Photos of the telltale sheen and the smell the next morning confirmed the all too familiar fingerprint of road dumping, showing evidence where the wastewater was spread.
This was far from an isolated incident. Road dumping oil and gas wastewater continues unabated throughout the state where conventional oil and gas wells are being tended.
In this case, the vehicle in the surveillance photos was a very large pickup truck.
Some quick research found there are dedicated, self-contained, portable liquid storage bladders available that turn pickups into oil and gas wastewater disposal units similar to the larger sized vac truck.
A close-up view of the truck shows the nozzles spraying the wastewater on the road in the distinctive triangular spray pattern.
The target of this particular dumping was Siri Lawson in Warren County who testified before Senate [Read more here] and House [Read more here] committees last April and June on road dumping oil and gas wastewater.
Lawson’s road was targeted for dumping just days before the April 17 Senate hearing last year and it has continued ever since. Prior to that, there was no dumping on her road for more than six years. [Read more here]
Lawson is known to have severe physical reactions to oil and gas wastewater, which has left her with significant health problems for years.
Every time after the road dumping, Lawson said she experienced-- “burning sinuses, a burning mouth and respiratory issues” and her voice gets hoarse because of the irritation of the vocal cords, which can last for days.
Lawson said, “It's an in your face warning, you can't stop me” move by the industry.
“They sent me a message, which I have to ignore,” said Lawson.
After the dumping incidents on dirt and paved roads around her home and throughout the region, Lawson provided photos and reports on the dumping to the Department of Environmental Protection to document the problems.
DEP continues to investigate the dumping, but this latest incident shows road dumping is happening at all hours of the day and night and not just during regular work hours.
“Despite the 2018 EHB decision [a settlement with DEP’s Oil & Gas Program saying they would not approve more road dumping without developing a formal permit] road dumping is still pervasive on the more rural dirt roads,” said Lawson.
“Dumping on paved roads dramatically up-ticked in early 2024, and I observed some paved roads near me becoming repeat casualties several times a week,” said Lawson.
“Road spreading leaves telltale fingerprints on both paved and dirt roads and by early fall 2024, it became apparent illegal road disposal of oil and gas brine had reached pre-2018 levels,” explained Lawson.
“My husband and I routinely travel on many roads in the Northwest quadrant of Pennsylvania and Southwestern New York and we have seen that road use for disposal of oil and gas wastewater is out of control and happening again on an industrial scale,” said Lawson.
What Road Dumping Looks Like
-- Photos Of Typical Road Dumping through the years: See Photos Here + See Photos Here
Update At April 24 Meeting
At a June 10, 2024 hearing on House Bill 2384 (Vitali-D-Delaware) that would ban road dumping by the House Environmental Committee, DEP said, “The Administration is supportive of this clear ban on the practice and views the Solid Waste Management Act as a sound vehicle for such statutory language.” Read more here.
The bill was reported out of Committee by a party-line vote, but went no further. Republicans in the Senate also opposed the bill. Read more here.
By December 12, 2024, Kurt Klapkowski, DEP Deputy Secretary for Oil and Gas Management, told the conventional industry at DCED’s PA Grade Crude [Oil] Development Advisory Council that Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley has directed DEP executive staff to form an internal work group to develop a “strong scientifically-based position” on road dumping conventional oil and gas wastewater. Read more here.
Klapkowski said to expect recommendations by the end of the first quarter of 2025 and then they will “take that position and walk it out to the broader world.” Read more here.
After the December meeting, Neil Shader, DEP Press Secretary, also reiterated, “The Shapiro Administration still supports this legislation and will continue to review and assess proposals to protect Pennsylvanians from pollution and ensure the responsible management of oil and gas wastewater.” Read more here.
On April 24, DCED’s PA Grade Crude [Oil] Development Advisory Council holds its next meeting and it is expected DEP will provide an update on the work group’s consideration of the road dumping issue.
A Good Time For A Review
Now is a good time to review how far the science has come on this issue and provide an update on the continued efforts of the conventional industry to dispose of millions of gallons of its contaminated wastewater on dirt, gravel and paved roads at the public’s expense.
DEP has tried for decades to regulate this practice but failed because the conventional industry simply does not comply.
But, they haven’t tried an outright ban on road dumping like DEP has for unconventional shale gas wastewater.
Any new framework has to be measured against the failure of all past attempts and what DEP, itself, calls the industry’s “culture of non-compliance.”
