PA Environment Digest Blog: Environmental Health Project Releases New White Paper: PA's Shale Gas - What We Can Do Now To Better Protect Public Health

On Tuesday, the Environmental Health Project released a new white paper-- Pennsylvania’s Shale Gas Boom: What the Shapiro Administration Can Do to Better Protect Public Health-- recommending a series of actions needed now to address health and environmental impacts from shale gas development and infrastructure.

EHP said, Pennsylvania residents impacted by the vast network of shale gas infrastructure—wells, compressor stations, processing plants, pipelines, truck traffic, etc.—had every reason to expect that Gov. Shapiro and his administration, once in office, would work hard to defend their health from sources of pollution.

Two years later, residents are still waiting for meaningful action, the group said.

This white paper addresses progress and shortcomings of the administration and the General Assembly, while offering recommendations for what the governor and his administration can do better to protect residents’ health.

“Over the past 20 years, enough research studies and investigations have been done to clearly demonstrate many of the health risks posed by shale gas development,” said Alison L. Steele, Executive Director of the Environmental Health Project.

“Any call for more studies should not preclude swift and meaningful action on the part of our government. Now is the time for Gov. Shapiro and his administration to recognize the preponderance of evidence that already exists and take reasonable steps to defend the health of our residents from oil and gas pollution.

“In doing so, he can address legitimate concerns that exist with respect to Pennsylvania’s public health but also its environmental and economic health,” said Steele.

Rep. Arvind Venkat, MD (D-Allegheny) said, “I come to this issue on the relationship between environmental quality and health really from my professional background. I'm an emergency physician.

“I do still practice, and I know from having practiced here in Southwestern Pennsylvania for close to 20 years, that we are seeing an epidemic of a number of conditions that are directly related to air quality, directly related to environmental quality, directly related to whether we are going to step forward in regulating industry that has its role, but that we also have a responsibility for the public to make sure that their health is protected.

“And when I assumed office in 2022, one of the things that I certainly articulated to my community in representing them is that this issue of our energy industry in Pennsylvania, it needs to be coupled with rigorous environmental regulation and certainly in sensitive areas relative to schools and parks and residential areas.

“We need far more enforcement than we have today on the environmental issue. And this is going to continue.

“So I certainly appreciate the work of EHP and I appreciate the work that is being done to educate policymakers such as myself about how this is affecting our communities and what we need to do in order to strike the right balance between energy and environmental quality.

“And I certainly believe that this is not an either/or circumstance that we can do both, but it does require that government be far more involved than we have been in the past, and that includes funding for regulators.

“We're certainly seeing out of [Washington] DC an attempt to eviscerate, in my opinion, environmental regulation and that is going to put more responsibility on states to step forward,” said Rep. Venkat.

Lois Bower-Bjornson, Southwestern PA Field Organizer for the Clean Air Council, described the personal experiences of her family and her neighbors with the shale gas industry in Washington County. Read more here.

Letter To Gov. Shapiro

After groups and citizens review the White Paper, the Environmental Health Project invited those concerned about this issue to sign on to a letter to Gov. Shapiro requesting he take action to better protect Pennsylvanians from the health and environmental impacts of shale gas development.

Click Here for more information and to sign on. The opportunity to sign on will be available until April 15.

Video Of Announcement

Click Here to watch a video of the announcement.

White Paper - Shale Gas In PA

Approximately 1.5 million Pennsylvanians live within a half mile of oil and gas wells.

Millions more live within a half mile of a pipeline, compressor station, processing facility, or other shale gas infrastructure, raising health risks for those individuals, their families, and their neighbors.

The Research Is In

Over the past 20 years, enough research studies and investigations have been done to clearly demonstrate many of the health risks shale gas development poses.

More than 30 peer-reviewed epidemiological studies show an association between gas infrastructure and adverse health impacts for nearby residents.

Hundreds of other investigations and first-hand accounts have corroborated those findings.

