The Allegheny Front

A multi-part series about fracking in Ohio kicks off with a look at citizen complaints. Many feel their concerns aren't being addressed by regulators. A law professor discusses the differences between drilling oversight in Ohio and Pennsylvania. An art project brings attention to toxic dyes in blue jeans, while a multi-state agency that regulates pollution in the Ohio River just made their standards voluntary.

A rural Ohio town deals with the closure of a coal-fired power plant. We hear from our reporter about the details of a sealed agreement between a gas driller and residents of Washington County. We have tips from an expert on avoiding ticks that carry Lyme disease. Is climate change causing more tornados?

Peregrine falcons are back on the Rachel Carson Building, decades after Silent Spring. Landowners are helping endangered species by protecting their land forever. Toxic PFAS chemicals from firefighting foam have been found at two military bases at the Pittsburgh airport. Plus, news about Chesapeake Bay clean-up efforts.

This week on The Allegheny Front, reclaimed mineland gets an ecological do-over. Citizen scientists are needed to track pollinators. Plus, some say there are too many farmers markets, but for many growers, it's a reliable source of income. From our Trump on Earth podcast, we look at some of the 2020 Democratic candidates' climate plans.

This week on The Allegheny Front, saving bats from white-nose syndrome and collisions with wind turbines.  Go on a trip to a vernal pool, critical for frogs and salamanders. Pennsylvanians are waking up to the realities of climate change and an energy company has to restore streams it destroyed.

This week on The Allegheny Front, Pennsylvania goes old-school to prevent forest fires while controlled burns on game lands create habitat for a threatened songbird. The UN warns of mass extinction, a new study says the Ohio River has more fish and Three Mile Island nuclear plant will close in September.

This week on The Allegheny Front, prosecutors in Pennsylvania are looking into possible environmental crimes committed during the fracking boom. New technology aims to recycle flexible plastic like candy wrappers. Pa. commits to goals in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. Plus, the latest on the Clairton Coke Works, Pa. nuclear bailout and oil/gas waste.

This week on The Allegheny Front, we talk with local researchers about a fungus that's devastating frog populations across the globe and its impact locally. A citizen science project enlists nature lovers, including kids, to head to their local ponds to gather data on frogs. Plus, how the past might help us act more boldly on climate change. An update on a state investigation into a rare cancer.

This week on The Allegheny Front, stories about the air we breathe: tiny particles of pollution can be too small to see, but that doesn't mean that dirty air isn't affecting our health; some neighbors of an industrial coke plant say a recent fire there has made air pollution worse in their community; a new book looks at air pollution from a global perspective. Plus, the story of a Pittsburgh environmental group that started in the 1960s with a guerrilla marketing campaign and outrage over smoky skies.

This week on The Allegheny Front, surveying Pittsburgh's rivers to see if a salamander is bouncing back, in hopes that an endangered mussel can make a comeback, too. The story of how one school teacher saved a swampy patch of suburb for salamanders. The plan to build a gas storage hub meets resistance and utility companies look to a younger generation.