The Science - Road Dumping Should Be Banned
Dr. William Burgos, a Penn State Professor of Environmental Engineering, who has done research studies, several for DEP, of the environmental and health risks of road dumping oil and gas wastewater for years, told a Senate Committee in 2024-- “There’s no more research that needs to be done” to justify adopting a state ban on the road dumping of conventional oil and gas wastewater.”
Last June, he told a House Committee “Pennsylvania should ban road spreading of O&G PW [oil and gas wastewater].” Read more here.
“There is no public benefit to road spreading O&G PWs [oil and gas wastewater]…. It is all risk, no reward. The only beneficiaries are the O&G [oil and gas] operators who choose this disposal option.” Read more here.
“The ineffectiveness and potential pollution of wastewater spreading make the practice an unsuitable alternative for dust suppression on Pennsylvania roads.” Read more here.
Dr. Burgos noted DEP has already banned the road dumping of unconventional shale gas drilling wastewater for its environmental and health risks.
He said Penn State’s research found-- “The chemical characteristics of conventional and unconventional oil and gas-produced waters overlap considerably with respect to major constituents as well as [radioactive] radium activity. So there's not a whole lot of difference.” Read more here.
Penn State studies found the amounts of at least 25 of the chemicals they tested for exceeded environmental and health standards and radioactive radium exceeded industrial waste discharge standards. Read more here.
Penn State also found from 2008 to 2014, “spreading O&G PW [oil and gas wastewater] on roads released over 4 times more radium to the environment than O&G [oil and gas] wastewater treatment facilities, and 200 times more radium than spill events.” Read more here.
Dr. Burgos pointed to several other contaminants of concern.
“The contaminants of concern include chloride with respect to freshwater salinization, and also impacts on infrastructure as far as corrosivity and other sorts of things.
“So chloride for stream health and [radioactive] radium and petroleum hydrocarbons primarily for human health.
“And of course there's, unfortunately, there's lead, arsenic and a couple other trace metals that might be of concern.
“But really from a risk-based standpoint, [radioactive] radium being a known carcinogen.
“And these petroleum hydrocarbons in produced waters that have elevated petroleum hydrocarbon concentrations, which might be visible to you and I as the oily sheen, these were the ones that had that direct human receptor cell-based response with respect to potentially causing toxicity, maybe even cancer.”
Destabilizes Dirt, Gravel Roads Causing More Dust
He also pointed out, oil and gas wastewater destabilizes dirt and gravel roads.
“Oil and gas produced waters destabilize roads. So what we saw is that they produce a tremendous amount of dust in the dust generation experiments.
“But we also did these rainfall runoff experiments, and we measured the solids, which we can think of as a proxy for aggregate or dollars of maintenance materials with respect to putting stuff back on your gravel road.”
“And these things led to a greater loss of solids from the roads during this heavy storm event that we used to simulate this stuff, compared to rainwater being spread onto the test cell at the beginning of the experiment.
“Because of these findings, oil and gas produced waters fail to meet the EPA's [US Environmental Protection Agency’s] criteria for beneficial reuse of industrial waste.”
Click Here for a copy of Dr. Burgos’ testimony.
More Studies - Health, Environmental Risks
A 2018 Penn State study concluded, “Spreading O&G [oil and gas] wastewater on roads can harm aquatic life and pose health risks to humans.” Read more here.
“... O&G wastewaters transported from the road to surface water after rain events are likely the major potential threat to aquatic toxicity.” Read more here.
“These wastewaters could require up to 1,600 times dilution to reach drinking water quality standards or approximately 100 times dilution to reduce acute toxicity to aquatic organisms,” according to the Penn State study. Read more here.
Another study concluded, “Anticipatable levels of toxic contaminants added to road dust by a single application of OGB [oil and gas brine] are at, or well above, relevant cleanup levels. It is reasonable, therefore, to conclude health risks are appreciably increased by exposure to dust from OGB-treated roads.” Read more here.
“The spreading of O&G [oil and gas] wastewaters on roads could be a significant contributor of inorganic and organic micropollutants to the environment and has been largely ignored in environmental studies on O&G development.” Read more here.
“...[B]rines that are used for road maintenance activities such as deicing and dust suppression raise concerns about increasing the salinity of proximate water resources, because once applied, much of the salt becomes mobile and travels offsite with surface and groundwater which has negative consequences for agriculture, infrastructure, and aquatic life.” Read more here.
