The groups included Protect PT, Center for Coalfield Justice, Sierra Club PA, Physicians for Social Responsibility PA, FracTracker Alliance, Earthworks, Mountain Watershed Association, and Three Rivers Waterkeeper.
The recommendation follows the March 13 release by DEP of its initial findings from sampling landfill leachate for radioactive radium based on concerns about the impacts of radioactive materials in oil and gas drilling wastes disposed at landfills. Read more here.
The groups said a further concern was a statement in the agency's press release on the findings that said-- "there is no risk to human health from radiation in landfill leachate."
“It’s unfortunate that the PA DEP has released a flawed report that not only used inappropriate methods, includes statements that are incorrect, and most importantly did not actually assess the risk of radiation in the landfills,” says Dr. John Stolz, an American Association for the Advancement of the Sciences Fellow who researches water quality impacts at Duquesne University.
In 2021, the administration of then-Governor Wolf announced that landfills in the Commonwealth would soon be required to conduct quarterly testing of landfill leachate for radium.
Landfill leachate is the contaminated liquid that forms when rainwater filters through the waste in a landfill.
Radium is a known carcinogen that increases the risk of bone cancer, lymphoma, leukemia, and other illnesses.
Oil and gas waste is a major source of radioactivity in our landfills, as the drilling process brings deeply-buried, naturally-occurring radium up to the surface.
DEP’s report provides a summary of the results, but the groups said the report fails to justify Secretary Shirley’s sweeping claim of “no harm.”
Flaws In DEP’s Report
The environmental groups outlined a series of discrepancies between the report and the statement, as well as flaws in the report’s methodology and assumptions, including:
-- The results are incomplete due to the fact that the investigation did not assess "risk," nor was methodology for risk assessment reported.
Further, the DEP did not assess the detrimental effects that leachate has on wastewater treatment facilities or the long term impacts of an accumulation of radium in the environment (radium 226 has a half-life of 1,600 years).
This report is a snapshot of the current landscape that does not assess future circumstances or impact.
-- The use of a drinking water test is inappropriate and leads to inaccurate results: The report presents radiochemistry test results that mostly fall below the radioactivity standard for drinking water.
This is misleading. These tests are designed to be done on drinking water, not leachate.
Leachate has many contaminants, some of which are known to interfere with these radium detection test methods, leading to major underestimates.
-- DEP used an inappropriate threshold to define concerning radiation levels: A radium limit of 600 picocuries per liter (pCi/L) was used, a limit that applies to untreated wastewater from facilities the Nuclear Regulatory Commission licenses to use radioactive material.
This limit is inappropriate for assessing municipal landfill leachate.
Landfill leachate is an under-studied substance, and there is no scientifically-determined threshold for safe radiation levels in leachate specifically.
-- The results are unreliable because the study was not independently reviewed, nor was sufficient information for independent review shared. The investigation was done in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association (PWIA).
It was reviewed internally by the DEP staff and attorneys, not by independent scientists.
There is not enough information about how the study was conducted in order for a rigorous independent review to take place.
In light of all the above issues with the report, the groups demand that DEP continue to monitor radioactivity using a more transparent process and place limits on the amount of radioactivity landfills can discharge.
These limits currently do not exist.
Statements On The Report
“For the leader of our state environmental enforcement agency to make sweeping statements about public safety that do not reflect the findings in their agency's own report is gravely troubling,” said Gillian Graber, Executive Director, Protect PT. “Our tax dollars have been used to produce a report that was supposed to tell the truth of what the oil and gas industry has known for years and tried to cover up: their waste in landfills is creating a radioactive problem.
“Our tax dollars should not be used to make flimsy statements that support continued industry disregard for public health. Now the DEP must take steps to gain some semblance of trust in communities that have long been victims of harm from oil and gas industry waste.”
“Declaring ‘no risk to human health’ based on incomplete and flawed data is not just misleading, it is dangerous,” said Chris DiGiulio, Chemist & Director of Environmental Science and Investigations, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Pennsylvania. “When the underlying science is inadequate, the conclusions cannot be trusted, and communities are left without a clear understanding of their exposure or risk.
“Poor data quality can mask real health threats, delay protective action, and erode public trust. We urge DEP to conduct a rigorous, transparent reassessment that accounts for potential health impacts and reflects their investment in the wellbeing of Pennsylvanians.”
“The lack of meaningful analysis and risk assessment within the DEP report prevents frontline communities from making informed decisions about the risks associated with living and recreating near landfills accepting oil and gas waste,” said Seth Sherman Esq. Staff Attorney, Center for Coalfield Justice.
“The suggestion that highly radioactive leachate poses no threat to human health and has no correlation to the acceptance of oil and gas waste is a failure of the agency to uphold its duties to protect the people and environment of the Commonwealth.
“The data in this report should have prompted DEP to fundamentally readdress how it handles, monitors, and permits landfill leachate radioactivity.
“Instead, it used the report’s shaky conclusions to provide cover for industry at the expense of those who live near and downstream of these facilities.”
“While there are many flaws in this report, there are also data that indicate the DEP should be exercising more oversight over landfill leachate radioactivity,” said Tom Schuster, Director, Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter.
“The gamma spectroscopy results suggest that every landfill in Pennsylvania could be discharging leachate that exceeds the EPA threshold for radium industrial wastewater by a factor of up to nine.
“Rather than declaring “no risk” and moving on, the DEP should be incorporating monitoring requirements and discharge limits for radium into all water pollution permits for landfills and the sewage treatment plants that receive their leachate.”
“Despite its flaws, the report's findings are alarming and signal the need for more accurate studies to better understand the true levels and sources of radiation, as well as targeted mitigation efforts to reduce radium concentrations in leachate,” said Katie Jones, Ohio River Valley Coordinator, FracTracker Alliance.
“Twenty-nine of the Pennsylvania landfills surveyed (70%) accepted oil and gas waste between 2010 and 2025, and the highest radioactivity readings in the report were recorded at those sites.
“Communities live and recreate near landfills and the DEP has a clear responsibility to Pennsylvania residents to ensure that landfill leachate does not pose a threat to public health.”
“DEP is charged with protecting the state’s water resources and ensuring the health and safety of residents and visitors to the Commonwealth,” said Charlie Palladino, Oil and Gas Waste Policy Advocate, Earthworks. “The DEP has shown the presence of radioactivity in the leachate and the bare minimum they must do is require discharge permits to test for radioactivity before releasing this waste into the environment.”
Click Here for a video of the press conference.
Resource Link:
-- DEP’s Initial Findings In First Report On Sampling Landfill Leachate For Radioactive Radium-- 'No Significant Risk To Human Health’ Based On Concerns About Radioactive Materials In Oil/Gas Drilling Wastes; ‘Limited’ Data Means More Sampling Needed [PaEN]
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[Posted: May 14, 2026] PA Environment Digest
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