, Then Received Changes To Fed Coronavirus Stimulus Program
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Help with refinancing debt could help shale companies in PA
App NEWS
Pipeline Explosion Resulted In Huge State Fine. Now, PA Has Found Hundreds Of New Violations
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Regulator, company at odds over erosion, hillside slips
Energy
The Struggling Coal Industry Hammered Further By Coronavirus
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‘Everything that can go wrong, has gone wrong’
Environment
Can Air Pollution Make Coronavirus Worse? Scientists Say Yes
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“I think that we would have a less severe outbreak if we had lower levels of air pollution.”
Energy
Mine Workers’ Union Wants More Protections Against COVID-19
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“We are following government guidelines with distancing measures being taken, increased cleaning schedules in-place, and limits on gatherings of groups.”
App NEWS
Democrats Could Field An Anti-Fracking Candidate In 2020. Could That Candidate Win In PA?
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Voters are split on the question of a fracking ban
App NEWS
Feds Lower Coal Mine Cleanup Funds For PA
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Pennsylvania is getting less money from the federal government this year to clean up its old abandoned mines.
App NEWS
Pennsylvania Poll Finds Registered Voters Split On Fracking Ban
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Support for a ban strong in cities and suburbs; weak in rural SW Pennsylvania
App NEWS
Governor’s Support For Petrochemicals Raises Climate Worries As PA Tries To Cut Carbon Emissions
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Plastics build-out could conflict with governor’s climate goals
Energy
Study: Replacing Coal Plants With Natural Gas Cuts Pollution, Saved Lives
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Fracking pollution not included in study; could lessen health benefits, author says
App NEWS
PA Levies Record $30M Fine Against Pipeline Company
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The settlement also lifts a nearly year-long permit freeze on the company’s other pipeline projects, including the cross-state Mariner East pipelines.
Economy
Scotland Is Turning PA’s Shale Gas Into Plastic. What Happens To It Next?
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Taxes and bans on single use plastics try to combat plastics in the oceans
Energy
Johns Hopkins Researcher: PA Should Ban Fracking
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“What would I say now? I would say because of the regional and local health concerns and concerns about climate change, we should stop fracking–everywhere.”
Economy
Despite Scotland’s Fracking Ban, Imported American Shale Gas Is Key To One Town’s Economy
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Natural gas is mostly used for heating homes or fueling power plants. But when it comes out of the ground, it contains another key ingredient — ethane, a building block of plastics.
Energy
Trump Administration Proposes Rollbacks For Two Obama-Era Coal Pollution Rules
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Rules on coal ash ponds, wastewater from coal-fired power plants are targeted
App NEWS
PA, CNX Reach $1.48M Settlement On Abandoned Wells
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Resolves 2018 order involving more than 1,000 wells.
Economy
In Scotland, This Town Evolved With Its Refinery And The Arrival Of Shale Gas
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“The benefit is there’s employment in the area. But the rest of the town’s neglected and I don’t feel our town of Grangemouth benefits as much as it should, with an oil refinery on our doorstep.”
Energy
In The UK, Fracking’s Not A Thing — So Shale Gas From PA Has Become Their Workaround
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For decades, the United Kingdom has relied on oil and gas from the North Sea. Those fields, first developed in the 1960s and 70s, are declining.
App NEWS
At Grangemouth Refinery In Scotland, A Plastics Evangelist Says PA’s Shale Gas Is Vital
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The massive refinery and petrochemical complex in Grangemouth, Scotland, run by INEOS, was one of the first overseas plants to receive Pennsylvania ethane.
Allegheny County PA
US Steel, Allegheny County Have A Draft Agreement On Pollution Violations
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HARRISBURG, PA (WITF) – The Allegheny County Health Department and U.S. Steel have a draft agreement to resolve multiple air pollution violations from the company’s Clairton Plant over the past two years. The agreement calls on the company to pay $2.7 million in fines and put in place a suite of pollution upgrades at the plant. The company said the price of those upgrades is $200 million. The agreement does not resolve legal issues between the county and the company over air pollution problems that resulted from a Dec. 24 fire.
Energy
$3-Million Settlement Revealed In High-Profile Fracking Case
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The court document was issued under seal, but was discovered last week in a public database by a public radio reporter. After issuing an injunction, Judge Katherine B. Emery on Tuesday ruled it could be published.
Energy
Congressional Hearing Focuses On Struggling PA Nuclear Industry
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Experts testified before a House Science, Space, & Technology subcommittee that nuclear energy is important in limiting air pollution from the power sector, and for national security.
Uncategorized
PA Prosecutors Eye Potential ‘Environmental Crimes.’
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“All they’ve ever gotten is a slap on the wrist. It’s time for that to change. I’ll hold the oil and gas companies criminally liable for poisoning our air and our drinking water.”
Energy
PA Reaches $7M Deal Over 1,400 Abandoned Oil And Gas Wells
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Alabama company has until 2033 to plug wells or put them back into production
Energy
Report: Coal Ash Contamination Widespread In PA
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A new report finds coal ash pollution is leaking into groundwater at nine power plants around Pennsylvania and over 200 nationwide. West Pa. site has arsenic 372 times the ‘safe’ level
Energy
Leaky Coal Ash Pond Seeks New Pollution Permit From PA
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Permit will cover 16 newly discovered seeps coming out of Little Blue
Energy
Study: There’s No Electric Grid Emergency (At Least For The Next 5 Years)
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STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – The grid operator for the mid-Atlantic region released a long-anticipated study about whether coal and nuclear plant retirements present a threat to its electric supply.