Other studies have found little difference in basic, potentially harmful contaminants in wastewater from conventional and unconventional (shale) drilling operations.
A 1997 industry sponsored study by Moody & Associates documents adverse groundwater impacts from the land application disposal of conventional oil and gas wastewater concluding-- "The water quality data generated from this study indicates that the long term discharge of shallow oil field produced water to the ground surface is not a viable management practice." [page 26] Read more here.
These study results are relevant to the controversy today over the road dumping of conventional oil and gas wastewater as a disposal method.
The repeated and heavy road dumping of conventional oil and gas wastewater that continues on Pennsylvania dirt and gravel roads and amounts to the repeated "ground surface" application of oil and gas wastewater evaluated in the Moody study.
The 250 mg/l limit of chlorides in groundwater contamination limit DEP established for the Moody study is significant because a Penn State study released in May 2022 found water runoff from conventional oil and gas wastewater dumping on dirt and gravel roads contained from 7,550 to 10,000 mg/l of chlorides. Read more here - page 50.
The original chloride content of the oil and gas wastewater tested in the latest Penn State study contained from 47,900 to 49,700 mg/l of chlorides. Read more here - page 39.
A 1985 study released in 2010 by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources found high concentrations of barium in conventional oil and gas brines was the "likely the source of barium contents exceeding the drinking-water limits in some private wells and small municipal water supplies in western Pennsylvania." [Read more here.]
The study went on to explain, "Contents of barium and strontium are limited by the solubility of sulfates and carbonates but can be relatively high, so that admixture of even small amounts of the brine with near-surface freshwater can produce barium levels above current limits established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for drinking water." [Read more here.]
Another study also found “produced waters from conventional oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania and New York also have elevated levels of radioactivity, similar to those from the Marcellus Formation.” Read more here.
The 2010 DCNR study also found "radium values are high enough that a possible radiation hazard exists, especially where radium could be adsorbed on iron oxides and accumulate in brine tanks." [Read more here.]
“The release of [radioactive] radium, a known carcinogen, is a potential threat to human health. In Pennsylvania, we found that radioactivity associated with radium released to the environment via road spreading exceeds the radioactivity of radium released by spill events or wastewater treatment plants.” Read more here.
Not Effective Dust Control, Heavily Salting Roads
Eric Chase, Assistant Teaching Professor and Assistant Director of the Penn State Center for Dirt and Gravel Road Studies said road spreading oil and gas wastewater is “not effective at suppressing dust and pose potential environmental harm and due to high levels of chloride and radium would not pass the testing requirements to be eligible for Program funds.”
Adding-- “the use of O&G PWs on Program funded [Dirt & Gravel Road] projects is in opposition with not only the fundamental goals of the Program, but the law that created the Program.”
“My research in support of the Program focuses on road surface aggregate selection, road maintenance and dust/sediment production from unpaved roads in collaboration with agencies such as the US Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Susquehanna River Basin Commission and Trout Unlimited.”
“In recent years I have collaborated with the [Penn State] Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Penn State on research evaluating the environmental impacts of oil & gas produced water disposal practices, including brine spreading in Pennsylvania. I have been a co-author and advisor on several papers that have been published in well regarded peer-reviewed scientific journals.
“On the topic of effectiveness, our research has shown through bench scale testing that O&G PWs do not perform as well as commercially available dust suppressants due to the high sodium content.
“The high sodium content decreases the dust suppression effectiveness compared to commercial calcium based brines and can also destabilize the road.”
“[Oil and gas wastewaters] raise potential environmental concerns due to the chemicals found in the waters. One study on the chemical composition of conventional O&G PWs spread on roads in Pennsylvania published in 2018 found elevated concentrations of total dissolved solids (TDS), chloride, bromide, radium, barium, and in some cases, petroleum hydrocarbons [Tasker et al 2018].”
“This study showed that the median chloride concentration was 183,000 mg/L, as compared to the drinking water standard for chloride of 250 mg/L, which is used in the Program’s Product approval process testing requirements as a maximum concentration limit (for reference chloride in seawater is around 20,000 mg/L).
“This Program’s product approval limit of 250 mg/L chloride has been in place for over 20 years and no chloride-based dust suppressants have ever been used within the Program because of the difficulty meeting this criteria.”
“Additionally, the Program’s Product approval process includes aquatic toxicity testing for rainbow trout and chloride concentrations have been shown by the USEPA to be toxic to trout species at levels 20 times lower than found in O&G PW [oil and gas wastewater].”
