Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Publishes Long-Awaited Study on Radioactivity in Landfill Runoff – Inside Climate News
A decade ago, Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection published a study on radioactivity in the oil and gas industry, motivated by fears that increasing volumes of toxic fracking waste could pose risks to the environment and public health. That study concluded, in part, that more research was needed—especially regarding the impacts on landfills where this waste is disposed.
On Friday, the agency released a follow-up study that specifically examined landfill leachate, the liquid byproduct formed when rainwater passes through waste, picking up contaminants along the way.
“The takeaway here is that there is no risk to human health from radiation in landfill leachate,” said Jessica Shirley, DEP’s secretary, in a press release. DEP’s study analyzed samples from 49 landfills in Pennsylvania over two years, from 2021 to 2023. That includes 23 landfills that received oil and gas waste, according to state records.
But environmental and policy experts warned that this study was too narrow to draw definitive conclusions about the potential for long-term harm from leachate contaminated by such waste.
“This is an interim report,” said Daniel Bain, an associate professor of geology and environmental science at the University of Pittsburgh who has studied oil and gas waste. “This is not, ‘We’ve looked at the problem; it’s not a problem.’ It’s, ‘We’ve looked at the problem. There doesn’t appear to be a problem now.’”
The snapshot DEP captured in this study doesn’t preclude different results in the future, Bain said, and provides little insight into cumulative environmental effects.
The study acknowledges its determination that there is “no current cause for concern” is based on limited data. “It is important to recognize that more landfill leachate samples and radiochemistry analysis is warranted to generate additional data to confirm these initial findings,” the study’s authors wrote in their conclusions.
David Allard, the former director of DEP’s Bureau of Radiation Protection, who oversaw the 2016 study on oil and gas waste, said he was “not surprised” by the results. “It’s in line with what they were seeing early on,” he said. “I’m comfortable with the findings” that radioactivity from leachate doesn’t currently pose a threat to human health.
However, DEP should implement consistent, long-term monitoring, Allard said. “The landfills will change over time. My opinion is there should be at least annual sampling.”
In 2021, then-Gov. Tom Wolf announced that landfills in Pennsylvania would be required to regularly test for radium. Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was then the attorney general, supported Wolf’s decision at the time. DEP confirmed in December that the requirement had not been implemented, and it did not announce any such rule alongside the new report.
DEP found that samples from only 11 of the landfills exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s limits for combined radium-226 and 228 in drinking water, and none of them exceeded the much higher annual average standard for radium set by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for untreated wastewater from facilities licensed to use radioactive material.
Neither of these numbers is ideal for assessing leachate. “There really are no standards for leachate,” Allard said.
DEP also found “no correlation” between samples that exceeded the EPA standard and landfills that, according to state records, had accepted oil and gas waste. But a 2025 Inside Climate News analysis found that some of those records are full of inconsistencies. Discrepancies totaled almost 1.4 million tons between what Pennsylvania oil and gas operators said they’d sent and what landfills said they’d received, with some landfills reporting far more incoming oil and gas waste. One possible explanation is waste coming in from other states.
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Oil and gas operators reported creating nearly 8.8 million tons of solid waste between 2017 and 2024. About 6.3 million tons of it went to landfills across the state.
Environmental groups in Pennsylvania have worried about the consequences of generating and disposing of so much oil and gas waste since the fracking boom began two decades ago. Oil and gas waste is often radioactive, and it can also contain heavy metals and other toxic chemicals.
Former DEP Secretary David Hess, who now runs the publication PA Environment Digest, pointed out several previous issues related to radioactive fracking waste, from it being sent to public wastewater treatment plants that couldn’t properly handle it to treatment equipment needing to be decontaminated for radiation.
“Like a lot of things with the shale gas industry, we are the guinea pigs and have to learn things the hard way,” he said.
Several studies have shown that some radioactivity from oil and gas waste has already found its way into the environment—for example, downstream of discharge points from facilities that processed or accepted that waste.