Energy
PA Orders Revolution Pipeline Owner To Fix Erosion Problems
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STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – State regulators have ordered the owner of a pipeline that experienced a catastrophic explosion last month to fix inadequate erosion control measures in several locations along its route.
economy
EPA Head Says Rollbacks Will Keep Environment Clean, Economy Up
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STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – At an oil and gas conference in Pittsburgh Wednesday, Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler touted the Trump administration’s moves to roll back over 70 environmental regulations, telling the crowd the rollbacks will make America’s air and water cleaner while keeping the economy booming.
Energy
Bringing The Forest Back After Shale Gas
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Pennsylvania is trying to figure out how to regrow forests after fracking.
Energy
FirstEnergy To Close Pennsylvania’s Largest Coal-Fired Power Pplant
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The company says there is still time for a federal bailout to save its struggling coal plants
Energy
Trump Administration Rolls Back Coal Ash Rules Aimed At Groundwater Protection
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STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – Environmental groups say a Trump administration rollback of Obama-era coal ash rules could threaten Pennsylvania groundwater. The new rules, finalized on Tuesday, loosen requirements on utilities for disposing the coal ash left after burning.
Energy
Rachel Carson Trail Has A New Feature: A Fracking Well
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Rig forced relocation of part of trail named for environmental icon
Energy
For The First Time, PA Sets Methane Requirements On Natural Gas Wells
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STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – Pennsylvania has joined a growing number of states in issuing new methane requirements for natural gas wells.
Featured in Category
Building A Better Bat Cave
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THE ALLEGHENY FRONT – To save the bats of Pennsylvania, Greg Turner wants to build a better bat cave.
Energy
Report: Draft Memo Points To Trump Invoking National Security In Bailing Out Coal, Nuclear
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Plan could cost ratepayers more in mid-Atlantic, guarantee profits for some power plants
Energy
Study Finds Health Threats Posed By Oil And Gas Wastewater Sprayed On Roads
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STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – Spreading oil and gas wastewater has been a common and cheap way for municipalities to suppress dust on unpaved roads in parts of Pennsylvania for years.
Nuclear Energy’s Prospects Fall As Natural Gas Booms
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Natural gas has replaced coal as the country’s top power source. But it’s also causing problems for another source of energy.
Energy
New Industry Opposition Group Hammers PA Governor’s Fracking-Health Record
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STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – A coalition of anti-fracking groups says Gov. Tom Wolf should pay more attention to the health impacts of fracking, and that he’s “turned his back” on people who say they’ve suffered from the state’s natural gas industry.
Energy
PA’s Abandoned Mines To Get $55M In Cleanup Money
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STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will spend $55 million on abandoned mine cleanup projects around the state.
Energy
As Natural Gas Use Rises, Regional Power Authority Will Study ‘Fuel Security’
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STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – As low natural gas prices force more coal and nuclear plants to retire, the grid operator for 65 million customers in the mid-Atlantic region says it will look at whether it’s becoming more susceptible to outages forced by extreme weather or cyber-attack.
Energy
As Nuclear Power Loses Ground To Natural Gas, Environmentalists Are Torn
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STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – The natural gas boom was supposed to help the electric sector lower its carbon footprint by replacing old, carbon dioxide-spewing coal plants with newer, lower-emitting natural gas plants. And to a degree, that’s happened. As coal plants have retired, carbon emissions from the power sector have decreased.
Energy
Fracking Dispute Heads To Court With PA’s Environmental Rights Amendment At Center Of Lawsuit
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STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – A dispute over a local law that opens up much of a Pittsburgh suburb to oil and gas drilling has made it to a Westmoreland County courtroom.
Energy
PA To Spend $25M To Clean A Dozen Abandoned Coal Mine Sites
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STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – Pennsylvania announced approval of $25 million in funding for cleanup of abandoned mines at 12 sites around the state.
Energy
‘The Shale Dilemma’ Goes Global: Author Discusses Shale Gas Development Across The World
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Fracking may have been born in the U.S., but there are shale gas reserves in dozens of other countries. Will these countries say yes or no to fracking? Shanti Gamper-Rabindran a University of Pittsburgh professor and editor of The Shale Dilemma, sat down for an interview about the topic.
Energy
Poll: Public Concern Grows Over Natural Gas Industry’s Environmental Impact
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STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – A majority of Pennsylvanians still support the natural gas industry, but a new opinion poll shows the number of people concerned about its environmental impact is growing.
Energy
More Nuclear Power Plant Shutdowns, Bailouts In The Works
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TATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – Citing market challenges,” electric utility FirstEnergy says it will close three nuclear plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania, while at the same time asking the Department of Energy for immediate help to keep its fleet of coal and nuclear plants open.
Energy
In Pennsylvania, Unions Throw Political Weight Behind Natural Gas
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STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – On a recent afternoon, Ken Broadbent walked the aisles of his union’s “weld shop.” Behind orange plastic curtains that shield the eye-searing brightness of their torches, a few dozen apprentices practiced welding pipes together. Each will end up with about 700 hours of training.
Energy
Federal Government Unveils $55M Cleanup At PA’s Abandoned Mines
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Ryan Zinke, President Trump’s Interior Secretary, came to Western Pennsylvania to tout the federal government’s abandoned mine cleanup program. It was an appropriate setting.
Energy
PA’s DEP Extends Comment Period For Shell’s Ethane Pipeline
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The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will extend the public comment period for Shell’s 97-mile Falcon pipeline, which will carry ethane to the company’s $6 billion petrochemical plant in Western Pennsylvania.