“Finally, five O&G PWs from Pennsylvania contained radium levels from 84 to 2,500 pCi/L, which fall above the Program’s product approval process limit of 15 pCi/L,” Chase said.
“Therefore, O&G PWs would not qualify for use or funding within the program due to failing multiple environmental testing protocols and posing a potential environmental harm which are counter to the Program’s goals.”
“In summary, O&G PWs are not effective at suppressing dust and pose potential environmental harm and due to high levels of chloride and radium would not pass the testing requirements to be eligible for Program funds.
“Ultimately, the use of O&G PWs on Program funded projects is in opposition with not only the fundamental goals of the Program, but the law that created the Program.”
Rusting Out Vehicles
Constant road dumping conventional oil and gas wastewater accelerates the process of rusting out vehicles in the dumping areas and literally eats holes in paved roads that make them look like swiss cheese.. [Read more here]
DEP Banned Similar Shale Gas Wastewater Road Dumping
The 2016 update to DEP’s regulations for unconventional shale gas drilling bans the practice of road dumping wastewater from those operations because of the threats it posed.
A 2020 Penn State study formally concluded there were not a lot of differences between conventional and unconventional shale gas wastewater, according to Dr. William Burgos. Read more here.
DCNR Bans Road Dumping
The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has banned the use of oil and gas wastewater for any purpose on its over 6,500 miles of roads in State Forests-- a majority of which are dirt and gravel roads-- and on State Park roads. Read more here.
“The benefits of chemical dust suppressants usually do not outweigh potential maintenance and ecological concerns associated with their use,” DCNR’s guidelines say.
DCNR is the largest owner of dirt and gravel roads in the Commonwealth.
The Allegheny National Forest says “commercial dust suppressants now available render the practice of spreading oil and gas wastewater on roads unnecessary” within the National Forest in Elk, Forest, McKean and Warren counties, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Read more here.
Attempts To Regulate Road Dumping All Failed
There have been several attempts by DEP to regulate the road dumping of conventional wastewater to reduce its environmental and health impacts.
But, DEP hasn’t tried an outright ban on road dumping like DEP has for unconventional shale gas wastewater.
Conventional oil and gas well owners have reported road dumping between 3.5 and 4 million gallons of their oil and gas wastewater a year to DEP as recently as 2017, although those numbers have never been audited by DEP and are likely to be much higher.
In the early 1980s, DEP developed guidelines covering the use of drilling wastewater to suppress dust on unpaved roads. They were designed to “prevent adverse environmental impacts” from the practice.
The guidelines were administered by DEP under the Clean Streams Law, Solid Waste Management Act and the Oil and Gas Act.
Any person planning to spread wastewater had to receive approval from DEP before spreading and obtain signed authorizations from the municipality, the owner of the road or service company.
Approval was received by submitting a yearly plan to DEP that contained the road name and section they intend to spread, locations of wastewater storage areas, intended frequency and application rates and descriptions of operating procedures for spreading the wastewater.
The plan also had to contain a chemical analysis of the wastewater and the geologic formations from which the wastewater was produced.
The guidelines included limits on the frequency and rate of wastewater application.
There was a limit of 1 gallon per square yard of road surface and it could not be spread within 150 feet of a body of water, on a road with a grade exceeding 10 percent or on wet roads.
Wastewater “spreaders” also had to submit a monthly report to DEP indicating the county, township and roads where wastewater was spread as well as the volumes of wastewater spread, length of road treated and dates on which “spreading” occurred.
The industry never complied in numbers to make the program anywhere near effective at reducing the environmental impact of road dumping.
In 1996, the Ridge Administration looked at road dumping and the environmental impacts of this disposal method. Read more here.
A study begun in 1992 by DEP to “examine ground and surface water impacts from spreading brine on unpaved roads” concluded “there is a potential for brine to migrate from the roadway and impact ground or surface water quality.” Read more here.
The result was a new set of guidelines in 1998 that limited how much could be dumped on roads and where so it wouldn’t run off and pollute. Read more here.
The industry failed to comply with these limits too on how they dumped and the required reporting.
They just kept dumping.
The DEP Oil and Gas Program process for approving road dumping ended in 2018 with the settlement of an appeal before the Environmental Hearing Board. Read more here.
But, that did not stop the conventional well owners.
