The Allegheny Front

In dozens of Pennsylvania towns, underground steam systems that heat buildings could be re-vamped, so they’re powered by renewable energy. But there’s competition: cheaper natural gas. We’ll also hear from President Biden’s climate envoy about what it will take to meet global greenhouse gas reduction goals. Plus, a new short documentary tells the story of a small, rural town trying to keep a fracking waste injection well out of their community to preserve their drinking water and save a rare salamander. We have news about PFAS in fracking wastewater in Ohio.

This week, we learn about why white oak trees are in trouble and the lawsuit over a plan to cut them down in the Wayne National Forest. We also talk about the underground network that connects trees in forests and helps them communicate. Plus, the story of a hunter who discovered a full-grown American chestnut tree in a Delaware forest. We also have news about a global clean energy conference in Pittsburgh, pipelines, and spotted lanternflies.  

Climate change is fueling more flooding in Pennsylvania and throughout the Ohio Valley. This week, we’ll look at the relationship between climate change and flooding in eastern Kentucky and West Virginia. And we’ll hear about how one town in Pennsylvania is trying to get ahead of the problem Plus, it’s the 60th anniversary of the publication of a book that questioned the indiscriminate use of synthetic chemicals and became an instant classic: Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. We also have news about zero-emissions buses in Pittsburgh, a large solar buy in Centre County, and bigger rebates for electric vehicles in Pennsylvania.

Street trees help cool cities, filter rainwater, and prevent flooding. We look at how Pennsylvania cities are overcoming the barriers to planting more. In Huntington County, birders and naturalists oppose new development next to a wetland. Plus, the creation of the Flight 93 National Memorial to honor the 40 crew and passengers who died there on 9/11 included treating mine pollution in the water nearby. News about conservation funding in Pennsylvania, federal funds for miners with black lung disease, and a controversial plan at a landfill that accepts fracking waste.

PFAS, called forever chemicals, is the latest worry over fracking. We talk to a reporter about how PFAS found in one man's well water could have come from fracking. One year later, the devastating impacts of Hurricane Ida linger for people in Pennsylvania. And, we talk with a conservationist about purple martins, which need human-made birdhouses to keep them from going extinct in the eastern U.S. Plus, news about a frack waste injection well in Allegheny County, air monitors in Delaware County, and monarch butterflies in the Lehigh Valley.

Susan Scott Peterson had been living in Pittsburgh for just a few weeks when she smelled it for the first time. The air was a little thick, a little hazy—and it smelled like a ripe porta-potty. It didn’t take long to figure out it was hydrogen sulfide, a sulfur-smelling gas emitted by U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works, about fifteen miles south of her house. The plant manufactures coke, a fuel used in steelmaking—and it’s notorious for violating local pollution regulations. But what could she do about it? This is a story about the air we breathe, the risks we live with, and what it means to become a citizen of a place. It’s adapted from an episode produced in 2021 for Outside/In, a podcast by New Hampshire Public Radio. READ MORE: Reducing Outdoor Contaminants in Indoor Spaces (ROCIS) Articles about air pollution by The Allegheny Front Articles about the Clairton Coke Works by The Allegheny Front Resource list for groups working on air quality in Pittsburgh MUSIC IN THIS EPISODE INCLUDED PORTIONS OF “NOT DRUNK” (MIX-FULL-BAND-NO-VOCAL) AND “NOT DRUNK” (STEM-BASS)  BY THE JOY DROPS AND“FRESH LIFT”  BY SHANE IVERS, ALL LICENSED UNDER CC-BY 4.0. ADDITIONAL MUSIC BY BLUE DOT SESSIONS. ADDITIONAL SOUNDS EXCERPTED FROMSOUNDS OF CHANGE, MONICA137142, AND PREMNATH KUDVA, LICENSED UNDER CC-BY 4.0, AND FROM SOUNDBYLADYV, LICENSED UNDER CC SAMPLING +.

