CNX Shapiro fracking

A Pennsylvania fracking company with more than 2,000 environmental violations selected for federal environmental justice funding

CNX Resources is slated to receive Justice40 dollars for self-monitoring. Health and justice advocates are outraged.

PITTSBURGH — A Pennsylvania-based fracking company is the subject of controversy after one of its projects was listed as an environmental justice initiative under a federal government program by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).


An environmental monitoring project conducted by CNX Resources, a natural gas company headquartered in Pittsburgh, was included on a list of Justice40 efforts related to the federally funded Appalachian Hydrogen Hub in a document recently released by the Department of Energy. The hub is a network of infrastructure that will create hydrogen for energy use. It’s part of a nationwide initiative to advance hydrogen production with the goal of decreasing climate-warming carbon emissions in the U.S.

Justice40 is a Biden’s administration initiative that directs 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal programs to environmental justice communities, which are low-income and overburdened by pollution. The inclusion of CNX’s project – dubbed the “Radical Transparency” program by the company – suggests the company is slated to receive some of the $30 million in public funds allocated to the region’s hydrogen hub project.

Also included on that list are EQT Corporation, the nation’s largest producer of natural gas, and Enbridge, an oil and gas pipeline and energy company. While environmental advocates question any oil and gas company getting federal environmental justice funding, CNX in particular is raising concerns because of its controversial reporting on its environmental monitoring.

CNX’s “Radical Transparency” project launched in 2023 in partnership with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. The project consists of air and water quality monitoring data for 14 of its fracking facilities in Pennsylvania provided by the company. It also includes publicly disclosing the chemicals CNX uses during fracking at those wells (with the exception of “trade secret” chemicals), among other initiatives.

The company says that nine months into the project, preliminary air monitoring results indicate “that natural gas development done the CNX way is safe and inherently good for the communities where we operate.”

But the company has a history of environmental violations and criminal charges for misreporting its own air emissions.

CNX has racked up more than 2,000 environmental violations by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection since 2004 at the more than 500 oil and gas wells it operates in Pennsylvania. The company also pleaded no contest to criminal charges for misreporting air pollution levels and violating the state’s Air Pollution Control Act in 2021.

A group of 40 organizations and 13 individuals, including Pennsylvania State Senator Katie Muth, submitted a letter to DOE Secretary Jennifer Granholm in August to protest the inclusion of CNX’s air monitoring project on the list of Justice40 efforts related to the Appalachian Hydrogen Hub. The letter argues CNX shouldn’t have a place “on any list of companies eligible to receive even a penny of hydrogen hub funding.”

“As a retired physician educated in public health, I am very concerned that CNX has been mentioned as a supporter of Justice40 in [the Appalachian hydrogen hub project],” B.W. Brandom, a member of Concerned Health Professionals of Pennsylvania who signed the letter, said in a statement. “CNX has had so many violations of environmental regulations, it should not be receiving public funds to continue work that destroys our environment.”

In southwestern Pennsylvania, environmental justice communities experience well-documented health harms linked to pollution emitted from a dense network of oil and gas wells and related infrastructure. The Appalachian hydrogen hub will primarily use natural gas to create hydrogen energy, prompting concerns that it may lead to an increase in pollution in these communities.

Questions surrounding the data from CNX’s “Radical Transparency”

Josh Shapiro fracking

When CNX’s air monitoring initiative was launched with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (pictured above), it set out to “definitively confirm for all stakeholders that there are no adverse human health issues related to responsible natural gas development.”

Credit: Commonwealth Media/flickr

When CNX’s air monitoring initiative was launched, it set out to “definitively confirm for all stakeholders that there are no adverse human health issues related to responsible natural gas development” and “to confirm what we already know: that the natural gas industry is essential, responsible, and inherently good for society,” according to the company’s CEO, Nick Deiuliis.

The recent CNX report on the preliminary data it has gathered claims that the project’s findings “expose the flawed nature of the oft-cited University of Pittsburgh Health Study and its highly suspect results,” referencing a 2023 study conducted by the Pennsylvania Department of Health in collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh that linked living close to fracking wells to higher rates of asthma, lymphoma and low birth weights among Pennsylvania residents.

The CNX report drew criticism from environmental and health advocates, who said the project puts a carefully chosen set of brand new fracking wells under a microscope rather than monitoring the company’s many existing wells in the state, does not examine any health data and ignores decades of peer-reviewed research on the industry’s health impacts.