Children, the elderly, pregnant individuals, and people with pre-existing conditions are especially vulnerable to these health impacts, as are workers in the industry, who often encounter higher levels of exposure to toxic and radioactive materials than do others.

There is no established “safe” distance, and people living near these sites experience increased risks of--

-- Respiratory problems, such as asthma and chronic bronchitis;

-- Skin and eye irritation;

-- Headaches, dizziness, and nausea

-- Hospitalization from heart-related complications;

-- Cancer, particularly in those who are exposed over a long period of time;

-- Adverse birth outcomes, including preterm birth, low birth weight, and birth defects;

-- Mental health issues from noise, vibration, and light pollution; and

-- Premature mortality in the elderly.

Shale gas extraction and use also contributes to climate change, which poses other health impacts for every resident of Pennsylvania, and indeed for people worldwide.

Climate change increases the incidence and severity of storms, floods, wildfires, and insect-borne diseases, such as Lyme disease—all of which increase illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths.

Call To Action

EHP’s white paper is a call to action to the governor—and indeed to government at all levels—to heed the Pennsylvania Constitution and deliver to residents the health protections they have been promised.

The recommendations laid out in this document can serve to support a much-needed transition to a renewable energy economy, which will involve creating sustainable jobs, reducing health impacts and health care costs associated with the shale gas industry, and saving lives.

Progress Has Been Made

Over the course of the last two years, the Shapiro Administration has taken a number of

actions to better protect the health of residents in the Commonwealth--

-- Plugging Abandoned/Orphaned Conventional Wells: Abandoned and orphaned wells represent serious public health hazards. Pollution from uncontrolled, and often unsuspected, leaks can impair the health of people living near these wells.

Utilizing funding from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the DEP has overseen the capping of more than [300 wells within the first two years] of Gov. Shapiro’s term. [Read more here]

The DEP also partnered with the United Mine Workers of America to institute a new registered apprenticeship program that teaches workers how to clean up oil and gas wells.

-- Proposing Alternatives To The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI): With the General Assembly unlikely to act on approving RGGI program to limit carbon pollution from power plants, the Shapiro Administration has turned to alternative proposals to reduce pollution and hold polluters accountable in the state, such as: Reducing Industrial Sector Emissions in Pennsylvania (RISE PA) program; Pennsylvania Climate Emissions Reduction (PACER) act,; and Pennsylvania Reliable Energy Sustainability Standard (PRESS). [Read more here]

-- Prioritizing DEP: During budget hearings in 2024, DEP estimated that the staff of its Oil and Gas Program, which oversees permitting and regulating the industry, was operating at about 75% capacity due to staffing shortfalls. Because of these shortfalls, DEP has often been unable to take meaningful enforcement action, failing to address many spills and other violations.

To its credit, the Shapiro Administration was able to obtain a 14% increase in DEP funding in the fiscal year 2024-2025 budget, while calling for an additional 12% increase in DEP funding in the 2025-2026 budget. [Read more here]

-- Promoting Solar And Other Renewable Energy Projects: To make up some of this lost ground, the Shapiro Administration has continued to advance the PA Project to Utilize Light and Solar Energy (PA PULSE) initiative, enabling state agencies to source at least 53% of

their annual energy consumption from renewables once several solar farms are built throughout the state.

Additionally, Pennsylvania is set to receive $156 million in federal aid from the Solar for All program to place solar panels on more than 14,000 residential homes in low-income and social justice communities, in both urban and rural areas. [Read more here]

Likewise, the new Solar for Schools program, where schools can request grants to cover up to 50% of the cost of solar installations.

-- Focusing On Community Engagement And Environmental Justice: Frontline communities, especially those considered to be environmental justice communities, have suffered disproportionately large health impacts from shale gas development.

It is imperative that state leaders engage with them in meaningful ways to better address the risks they face.

The Shapiro Administration has taken a few steps forward in this regard:

-- DEP has established a Customer Experience Management Advisory Council to advise DEP’s leadership “on strategies and improvements to enhance service delivery to the public.”