“They are just acting like the end of the pipe is the end. They aren’t thinking about what’s going to happen as things accumulate in the streams,” Bain said of the DEP study.
He cautioned that the nature of the pollutants in oil and gas waste—and the total volume produced by the state every year—means regulators will need to keep a close eye on radioactivity in the environment and at landfills for a long time to come.
“Now that we’ve allowed it to happen, we’re going to have to be watching forever,” he said.
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Kiley Bense
Reporter, Pennsylvania
Kiley Bense covers climate change and the environment with a focus on Pennsylvania, politics, energy, and public health. She has reported on the effects of the fracking boom in Pennsylvania, the expansion of the American plastics industry, and the intersection of climate change and culture. Her previous work has appeared in the New York Times, the Atlantic, Smithsonian Magazine, the Believer, and Sierra Magazine, and she holds master’s degrees in journalism and creative writing from Columbia University. She is based in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania
I Need to be More Observant, Pennsylvania: You Showed Me Your Best All Along – The Trek
Miles
So, on my current northbound thru hike, I fell into the “trap” of cruising miles, or as folks like to say “ripping/crushing” miles, all along the South and the Southeast on the Appalachian Trail (AT). No worries for me, the AT Mid-Atlantic couldn’t be that much different of a hike. I got this. Yep. Sure.
Pennsylvania Hiking
Then, Pennsylvania happened. Or, as it is referred to affectionately as, but maybe not so much in some cases, “Rocksylvania.” Pennsylvania started out as “cute” and “kind of a nuisance” with the seemingly gazillions of small, medium, and large rocks all over the trail causing me, at least, to start and stop my hiking over and over throughout a given day. There were substantial amounts of bouldering, navigating janky craigs, constant straight up and down of short mountain sides sans switchbacks, which was unlike the South and Southeast’s larger mountains, less rocks, sweeping trail, and often numerous switchbacks.
A lot of rocks on the trail.
Up and down very large rocks and boulders.
Changing Expectations
About halfway through Pennsylvania, I knew that my hiking expectations were very misguided and this state was going to be a slog. My knees started to really hurt as did my feet. In one fell swoop, for example, I tripped on a rock and ripped a very large hole in my trail runner, had the gaiter on that shoe implode, and tore up my knee. Pennsylvania said, “not so fast, bud… this is a different type of hiking.” And, it was indeed, but I still had not gotten that notion through my head. I needed to push miles, man! Why? I was being stubborn, careless, and likely arrogant and should have known better. A few major wipe outs later on rocks with battered shins and knees as proof, I slowly started to change my tune. I realized that my luck would run out falling down more frequently because I was rushing, and potential serious injury may await me. Thus, I dialed back my miles and expectations. Plus, my energy level was low and I needed to slow down or the Northeast states on the AT were not going to happen.
Changing my hiking expectations.
Hiking Community
Beyond the physical and mental toll, which was personal and an inward state of mind for me, Pennsylvania’s hiking community and care started to manifest itself. Certainly, this esprit de corps was there the whole time, I just had not looked for it. As I headed north in Pennsylvania, water was becoming a greater concern. Thank goodness to the kind hearted trail angels and communities that cached water along the route. Without this gesture, and many times a cache of water would be in very remote or mountainous areas that took time and effort, the hike would have been even more difficult.
A water cache in the middle of nowhere with inspirational messages. Thank you!
Last Day
And then, on my last day in Pennsylvania at Delaware Water Gap, you really gave me a jolt. In the morning of my last day of hiking in the state, I was just giddy that I was going to cruise into Delaware Water Gap by 1:00 on a short day, stay at a hostel, shower, do laundry, resupply, eat crazy amounts of food, and then mosey on into New Jersey the next day and all of that “Rocksylvania stuff” would be behind me. Right.
Last day in PA in the Pocono Mountains.