“No peer-reviewed study has ever been able to demonstrate that shale gas development can be done safely and without impact to human health, and any report that claims as much, especially one authored by a company that has an extensive history of fines for violating environmental rules and regulations, must be met with doubt and skepticism,” said Alison Steele, executive the Environmental Health Project, a nonprofit public health advocacy group, in a statement.

“No peer-reviewed study has ever been able to demonstrate that shale gas development can be done safely and without impact to human health." - Alison Steele, executive the Environmental Health Project

Talor Musil, a field manager at the Environmental Health Project who signed the letter, told EHN that the project not only fails to introduce any real public health protection and cherry-picks monitoring data about the health risks of fracking operations, but also “shut out impacted community members from any decisions related to the collaboration.”

Some advocates have also expressed frustration for Governor Josh Shapiro’s support of the project, since he previously initiated the criminal charges against CNX for its environmental violations while serving as Pennsylvania’s Attorney General.

“CNX is producing pseudo-science designed to deceive Pennsylvanians, including investors and distract from its worsening finances,” Tonyehn Verkitus, executive director of Physicians for Social Responsibility’s Pennsylvania chapter, said in a statement that noted CNX’s report was made public right after the company’s stock price was downgraded due to falling gas prices. “But the real culprit here is Governor Shapiro, who is allowing CNX to regulate itself. And the real victims are the people of Pennsylvania.”

Musil also pointed to the fact that the project is not in line with specific policy priorities listed under the Justice40 initiative, like decreasing environmental exposure and burdens and increasing energy democracy in disadvantaged communities.

Planning and award negotiation for the seven planned hydrogen hubs across the country is still underway, and project partners have not yet received federal funding. Development, permitting and financing for the hubs is expected to happen by 2029.

Books on an outdoor bookshelf shaped like a house, with trees in background.
Credit: Gigi/Unsplash

Our annual summer reading list, 2025 edition

Happy 4th of July! Here's what our staff is reading this summer.

Welcome to summer, everyone! Each 4th of July, our staff share a memorable book that they’ve recently read, and this year, like every year, has produced an eclectic, thought-provoking mix. We hope our picks inspire some new additions to your own lists.

Keep reading...Show less
Silhouette of a person on a hill in front of a setting sun.

Major climate change reports vanish from US federal websites, raising transparency concerns

Federal climate reports that help communities plan for extreme weather and rising seas have quietly disappeared from public websites, with little explanation from the Trump administration.

Seth Borenstein reports for The Associated Press.

Keep reading...Show less
a scale with the words Truth/Facts and fake news on it

UN official calls for criminal penalties for fossil fuel disinformation and lobbying bans

The United Nations’ top climate and human rights expert urged governments to criminalize fossil fuel disinformation, ban industry lobbying and ads, and phase out oil, gas, and coal by 2030 to meet their legal obligations under international law.

Nina Lakhani reports for The Guardian.

Keep reading...Show less
A ship near an iceberg.

EPA staffer’s offhand remark on climate funds fuels political firestorm after secret video sting

A midlevel U.S. Environmental Protection Agency employee was secretly recorded on a Tinder date by a Project Veritas operative, triggering political attacks and agency rollbacks based on a misrepresented comment about clean energy funding.

Lisa Friedman reports for The New York Times.

Keep reading...Show less
silver and black electric oscillating fan in close up photography.
Credit: Roy Muz/Unsplash

Coal use drives sharp rise in U.S. power plant emissions amid summer heat

U.S. power plant emissions have surged to a three-year high, driven by a spike in coal use as utilities scramble to meet rising electricity demand during record summer heat and elevated natural gas prices.

Gavin Maguire reports for Reuters.

Keep reading...Show less
building with vegetation wall.

Cities are quietly outpacing nations in climate progress

Cities worldwide are cutting emissions, greening streets, and adapting to climate threats faster than national governments, according to a new international report.

Matt Simon reports for Grist.

Keep reading...Show less
a herd of cows standing next to each other in a barn, confined in individual metal stalls.

California residents challenge methane policy they say pollutes under the guise of clean energy

Residents in California’s Central Valley are pushing back against a state-backed program that incentivizes methane digesters at industrial dairies, arguing it locks in pollution and worsens environmental health in Latino communities.

Ray Levy Uyeda reports for Prism.

Keep reading...Show less
From our Newsroom
Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

One facility has emitted cancer-causing chemicals into waterways at levels up to 520% higher than legal limits.

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

"The reality is, we are not exposed to one chemical at a time.”

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro speaks with the state flag and American flag behind him.

Two years into his term, has Gov. Shapiro kept his promises to regulate Pennsylvania’s fracking industry?

A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations

silhouette of people holding hands by a lake at sunset

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

wildfire retardants being sprayed by plane

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.