DEP’s own Oil and Gas Reporting system shows 3.5 million gallons of conventional oil and gas wastewater was dumped on Pennsylvania roads since the 2018 decision, but, as noted, it was probably a lot more.. Read more here.
Well owners turned to DEP’s Residual Waste Regulations and the “co-product” use process to get their waste approved for road dumping.
But, DEP’s Waste Management Program said the industry didn’t meet those requirements either. Read more here.
Municipalities As Waste Facilities
In 2021, DEP’s Oil and Gas Program listed 84 townships as “waste facilities” because conventional oil and gas wastewater has been dumped on their roads. Read more here.
In 2022, DEP took the extra step of advising 18 municipalities in four counties that road dumping of conventional wastewater is considered waste disposal and is illegal. Read more here.
Road dumping remains illegal as a result, but the “co-product” loophole still exists.
And, the industry keeps road dumping. Read more here.
A Culture Of Non-Compliance
Any framework DEP has tried to regulate the illegal practice of road dumping conventional oil and gas wastewater has failed.
Any new framework has to be measured against the failure of all past attempts and what DEP calls the industry’s “culture of non-compliance.”
In December, 2022, the Department of Environmental Protection released the first-ever assessment of how well conventional oil and gas drillers comply with state environmental laws and concluded, “(the) conventional oil and gas industry’s recent record of compliance with Pennsylvania law is simply not good, particularly with regard to improper abandonment of wells.” Read more here.
DEP concluded-- “A significant change in the culture of non-compliance as an acceptable norm in the conventional oil and gas industry will need to occur before meaningful improvement can happen.”
“This record of non-compliance will require DEP to further develop and refine its techniques for deterring violations and encouraging compliance with relevant statutory and regulatory provisions.
The report looked at environmental compliance in the industry between 2017 and 2021.
Specifically, the report found--
-- Abandoning oil and gas wells most frequent violation, noting conventional operators were issued 3,123 notices of violation for the practice during the five years reviewed;
-- Huge gaps exist in reporting waste generated by conventional wells: Over 56 percent of conventional well operators fail to report the amount of waste they generate and how it is disposed of meaning more than half of the wastewater being produced may be unaccounted for-- roughly 118 million gallons-- but we don’t know for sure due to the lack of reporting.
-- Failure to report mechanical integrity of wells by over 59 percent of conventional well operators means they are not making sure their oil and gas wells are not leaking fluids into groundwater or surface water or natural gas into the air or operating their wells safely.
It’s Gotten Worse
Since that report was issued, things have only gotten worse--
-- 86% of conventional oil and gas well owners did not submit a 2023 annual production and waste generation and disposal report to DEP for each well they own which means DEP has no idea how much waste those wells generate and where it is being disposed. These 4,265 conventional oil and gas well owners own 33,505 wells-- 32% of the conventional wells required to report Read more here.
To put the environmental impact of noncompliance with waste reporting into perspective, in 2017, approximately 44 percent of conventional operators reported generating a total of 93,416,526 gallons of wastewater for disposal or treatment. Read more here.
Given current compliance numbers, that means an estimated 118 million gallons of conventional wastewater or more has not been accounted for in the annual waste reports.
Where did it go?
-- 89% of conventional oil and gas well owners failed to submit a 2023 annual well integrity report for each of the wells they own to assure they are not contaminating groundwater, surface water or venting gas into the atmosphere. These 4,359 owners own 34,455 wells-- 34% of the conventional wells required to file these reports. Read more here.
-- In 2024, DEP issued a record 860 notices of violation to conventional oil and gas well owners for abandoning and not plugging their wells. Read more here.
-- An estimated 4,719 conventional oil and gas well owners have yet to comply with a 2022 Air Quality regulation reducing methane emissions from their wells and infrastructure because of a court challenge they filed. Read more here. DEP’s Air Quality Program is developing a new methane reduction program using General Permits, but has not yet developed a strategy for getting conventional facility owners to comply with anything. Read more here.
Violations Increased Dramatically
The number of total violations issued to conventional oil and gas well owners by DEP’s Oil and Gas Program have increased dramatically since 2015--
-- 2024-- 7,294 Read more here.
-- 2023-- 6,860 Read more here.
-- 2022-- 5,416 Read more here.
-- 2021-- 4,514 Read more here.
-- 2015-- 1,024 Read more here.
The culture of non-compliance continues in full force.