-- In September 2023, DEP published an Interim-Final Environmental Justice Policy, which incorporated input from the public and from advocacy organizations. [Read more here]

-- In 2024, the Shapiro Administration appointed Fernando Treviño as special deputy secretary to DEP’s Office of Environmental Justice, elevating OEJ leadership to the level of a deputy secretary for the first time.

-- DEP has since added Environmental Justice Regional Coordinators in each of its six regional offices.

Falling Short

While Gov. Shapiro’s administration has taken some definitive steps forward in better protecting the health of Pennsylvania residents from shale gas pollution during its first two years, it has fallen short on several other fronts--

-- Expanding no-drill zones in Pennsylvania from the required 500 feet to 2,500 feet: In a 2020 Grand Jury Report on shale gas development, then Attorney General Shapiro recommended increasing “no drill zones”—or “setback distances”—from the legally required 500 feet to 2,500 feet in order to better protect the health of residents living near oil and gas infrastructure.

As of February 2025, no meaningful, industry-wide changes had been made to setback distances.

-- Requiring fracking companies to publicly disclose all chemicals used in drilling and hydraulic fracturing before they are used on-site: In January 2024, DEP announced it would implement a new policy requiring gas operators to publicly disclose chemicals they use in drilling and hydraulic fracturing earlier in the well development process.

However, Pennsylvania law does not require operators to publicly disclose chemical blends if they are considered proprietary or a trade secret.

Consequently, many of the chemicals involved in the fracking process will still not be made available to the public, health care professionals (except in very limited situations), researchers, government officials, or emergency preparedness and response teams that require such information when leaks or spills occur.

-- Acknowledging the settled science on the health risks of exposure to shale gas pollution: During the first two years of his term, Gov. Shapiro had many opportunities to acknowledge the substantial and conclusive research on health impacts from the shale gas industry.

EHP and other health and community organizations provided the Shapiro Administration with information about relevant studies and investigations on several occasions.

Based on the evidence to date, Gov. Shapiro has so far failed to acknowledge this research, most recently remaining silent on the Health and Environment Studies (Pitt Studies) since their release in August 2023. [Read more here]

Instead, he has called for even more research before taking action, which will delay necessary protections for many more years.

-- Directing state health agencies to meaningfully engage with frontline communities and health care providers: The state Department of Health, Pennsylvania’s premiere health agency, must perform a key role in helping to protect residents exposed to shale gas pollution.

In recent years, the DOH has made progress in educating residents and health care providers on the risks of exposure to toxic emissions from shale gas development.

The DOH has provided continuing education to local health care providers on oil and gas pollutant exposure, created an initiative to educate schools on air quality, and introduced a new Environmental Health Complaint process. [Read more here] [Read more here]

While the DOH has taken positive steps to meet with organizations and educate state residents on the health implications of shale gas pollution, it needs a clear mandate from Gov. Shapiro to act more openly regarding known health risks.

-- Empowering enforcement agencies to regulate toxic emissions and to effectively: penalize operators who violate regulations: The DEP’s mission is “to protect Pennsylvania’s air, land, and water resources and to provide for the health and safety of its residents and visitors....”

However, the DEP has failed to fulfill this mission on several fronts. [Read more here]

First, the DEP’s regulatory authority continues to be insufficient to foster meaningful oversight of shale gas operators. [Read more here] [Read more here]

DEP field inspectors are historically understaffed, and though the DEP cited conventional and unconventional operators 102,652 times for violations between 2007 and 2023, these citations have not deterred operators from continuing to pollute, often at will. [Read more here]

The Shapiro Administration has the power to strengthen regulations and improve enforcement, including more stringent penalties for violations, but has not yet done so in any meaningful way.

-- Calling for legislative action to shore up legal gaps that jeopardize health: The DEP continues to operate under most of the same industry-friendly regulations put into place almost two decades ago.