A new study finds children living near fracking sites in Pennsylvania are at an increased risk of leukemia. Meanwhile, Energy Transfer is held criminally responsible for the damage done during the construction of its Mariner East pipeline. We also have answers to some of your questions about Shell's ethane cracker in Beaver County. We visit a small group of workers getting rid of the invasive plants in a Pittsburgh park…and they have four legs. And, teens learn how to sail the Pittsburgh rivers. Plus, a landmark climate law was signed by President Biden this week. A high school student says we should thank the activists, not the politicians. 

This week, we explore how tourism impacts local communities and their natural resources like the Canaan Valley in West Virginia. It’s become a trendy tourist destination, which is good for business, but it’s straining the resources of a county with just 7,000 year-round residents. We take a trip to Appalachia’s Ice Mountain, where rare plants have existed since the Ice Age, and cool air seeps out of ice vents deep in the rocks. Plus, a conversation with Pennsylvania’s first director of outdoor recreation.

This week, we have a special show about Indigenous people, land, water, and culture. Our first story looks at how the pawpaw, a fruit that mainly grows in the eastern US, continues to live in the memories and language of Indigenous people forced to move west. Then, we talk with an Indigenous scientist about her new book that contrasts conservation science with Indigenous knowledge about the natural world. Plus, a paddler from the Seneca Nation takes a 300-mile journey down the Allegheny River to draw attention to protecting it and all waterways. 

We talk with three families who are leaving or have left Beaver County because of Shell's ethane cracker, fearing pollution, and looking for better opportunities.  Pennsylvania is looking at bringing American martens, a small weasel, back to the state's forests. We talk with a wildlife biologist with the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Plus, we visit a one-of-a-kind prairie habitat in Pennsylvania, home to an endangered rattlesnake and wildflowers. And, news about the Chesapeake Bay and wild turkeys.

Residents in Greene County, Pennsylvania who say their water has been contaminated from a fracking incident want action. We’ll also hear about a PR campaign by natural gas companies that targets Black and Latino voters in Pennsylvania. A farmer says a nearby gas well is as loud as a jet engine from supercomputers — fueled by the gas —  mining cryptocurrency. Plus, news about environmental funding from the Pennsylvania state budget.

Residents of a tiny coal town in West Virginia went without clean water for more than a decade until a California nonprofit stepped in. We revisit the story of a volunteer who tried to restore a stream until Sunoco began building the Mariner East pipeline. Then, he watched as they polluted it. A new study follows in the footsteps of surveys going back 200 years when biodiversity was "unbelievable." Now those wild places are filled with invasive plants. Plus, how to spot poison hemlock, news about a fracking incident, and Gov. Wolf vetos an anti-climate bill. 

This week, we talk with a reporter with Inside Climate News who says the Supreme Court EPA decision could result in more expensive regulations for power plants. We also take a closer look at why Pennsylvania and other states are suing the US Postal Service over a lack of electric vehicles in its plan to replace its fleet. Researchers are using a program trained to identify bird species from hours of birdsong recorded in the forest to help with conservation. Plus, news about the spotted lanternfly, fracking in Allegheny County parks, and a poll that shows two-thirds of Pennsylvanians accept climate change.

Pennsylvania leaders in environment and energy react to the Supreme Court’s EPA climate ruling. Plus, we revisit our stories in the series Farmers Wanted, which examines the challenges of cultivating a new generation of farmers in Pennsylvania. We also replay our conversation with the author of a speculative novel about survival after climate disasters and plastic pollution. We have news about air quality in Allegheny County, and a Pittsburgh visit by the Energy Secretary, who called climate change the "war of our lifetimes."

Will a new regulation that curbs air pollution in the Mon Valley give residents more clean air days? Some aren't so sure. A new study shows black lung disease in younger coal miners is caused by silica dust. While the federal government wants to reduce their exposure to it, for those who already have the fatal disease, it’s too late. Plus, a discussion on the catastrophe that coal has left behind. And a look at what could make agriculture a more sustainable job choice in the future.