Conclusion
So, given--
-- What DEP says is the culture of non-compliance by the industry;
-- The failure of any attempt to regulate road dumping for decades, due to industry non-compliance;
-- Clear science over several decades that says oil and gas wastewater and road dumping has the potential for negative environmental and health impacts;
-- That researchers say no more research is needed to conclude road dumping should be banned (when have you heard researchers ever say that?);
-- That DEP already bans road dumping of unconventional shale gas wastewater that is hard to distinguish from conventional wastewater in chemical and physical make-up;
-- That conventional wastewater is not an effective dust suppressant because of its chemical make-up;
-- That conventional wastewater actually breaks up dirt and gravel roads making them dustier and literally eats road pavement making it look like swiss cheese;
-- That constant road dumping accelerates the rusting of vehicles…
There is ample justification for a straight-forward ban on road dumping.
We wait to see what DEP says.
(Photos: Row 1-- Late night road dumping on March 21, 2025, note triangular spray pattern; Row 2-- Morning-after March 21 dumping fingerprint; Row- 3 Telltale bluish sheen from road dumping on paved road, water collected after road dumping on Scranton Hollow Road on September 17, 2024)
Resource Links - Road Dumping:
-- Senate Hearing: Penn State Expert: ‘No More Research That Needs To Be Done’ To Justify A Ban On Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater [4.17.24]
-- House Hearing: Penn State Expert Says ‘Pennsylvania Should Ban Road Spreading Of Oil & Gas Wastewater;’ Contaminants Exceed Health, Environmental Standards [6.10.24]
-- House Hearing: Penn State Center For Dirt & Gravel Road Studies Says Road Spreading Oil & Gas Wastewater Is Not An Effective Dust Suppressant, Does Not Meet Environmental Testing Standards [6.10.24]
-- Moody & Associates Study Finds Discharge Of Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater To The Ground Surface ‘Not A Viable Management Practice'; Supports Ban On Road Dumping; Onsite Disposal [5.13.24]
-- The Science Says: Spreading Conventional Drilling Wastewater On Dirt & Gravel Roads Can Harm Aquatic Life, Poses Health Risks To Humans - And It Damages The Roads [10.25.21]
-- How The Conventional Oil & Gas Drilling Industry Eliminated Any Restrictions On The Disposal Of Millions Of Gallons Of Its Wastewater On PA’s Dirt & Gravel Roads [10.21.21]
-- Senate Hearing: First-Hand Account Of Health, Environmental Impacts From Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater - ‘Inhaling Oil & Gas Wastewater 24-Hours A Day’ [4.17.24]
-- House Hearing: A First-Hand Account Of How Repeated, Unlimited Road Dumping Of Oil & Gas Drilling Wastewater Is Tearing Apart Dirt Roads And Creating Multiple Environmental Hazards [6.10.24]
-- House Hearing: Protect PT - Road Dumping Oil & Gas Wastewater ‘Is Disproportionately Responsible For Negative Impacts On Human Health,’ Especially From Radioactive Radium [6.10.24]
-- Senate Hearing: 3.5 Million Gallons Of Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Dumped On PA Public Roads Since DEP’s ‘Moratorium’ On Dumping Started 6 Years Ago [4.17.24]
-- House Hearing: On Road Dumping Oil & Gas Wastewater - ‘We Studied This For Nearly 30 Years And The Conclusions Are The Same - The Wastewater Contains Harmful Contaminants’ [6.10.24]
-- Senate Hearing: The Case For An Immediate, Total Ban On Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater [4.17.24]
-- House Hearing: Shapiro Administration Supports Bill Banning Road Dumping Oil & Gas Wastewater, Prohibiting Its Use As Coproduct Under Residual Waste Regulations [6.10.24]
-- Guest Essay: Take A Deep Breath! Now Think What You Just Inhaled. If You Live Along A Dirt Road You Could Be Inhaling Oil & Gas Wastewater - By Siri Lawson, Warren County [8.2.23]
-- Environmental Health Project - Part 1: Personal Narrative Of Environmental, Health Impacts From Oil & Gas Drilling On Siri Lawson, Warren County [7.16.21]
-- Environmental Health Project - Part II: Personal Narrative Of Environmental, Health Impacts From Oil & Gas Drilling On Siri Lawson, Warren County [8.5.21]
