Environmental and Health Groups Call on Pennsylvania to Require Minimum Setbacks from Fracking Wells to Protect Pennsylvanians
HARRISBURG, PA (October 22, 2024) – Today, Clean Air Council and Environmental Integrity Project filed a rulemaking petition with the Environmental Quality Board (EQB) asking it to increase minimum setback distances from fracking wells. Setbacks, also referred to as protective buffers and no-drill zones in the context of fracking, are mandatory distances that fracking wells must abide by to keep them separated from homes, schools, hospitals, drinking water wells, and surface water. Pennsylvania’s current fracking well location requirements—which include a waivable 500-foot setback distance from buildings and a 1,000-foot setback distance from water supply extraction points—are woefully insufficient to protect public health and the environment from the numerous dangers of fracking.
Clean Air Council, Environmental Integrity Project, and a coalition of environmental and public health organizations – called Protective Buffers PA – are calling for the following research-informed setbacks:
- 3,281 feet from any building and from any drinking water well;
- 5,280 feet from any building serving vulnerable populations (e.g., schools, hospitals); and
- 750 feet from any surface water of the Commonwealth.
“The gas industry has dangerously encroached on our daily lives over the last twenty years.” said Alex Bomstein, Clean Air Council Executive Director. “Now, nearly 1.5 million Pennsylvanians live within a half mile of fracking. The harm that fracking inflicts on communities is unacceptable and no one deserves to live with fracking in their backyard.”
“The research is clear that too many Pennsylvanians have suffered a decline in their health, quality of life, and property values as a result of oil and gas companies fracking too close to buildings, wells, and waters,” said Lisa Hallowell, Senior Attorney with the Environmental Integrity Project. “Pennsylvania agencies have a constitutional duty to heed the overwhelming evidence and require minimum setbacks to protect the Commonwealth’s residents and natural resources from further peril.”
“20 years of fracking in Pennsylvania has spawned 20 years of research showing convincingly that living and working near fracking increases the risk of developing health problems,” said Ned Ketyer, MD, President of Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania. “And the closer you are to fracking the higher the risk. Increasing buffers from the present to at least 2500 feet from homes and 5000 feet from schools, hospitals, and other public buildings is a small but necessary step to protect the health of Pennsylvanians living near fracking.”
“Living a little over 500 feet from Range Resources Augustine well pad has, for the past 4 years, caused many issues for my family of five,” said Michele Stonewark, Cecil Township, PA. “We’ve suffered health issues including headaches, nausea, and bloody noses, sleepless nights due to noise and vibrations and increased stress and anxiety that compounds all of the other issues. There are days we can not go outside due to awful diesel and chemical smells and my children are forced to stay indoors. All the while, the landowners of the pad, are the furthest away from the threat we live with every day. The importance of setbacks is an issue that I will fight with all of my being, not just for my family’s health but for the health of all families in this commonwealth.”
“We have 12 well pads and one compressor station planned for our residential community and thousands of residents have already been harmed,” said Gillian Graber, impacted resident and Executive Director of Protect PT, Westmoreland County, PA. “After a decade of working to protect my community, I am tired of waiting for our government agencies, Governor Shapiro, and our legislators to act in the best interest for Pennsylvanians. That is why we need to force the issue with this rulemaking petition to protect us from a toxic industry whose sole motivation is to make money as quickly and cheaply as possible.”
When Governor Shapiro was Attorney General, the primary recommendation of the 43rd Statewide Investigating Grand Jury’s report on fracking was to enact a 2,500 foot no-drill zone between fracking and homes, as well as a 5,000 foot no-drill zone for schools and hospitals. In the fall of 2023, Governor Shapiro instructed the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to implement some of the Grand Jury recommendations for better protecting Pennsylvania residents from oil and gas operations, but this notably did not include setbacks. Instead of asking the DEP to develop greater setbacks for the oil and gas industry, he announced a partnership with CNX – a gas company with a history of environmental violations – that included a promise to adhere to voluntary, unenforceable setbacks from homes and schools at distances well below those recommended by the Grand Jury.
Fracking contaminates groundwater (used for public and private drinking water supplies) and also pollutes surface water, impacting headwater streams and other ecosystems. Furthermore, spills often occur in watersheds linked to drinking water sources.
Dozens of peer-reviewed scientific studies show that a person’s proximity to fracking wells is associated with severe human health risks and a wide range of ailments, including increased cancer rates, increased hospitalization rates, and higher rates of respiratory, neurological, dermatological, and muscular symptoms. Vulnerable populations are particularly susceptible—numerous studies have shown that proximity to fracking wells harms health for infants and children. In addition to these studies, first-hand accounts of residents living near Pennsylvania fracking wells demonstrate the profound harms of living in close proximity to fracking.
