Exemptions in the law and permissions from owners put hundreds of wells closer to homes, schools and churches than the 500-foot setback meant to protect public health.
U.S. Steel dropped plans for a fracking company to drill at the Edgar Thomson plant in Braddock. The decision comes after years of opposition from some residents.
Pennsylvania Democrats often struggle to stake out a clear position on fracking, and John Fetterman's 2022 Senate bid is shaping up to be another case in point.
The company damaged dozens of waterways at its gas drilling sites in Pennsylvania. It will have to restore 55 acres of wetlands and repair 4,000 feet of streams.
One geologist says the landscape is like "Swiss cheese" from a century of oil and gas drilling. All those wells could allow fracking wastewater to travel back to the surface.
Fracking waste can be radioactive. Advocates want it included in a pair of state-sponsored studies into fracking and childhood cancer, asthma, and poor birth outcomes.