Unexpected Inclusivity
For the first two stay places I contacted in Delaware Water Gap, there were no responses. Hum. I looked at the hiker FarOut app and saw that there was a Presbyterian church hostel (Church of the Mountain Hiker Center) that was donation based (note: if you stay there, please give financially what you can). I walked to the church, texted the contact number on the door, and was heartily greeted with positivity. I received the door code and went in. I unpacked my gear, grabbed a comfy couch to sleep on later that night, took a shower, and then went outside to hang-up my wet tent from the night before. As I was putting my tent on the clothes line, a truck pulled up and a man asked if I was an AT thru hiker. I indicated that I was, and the man in the truck said that the building attached to the church was a banquet hall and they were having a milestone birthday party for a parishioner. He invited me as his guest. You don’t have to ask me twice. I went to the banquet hall and 50-60 people were present. The celebration was just getting underway. I was introduced to the group by the man in the truck. People were so welcoming and friendly. I spent hours chatting and answering questions about the AT, hiker life, food, gear, cool stuff experienced, hardships, and on and on. We ate, had cold drinks, wonderful birthday cake, and then the DJ cranked up the music and it was a dance party. The DJ started with The Beatles’ “Birthday” song, which in my family we blast the morning of someone’s birthday! Folks danced and laughed and had great community. After the celebration, we all helped clean-up, hugged, and said our goodbyes. I went back to the hostel, which I thought I would have to myself, and found my buddy Smiles there. I had not seen him in months since back in the Smoky Mountains. I also met calendar year triple crown attempter, Ricochet. We hung-out swapped stories, laughed, and ate.
Dance party and community fellowship.
With Ricochet (L) and Smiles (R).
I Take It All Back
So, Pennsylvania, I take it all back. The things I muttered under my breath, or may have said forcefully out loud, or thought inwardly. I got it all wrong. The best of you was there the whole time. Beyond the physical, it just took me until my last day in the state to really realize what a caring hiker community you have and the interest folks have in the AT. From the kind gestures of trail communities and angels that I will never meet to the birthday party folks open arms approach to me; all had me a bit teary eyed the next morning as I crossed the Delaware River into New Jersey. I’m going to miss you, Pennsylvania.
Miss you, Pennsylvania.
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Pennsylvania
El Niño is likely to form this summer. Here’s what it could mean for western Pennsylvania.
You may have heard about the upcoming El Niño that is supposed to take shape this summer and potentially become very powerful by this fall into winter. Let’s dive into what this means, how it forms, and how it may potentially impact the weather pattern in western Pennsylvania for this summer and beyond.
What is ENSO?
El Niño is just a phase or part of ENSO, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. It is an interannual mode of climate variability with three phases: neutral, warm (El Niño), or cool (La Niña). By far, ENSO has the greatest influence on weather patterns across the globe.
ENSO is a natural part of Earth’s climate system that exhibits variability over the span of a few years. To determine the current phase of ENSO and how that phase may or may not change, we look at sea surface temperature anomalies over the Equatorial Pacific Ocean and what is occurring underneath the surface by up to several hundred meters.
Right now, we are currently in the neutral phase of ENSO and are projected to head toward a strong warm phase or El Niño by mid-late summer that will last into the fall and upcoming winter.
What initiates and causes the shift?
Let’s start with the Walker Circulation, which is the physical mechanism that initiates and influences where warmer and cooler than normal seawater resides near the Equatorial Pacific Ocean.
In the neutral phase of ENSO, the warmer sea surface temperatures are west of the International Date Line near Indonesia while cooler sea surface temperatures are positioned west of coastal South America. Above the warmer waters, we see enhanced rising motion leading to increased thunderstorms in the western Equatorial Pacific Ocean. While air rises and diverges in the upper atmosphere over the western Equatorial Pacific Ocean, it then converges and sinks over the eastern Equatorial Pacific Ocean. This sinking motion diverges at the ocean surface and helps enhance the trade winds which blow from east to west.