Some current legislators have introduced bills that would increase health protections near shale gas pollution, but each one of these bills has either been voted down or stalled in committees.

Other legislators are attempting to increase favorable conditions for industry by punishing communities who seek to better protect their health through stronger local ordinances. Amid these disagreements,

Gov. Shapiro could publicly engage legislators and urge passage of bills that protect residents from shale gas pollution, but like his predecessors, again, he has chosen not to.

-- Regulating industry to reduce health risks: In 2020, Attorney General Shapiro was clear that oil and gas operators must be held accountable for their actions, saying: “We can’t rely on big corporations to police themselves. After all, they report to their investors and their shareholders. That’s their job. It’s the government’s job to set and enforce the ground rules that protect the public interest. And through multiple administrations, they failed to do that.” [Read more here]

Instead, in November 2023, Gov. Shapiro announced a collaboration with CNX Resources, a heavily fined shale gas extraction company based in Canonsburg, Washington County. [Read more here]

While the governor touts this collaboration as a new model of industry cooperation and “radical transparency,” CNX has committed to little more than what is already legally required, making the governor’s support sound disingenuous in the context of his prior statements.

Gov. Shapiro’s part in this deal was deeply upsetting to many members of frontline communities who were counting on his promises to hold industry accountable, and as of February 2025, he still has not attempted to press for rulemaking that would require more meaningful health-protective measures for the industry at large.

-- Prioritizing truly clean energy: Gov. Shapiro has spoken extensively about the importance of “clean energy.” However, the administration’s definition of “clean” includes the use of fossil fuels, which will extend the timeline of fossil fuel extraction, endangering the health of those nearby and placing our planet in continued jeopardy.

-- Petrochemical facilities, such as the Shell ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, rely on fossil fuels to operate.

While the DEP appears ready to continue to hold Shell accountable for pollution violations at the existing cracker plant, Gov. Shapiro has not yet addressed the problematic pollution of this facility.

Nor has he publicly called into question the wisdom of building additional petrochemical facilities in an area already burdened with pollution from shale gas extraction, transportation, and use.

-- Blue hydrogen facilities, such as those planned in the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2), will necessitate thousands of miles of new pipelines and huge amounts of shale gas as feedstock from the region, leading to many more wells being drilled in areas already impacted by the toxic legacy of this heavy industry.

These projects risk more uncontrolled emissions at every stage of development, not to mention raising the possibility of earthquakes and groundwater contamination.

-- Liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, which are proposed in Pennsylvania, pose immediate health and safety risks to those living nearby due to the volume of methane emissions and volatility of the production and transportation process. [Read more here]

These risks include explosions, air and water pollution, noise, mental health impacts, and climate-warming pollution released throughout the process.

In his first two years as Pennsylvania’s governor, Gov. Shapiro has publicly supported all the above fossil fuel projects, calling them good for Pennsylvania’s economy.

However, it appears that he and his administration have not yet considered the negative economic impacts created by adverse health and safety outcomes for Pennsylvania residents.

-- Supporting a just transition to renewable energy: The transition to renewable energy production, such as solar, wind, geothermal, and others, must happen quickly to reduce severe weather impacts due to climate change that are devastating lives and property across the globe.

Further, any transition must consider the enormous health costs associated with continued or expanded fossil fuel development, especially in Pennsylvania, which has a long history of extractive industries.

While the Shapiro Administration has made some progress on promoting renewable energy in the Commonwealth, it can do much more to make renewables a priority.

Gov. Shapiro has himself acknowledged that Pennsylvania has fallen behind the nation in terms of investing in green energy sources like wind, solar, and hydropower, but he has seemed reluctant to make bold commitments to renewable energy production, scaling up manufacturing of renewable technologies, or wide implementation of renewable solutions in the Commonwealth, even as fossil fuel jobs are already being replaced by plentiful and good-paying jobs in the renewable energy sector.