-- Op-Ed: Why Is the General Assembly About To Hurt Us By Authorizing Road Dumping Of Oil & Gas Wastewater? - By Siri Lawson [9.22.19]
-- Op-Ed: Will Our Dirt Roads Again Be Used As Dumping Sites For Oil & Gas Well Wastewater - By Siri Lawson [3.22.19]
-- Op-Ed: The Story Behind Stopping Conventional Oil & Gas Brine Spreading On Dirt Roads - By Siri Lawson [6.26.18]
Resource Links - Oil & Gas Industry Compliance History:
-- DEP Report Finds: Conventional Oil & Gas Drillers Routinely Abandon Wells; Fail To Report How Millions Of Gallons Of Waste Is Disposed; And Non-Compliance Is An ‘Acceptable Norm’ [December 2022]
-- AG Shapiro: Grand Jury Finds Pennsylvania Failed To Protect Citizens During Natural Gas Fracking Boom [June 2022]
-- Criminal Convictions; Record Penalties, Restitution Of Over $158.3 Million Highlight Big Shale Gas, Related Petrochemical Industry Compliance History In Pennsylvania [March 2025]
-- DEP Reports 575 Water Supply/Stray Gas Complaints About Oil & Gas Operations In Last 2 Years; Investigation Can Take A Year, Sometimes 2-3 To Find Those Responsible [March 2025]
-- Daily Grind Living Next To Oil & Gas Industry: Spills, Polluted Water Supplies, Smells Like Gas, Noise, Air Pollution, Explosions, Truck Traffic, Erosion, Radioactive Waste, Gas Flares, Dust, Lights, Road Dumping Waste, Abandoned Wells [March 2025]
-- 7 Years Ago, People From Over 70 Households Gave First-Hand Accounts Of How The PA Shale Gas Industry Impacted Their Health, Lives And Communities To A State Grand Jury Describing The ‘Sometimes Harsh Reality’ Of These Operations [PaEN]
-- DEP: Nearly 7 Year Struggle Continues To Cleanup Multiple Conventional Oil Well Spills At Site In Economy Borough, Beaver County [PaEN]
Resource Links - Health, Environmental Impacts:
-- Environmental Health Project Releases New White Paper: PA's Shale Gas - What We Can Do Now To Better Protect Public Health [PaEN]
-- Environmental Health Project: Lois Bower-Bjornson Shares Her First-Hand Experiences With Shale Gas Health, Environmental Impacts In Washington County [PaEN]
-- 7 Years Ago, People From Over 70 Households Gave First-Hand Accounts Of How The PA Shale Gas Industry Impacted Their Health, Lives And Communities To A State Grand Jury Describing The ‘Sometimes Harsh Reality’ Of These Operations [PaEN]
-- State Dept. Of Health Apologizes For Not Listening To Communities Suffering Health Impacts From Shale Gas Development; New Health Study Results ‘Just The Tip Of The Iceberg’ [August 2023]
-- University Of Pittsburgh School Of Public Health Studies Find Shale Gas Wells Can Make Asthma Worse; Children Have An Increased Chance Of Developing Lymphoma Cancer; Slightly Lower Birth Weights [August 2023]
-- State Dept. Of Health Invites Citizens To File Environmental Health Complaints Related To Natural Gas Development; Health Will Also Review Environmental Test Results [September 2023]
-- State Dept. Of Health Pushing For Changes To Reduce Adverse Health Impacts From Natural Gas Development [November 2023]
-- Part I - Environmental Impacts: State Dept. Of Health, Penn State Medical Webinars On Caring For Persons Living & Working In Communities With Oil & Natural Gas Extraction [January 2025]
-- Part II - Health Impacts: State Dept. Of Health, Penn State Medical Webinars On Caring For Persons Living & Working In Communities With Oil & Natural Gas Extraction [March 2025]
-- New State Health Plan Identifies Health Issues Related To Natural Resource Extraction, Climate Change In Top 5 Threats To Health Outcomes [April 2023]
-- 2025 PA Shale Gas & Public Health Conference Attended By Nearly 480 People Featured Health Experts, Scientists, Advocacy Groups On Health, Environmental Impacts Of Shale Gas Development [February 2025]
-- Presentations Now Available From 2022 Shale Gas & Public Health Conference In Nov. Hosted By PA League Of Women Voters & University Of Pittsburgh Graduate School Of Public Health [December 2022]
-- Fact Sheet: How Oil and Gas Operations Impact Your Baby’s Health
-- Frackland Video Tour, with Lois Bower-Bjornson, Clean Air Council