The east-to-west trade winds are responsible for upwelling and maintaining the cooler waters near the Equatorial East Pacific Ocean. When these trade winds are enhanced, we see a stronger upwelling of cooler water in the Equatorial East Pacific and a piling up of warmer waters and enhanced thunderstorms in the equatorial West Pacific. This is called La Niña.
However, when those trade winds weaken, this slows the upwelling process and the warmer sea surface temperatures from the western Pacific Ocean migrate east through enhanced low-level westerly wind bursts. Once the waters in the relative Niño3.4 region— the area monitored in the Equatorial Pacific Ocean to assign the ENSO index — warm to a certain threshold above normal (greater than or equal to +0.5 degrees Celsius) for at least five consecutive overlapping three-month periods, then an El Niño can be declared.
What are the latest trends and projections with this El Niño?
According to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, El Niño is likely to emerge between June to August 2026 and persist through the end of the year. El Niño is pretty much expected by the end of year, and it’s likely that we’ll be dealing with a strong or very strong El Niño. The stronger the El Niño or La Niña, the more influence it has on the global weather patterns.
What El Niño means for western Pennsylvania
So how can this year’s setup influence summer patterns, and what does it mean for western Pennsylvania if El Niño persists into the winter?
When answering this question, it is extremely important to note a few things: no two El Niño or La Niña events are exactly alike. There are other factors that influence global weather patterns outside of ENSO, and planetary warming induced by human-caused climate change may cause modern-day El Niño, La Niña, and neutral episodes to behave differently compared to a past climate. We can still look at previous years with similar conditions to get a proxy and make an inference of how the upcoming year may trend.
For this year, 2023 is the closest modern-day match under this climate regime to how this El Niño is likely to evolve this summer. For western Pennsylvania, that summer featured near to slightly below normal temperatures and near normal summer precipitation. The following winter featured well above normal temps and slightly above normal precipitation.
1976 is next on my analog years list. This featured a weak to moderate La Niña early in the year, but El Niño emerged more slowly (like 2026 projections) and became very strong by late year. Summer temperatures were below normal with below normal precipitation. That following winter was much drier than normal.
1982 is my third analog year. Unlike 2026, 2023 and 1982, there was no winter to early spring La Niña, but El Niño emerged more slowly (like 2026 projections) and became very strong by late year. During the summer, below normal temperatures were dominant with below normal precipitation. The following winter featured slightly above normal temperatures and below normal precipitation.
1991 and 1997 are also two years on my analog lists. The two commonalities among these years were below normal precipitation during the summer and a drier and warmer than normal following winter as El Niño peaked in intensity.
Mildest day of the work week appears to be Monday with more chances for rain on the way…
TONIGHT: Mostly clear skies. Low 41.
MONDAY: Mostly sunny & Seasonable. High 67.
TUESDAY: Stray PM Showers. High 65.
Saturday brought much needed rain to the mid-state. Areas west of the river mainly saw between 0.25-0.50 inches but thanks to a few heavier downpours, much of the east shore saw between 0.50-0.75 inches. While this doesn’t end our drought, it should help keep the grass green through this upcoming work week so be sure to make some time for a mow (or two!) this coming week.
Sunday started cloudy with areas of drizzle. The afternoon brought gradual clearing and we began to dry out. After sunset tonight, skies became mostly clear. With light winds, temperatures will drop to the upper 30s and low 40s. Low-lying areas that are typically cooler, like valleys, have a chance for patchy frost tonight.
Monday will be the best day of the week with mostly sunny skies and seasonable temperatures in the upper 60s. Tuesday evening will bring a chance for stray showers in the afternoon and evening. A better chance of widespread rain appears to be late Wednesday evening into early Thursday morning. We’ll continue to keep you updated on the rain chances for the week! The end of April into early May looks like it could be on the cool side too.
-Meteorologist Summer Trolli
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