Indeed, Gov. Shapiro’s “Ten-Year Strategic Plan for Economic Development in Pennsylvania,” as well as his 2024 and 2025 budget addresses, zeroed in on fossil fuel emissions reductions, while ignoring a chance to design and execute a comprehensive renewable energy plan.

Actions To Better Defend Public Health

Based on this assessment of Gov. Shapiro’s first two years in office, EHP suggests the following specific actions his administration can take to defend public health while prioritizing a just transition toward renewable energy:

-- Increase setback distances from shale gas infrastructure: Setback distances (protective buffers) between shale gas operations and occupied buildings are currently governed by Pennsylvania Act 13 (2012), which established certain legal requirements around this industry.

The governor can urge the General Assembly to amend Act 13 and mandate greater setbacks for all operators.

While no distance has been established as “safe,” EHP recommends setback distances of at least 1 km (about 3,300 feet or 0.6 miles) for small facilities and at least 2 km (about 6,600 feet or 1.25 miles) for large facilities and from schools, nursing homes, and other structures accommodating vulnerable populations.

Because farther is ultimately better for reducing health harms, the industry should not be allowed exemptions or waivers to these distances for any reason.

-- Publicly disclose all chemicals used in shale gas development: Changing the law around chemical disclosures may require legislative action.

If chemical disclosures cannot be changed through DEP rulemaking, Gov. Shapiro should press the legislature to act and require operators to fully disclose all chemicals they use, even if they are considered proprietary or a trade secret.

This disclosure should ideally be made to the general public or, at a bare minimum, to government agencies, public works administrators, emergency preparedness and response teams, and medical practitioners treating affected patients, all of whom require this data.

Gov. Shapiro can also urge the legislature to consider the full lifecycle of all toxic pollutants involved in shale gas development when requiring operators to disclose what they put into the ground and what comes back out during operations.

-- Develop a comprehensive health plan for preventing fossil fuel pollution exposure: Holding profit-motivated industries to account is one role governments must assume to best defend residents’ health.

The Shapiro Administration must take a more proactive and higher profile role in defending the health of Pennsylvanians from oil and gas pollution with a comprehensive health response.

Such a response would include an honest recognition of the health impacts associated with shale gas development and sufficient provisions for fully funded and staffed agencies with strong enforcement authority.

-- Epidemiologic research showing serious health impacts from shale gas development is already substantial and sufficient to inform swift action:

Gov. Shapiro must acknowledge the inherent health risks in these operations and task his agencies with taking appropriate action to reduce these risks.

This research includes the findings of the Pennsylvania Health and Environment Studies (Pitt Studies), which Gov. Shapiro has yet to acknowledge.

-- The state Department of Health (DOH) has recently taken a more open approach to confronting health harms experienced by communities on the front lines of shale gas development, but much more could be done with adequate support from the governor.

Adequate support could enable this agency to create and distribute comprehensive resources, actionable guidance, and suitable response/investigations near existing facilities, as well as provide Health Impact Assessments and evaluations of additional considerations for Environmental Justice communities before the permitting and development of new facilities.

-- The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has regulatory authority over the shale gas industry and must hold it accountable by requiring accurate and timely monitoring and reporting of regular emissions and upsets, providing public access to collected data, and strictly enforcing rules and regulations with fines and other meaningful punitive consequences.

Other high-priority items should include closing hazardous waste loopholes, monitoring radioactivity at shale gas sites and landfills, requiring safer transport of the contaminated waste created from drilling sites, and regulating gathering lines, which are used to transport shale gas hundreds of miles, reducing opportunities for leaks, explosions, and other health risks throughout.

-- Address cumulative emissions when permitting sites: As part of its permitting process, the DEP should cumulatively analyze emissions—all sources of air pollution in a given area—to accurately assess air quality and to limit shale gas development in airsheds that are already burdened with pollution. [Read more here]

Currently, shale gas facilities are permitted for air pollution emissions as stand-alone entities, but emissions from a new facility, when combined with other existing emission sources nearby, may result in dangerous exposure levels in the ambient air, which may cause adverse acute and chronic health impacts. For that reason, such considerations must be included in the permitting process.