-- 9th Compendium Of Studies On Health & Environmental Harms From Natural Gas Development Released - ‘The Rapidly Expanding Body Of Evidence Compiled Here Is Massive, Troubling And Cries Out For Decisive Action’ [October 2023]
-- Senate Hearing: Body Of Evidence Is 'Large, Growing,’ ‘Consistent’ And 'Compelling' That Shale Gas Development Is Having A Negative Impact On Public Health; PA Must Act [June 2022]
-- Cecil Township Supervisors In Washington County Adopt 2,500 Setback From Shale Gas Well Pads From Homes, Businesses, 5,000 Foot Setback From Hospitals, Schools [November 2024]
-- Range Resources And MarkWest Liberty Midstream File Legal Challenges To The 2,500 Foot Shale Gas Facility Setback Ordinance Adopted By Cecil Township, Washington County [January 2025]
-- The Energy Age Blog: Range Resources & MarkWest Liberty Midstream File Legal Challenges Against 2,500 Foot Shale Gas Setback Ordinance In Cecil Twp., Washington County [January 2025]
-- House Committee Hearing On Increasing Safety Setbacks Zones Around Natural Gas Facilities Heard About First-Hand Citizen Experiences On Health Impacts, From Physicians On Health Studies And The Gas Industry On Job Impacts [October 2023]
-- Sen. Yaw, Republican Chair Of Senate Environmental Committee, Calls Bill To Reduce Shale Gas Industry Impacts On Health, Environment ‘Stupid’ [October 2023]
-- Senators Santarsiero, Comitta Introduce SB 581 Increasing Setback Safety Zones From Natural Gas Drilling Sites, Other Infrastructure, Based On Latest Science [January 2024]
Related Articles This Week:
-- Environmental Quality Board Tables Vote On Accepting Petition For Study To Increase Setbacks From Shale Gas Wells Until Last Minute Comments Can Be Reviewed [PaEN]
-- Conventional/Shale Oil & Gas Industry Association Acknowledges 1.4 Million People ‘Are Impacted By General Oil & Gas Operations’ In Pennsylvania [PaEN]
-- House Environmental Committee Reports Out Bill To Require DEP To Consider Cumulative Impacts Of Certain New Sources Of Pollution On Already Impacted Communities [PaEN]
-- Liberty Energy, Range Resources Announce Support For Developing A Natural Gas Data Center Power Plant In Robinson Twp., Washington County [PaEN]
-- PUC: NTSB Releases Report, Recommendations From Investigation Of West Reading Chocolate Plant Natural Gas Explosion [PaEN]
-- Center For Coalfield Justice, MIT Researchers Host April 17 Public Meeting In Washington County On An Upcoming Seismic Study In Southwestern PA [PaEN]
-- Physicians For Social Responsibility PA Hosts May 8 In-Person Oil & Gas Industry Waste Worker Safety Workshop, Webinar In Scranton [PaEN]
-- PA House Bill Introduced Authorizing Community Solar Energy Programs [PaEN]
-- President Signs Executive Orders Directing US Attorney General To Take Action Against States Impeding Domestic Energy Production; Rescinds Policies Transition Away From Coal; Lifts Toxics Standards For Coal Power Plants [PaEN]
-- PJM Interconnection Supports Presidential Exemptions From Clean Air Act Standards Requested By 13,900 MW Of Electric Generation In PJM Region, Including Keystone And Conemaugh Power Plants In PA [PaEN]
NewsClips:
-- The Center Square: Environmental Justice Bill Moves Forward From PA House Committee
-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Liberty Energy, Range Resources Partner On Natural Gas Power Plant For Data Center In Washington County
-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Liberty Energy, Range Resources Partner On Natural Gas Power Plant For Data Center In Washington County
-- Erie Times: Federal Lawsuit Claims East Fairfield Twp., Crawford County Violated Solar Energy Developer’s Civil Rights, Municipal Extortion, Bribery Totaling $150 Million
-- Bloomberg: President’s Tariffs Herald Higher Costs For A.I. Boom; New Measure Hit Power Industry Already Struggling To Procure Vital Equipment
-- Bloomberg: President’s New ‘Order’ Seeks To Tap Coal Power In Quest To Dominate A.I.
-- E&ENews/Politico: President To Sign Executive ‘Orders’ Aimed At Reviving Coal To Keep Plants Running
-- Utility Dive: US Electricity Demand Will Grow By 50% (2% a Year) By 2050, Electrical Manufacturer Study Finds
[Posted: April 9, 2025] PA Environment Digest
