By @quinnglabicki.bsky.social The brine is spurting to the surface, and locals fear it could soon contaminate the drinking water source for 32,000 people. “It would destroy the city,” said Susan Vessels, president of the Marietta City Council. “Once the damage is done, it cannot be undone.”

In Ohio, Toxic Wastewater Is Bubbling Up Out of the Ground (Gift Article)

The state is a major importer of fracking wastewater, which gets pumped underground but doesn’t always stay there. The city of Marietta is fighting back.

nytimes.com

Pittsburgh’s Public Source and the Associated Press spent the past six months reporting from Clairton, listening to a community looking to the future. Here’s what residents said about the coke works, its new owner and their role in the city.

Six months after explosion, Pennsylvania mill town sees hope but a history of disappointment

Six months ago, an explosion at the U.S. Steel Clairton Coke Works killed two people. It also heightened the stakes in the life of a western Pennsylvania mill town even as a new mayor tries to raise hopes.

bit.ly

Three local police departments quietly signed agreements with ICE in November. When i started making calls, senior officials said they were unaware. Then, two departments quickly terminated their partnerships. Read more @publicsource.org: www.publicsource.org/munhall-stow...

Munhall, Stowe police walk back ICE partnerships after quietly inking agreements

Public Source asked local officials about signed partnership agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Two municipalities later canceled the agreements.

publicsource.org

Three Allegheny County police departments appear to have orchestrated “task force” agreements with ICE without the knowledge of municipal leadership. After @quinnglabicki.bsky.social asked questions, two municipalities walked those agreements back. buff.ly/8GoPSZS

At opening weekend of #Photoville, hear from @publicsource.org’s @quinnglabicki.bsky.social and @stephstrasburg.bsky.social in a panel on building trust with underreported communities. Learn more about creatively visualizing unseen harms and capturing under told stories. 👉 bit.ly/4mGpqkD

Our 2025 Photoville exhibit ‘Hollowed Out’ captures the gas extraction industry’s hidden toll on families. Grantee @quinnglabicki.bsky.social chronicles locals who abandoned their homes due to pollution and water contamination in our exhibit at Brooklyn Bridge Park in New York. 👉 bit.ly/4dyXGdI

In 2024 @publicsource.org reporter @quinnglabicki.bsky.social drilled into EQT's operations in rural PA and WV, explored the company's climate claims and profiled its CEO in "EQT's Gas Play" www.publicsource.org/eqt-gas-play/

EQT: Climate change, politics and Appalachia

CEO Toby Rice wants to lead “the largest green initiative on the planet.” Explore the politics, dollars and communities in the natural gas producer’s fracking path.

publicsource.org

Pittsburgh-based fracking giant EQT approaches 2025 with a sunny political forecast. Will an ongoing EPA investigation drift away? Will a class-action lawsuit cloud the skies? @quinnglabicki.bsky.social scans the horizon www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-n...

Scrutiny of EQT fracking likely to shift in 2025

EQT has complaints against it in West Virginia. It has been sued in Pennsylvania. Now, the natural gas giant is meeting a fracking-friendly Washington.

publicsource.org

1/ Older Black men in American cities are dying of overdose more than any other demographic group. Jamie Wiggan and I investigated the forces behind these deaths in Pittsburgh, including fear of calling 911 — a consequence of racist drug war policies. 🧵 www.publicsource.org/allegheny-co...

Pittsburgh’s older Black men hit hardest by overdose crisis

Large U.S. counties' morality data, including Allegheny County, Pa., shows Black men born from 1951-1970 are most likely to die by overdose.

publicsource.org

Two weeks after voting to increase taxes on all property owners, Allegheny County Council got cold feet on a proposed increase in fees on polluters, @quinnglabicki.bsky.social reports. U.S. Steel is pleased. www.publicsource.org/health-depar...

Allegheny County Council punts vote on permit fee increase

Plans to hike permitting fees for industrial polluters have been put on hold while council support wavers.

publicsource.org

Toby Rice backed winners in the Senate. He hobnobbed with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. He has become one of the most influential fossil fuel executives in America. Now, his “Shalennial” vision to vastly expand American gas exports is ever closer to reality. www.publicsource.org/eqt-toby-ric...

EQT’s Toby Rice poised for profits and pipelines after GOP wins

With fracking supporters Donald Trump and Dave McCormick headed for Washington, Rice’s Pittsburgh natural gas corporation is positioned to profit.

publicsource.org