A petition by environmental organizations to consider barring new fracking near surface water, buildings and drinking water wells was shelved by a state board this month.

The petition, submitted by the Clean Air Council and Environmental Integrity Project, seeks increased setbacks for any new unconventional oil or gas drilling, also known as fracking. The petition was tabled, or deferred, by a 16-3 vote at the Environmental Quality Board’s April 8 meeting. The board hears petitions on environmental regulation and, after a public comment window, votes on whether to recommend changes to the Department of Environmental Protection. 

Democratic State Rep. Greg Vitali, chair of the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, was among the three board members who voted not to table the petition. 

Vitali said he expected the vote to be a “routine yes.” He noted that the majority of the board consists of department secretaries appointed by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro. “Usually, they get their way,” he said.

Advocates maintain that increasing setbacks — the distance between a gas well and housing, water sources or other restricted sites — will protect communities in drilling areas.

“Study after study showed that the closer people and [water] wells are to fracking sites, the worse the documented harm has been,” Lisa Hollowell, a senior attorney for the Environmental Integrity Project, told board members April 8.

In 2023, the University of Pittsburgh led a study showing a relationship between living near fracking operations and childhood cancers, asthma and birth outcomes. Three years prior, a statewide grand jury headed by then-Attorney General Shapiro, found that state agencies failed to protect Pennsylvanians from the harms associated with fracking. Among their recommendations was increasing no-drill zones from 500 to 2,500 feet.  The relationship between proximity to fracking and elevated health risks is “impossible to deny,” the jury report concluded.

Drilling advocates, though, argue that increased setbacks could jeopardize Pennsylvania’s energy economy.

“Increasing setbacks is a misguided policy that threatens our national security and prosperity while impeding the property rights of Pennsylvania citizens,” said Dave Callahan, former Marcellus Shale Coalition president, in a November blog post.

The petition argued that under state law, the board has “a clear authority and mandate” to increase setbacks for any new fracking. 

Pennsylvania’s oil and gas law, last amended in 2012,  imposes setback limits of 500 feet from existing buildings or water wells, unless the property owner consents to closer proximity. 

Based on 42 peer-reviewed studies, the petition recommends the board update setback limits to:

  • 3,281 feet from any building or drinking water well
  • 5,280 feet from the property boundary of any building serving vulnerable populations, including schools, daycares and hospitals
  • 750 feet from any surface water. 

The petition, submitted in October 2024, notes that scientific understanding of the health and environmental impacts associated with fracking has “expanded significantly,” since the law was last revised in 2012.

Public Utility Commissioner Kathryn Zerfuss motioned to table the petition April 8, citing opposition from drilling interests. “There have been letters being submitted by industry the past couple days, up to and including late last night or yesterday evening,” Zerfuss said. “It’s a lot of information. So suffice it to say there’s a lot of passion on the topic and on the petition.”

Jim Welty, president of the Pittsburgh-based Marcellus Shale Coalition, which advocates for the gas industry, released a statement thanking the board for postponing the vote.

Welty said the petition “amounts to a direct ban on natural gas development in Pennsylvania,” adding that he believes that the General Assembly holds the exclusive authority to establish setback distances. 

“The mere entertainment of such a draconian proposal threatens economic growth and opportunity for Pennsylvania and further imperils our Commonwealth’s access to a reliable and resilient electric grid,” Welty wrote.

Jake Vasilias is an editorial intern at PublicSource and can be reached at jake@publicsource.org.

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