-- Increase funding for state agencies to better fulfill their missions: Gov. Shapiro must put forward—and the General Assembly must approve—state budgets that include adequate funding to agencies like the DOH and the DEP so that they can effectively do their job of protecting Pennsylvania’s resources and the health of residents.

While the increase in DEP funding approved in the 2024-2025 budget and the request for more DEP funding in the 2025-2026 budget are a start, more funds must be channeled to the enforcement arm of DEP and to effective monitoring of public exposure to pollutants from the shale gas industry and other sources.

Similarly, the DOH must be fully funded to do the difficult but essential work of addressing health concerns from impacted residents and disseminating timely guidance.

-- Initiate more transparency and interaction with impacted communities: Gov. Shapiro must call on the DOH and the DEP to work more closely and transparently with communities, providing potentially impacted residents with health-protective strategies to combat pollution exposure and ensure that the voices of residents, especially those experiencing environmental and health harms, are heard.

These residents should know whom to contact when they have an issue or where to go for relevant information, and the appropriate agency should acknowledge, act upon, and respond to any resident’s communication in a timely manner.

The DOH should continue to inform medical providers about health risks from shale gas development so that they can share guidance with patients to help mitigate those risks.

Elevating the Environmental Justice Office of the DEP is a good start, but more can be done to support two-way communication with residents and to elevate their experiences when developing health-protective policy.

-- Take a precautionary approach to petrochemicals, blue hydrogen, and LNG Gas: Industries that use fossil fuels require proactive and comprehensive oversight.

If allowed to operate at all, these industries must be compelled to effect stringent emissions detection and reporting, working with communities to reduce exposure and to alert the public of the content of its releases, whether planned or accidental.

Government agencies must be intrinsically involved in making sure industry complies with pollution standards, holding operators accountable when they do not.

Further, health impact assessments and other community health monitoring must be put in place to ensure residents’ health is protected today and into the future.

Residents must be informed fully about health risks to which they are or will become exposed, communities must be given a say as to whether this development happens within their borders, and clear channels of communication between governmental agencies, industrial operators, and community leaders must be established and supported as long as shale gas development is allowed to operate.

-- Work boldly and creatively to transition away from fossil fuels and toward renewable forms of energy: The Shapiro Administration must take bold steps to raise Pennsylvania from its lowly position of lagging the rest of the country in renewable energy creation to one where renewable energy becomes a primary health-protective driver of the state’s economy.

The continued reliance and emphasis on fossil fuel-sourced industries will only put the state farther behind this goal.

A just energy transition must begin today, and it must have the full force of Gov. Shapiro’s voice and the full attention of his administration and the agencies that work for him.

Only then can the Shapiro Administration say that it is truly working to protect the health and wellbeing of all Pennsylvanians.

Click Here to read the entire EHP White Paper.

Click Here to watch a video of the announcement.

For more information on programs, initiatives, upcoming events and how you can get involved, visit the Environmental Health Project website or follow them on Facebook or Twitter. Click Here to sign up for regular updates.

NewsClip:

-- Inside Climate News - Jon Hurdle: PA Health Advocates Say Gov. Shapiro Has Let Residents Down On Shale Gas Fracking Protections

Resources Links - Compliance:

-- 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 To Recommend Environmental Quality Board Accept A Petition For Study To Increase Setbacks From Shale Gas Wells At April 8 Meeting [March 2025]

-- PA American Water Identifies Water Source For New Public Water System To Replace Water Wells Contaminated By Shale Gas Fracking 20 Years Ago In Dimock Twp., Susquehanna County [March 2025]

-- AG Shapiro: Grand Jury Finds Pennsylvania Failed To Protect Citizens During Natural Gas Fracking Boom [June 2022]

-- 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]

Resource Links - Steps Taken By Health Department: