Module 7: Regional Case Example: SW Pennsylvania

The structural reality of SWPA’s exposure burden makes environmental justice (EJ) a foundation of policy-level cancer prevention, not an addition. EJ-grounded policy levers include cumulative impact assessment, EJ engagement requirements in permitting decisions, and meaningful community participation thresholds in regulatory processes.

• Where SWPA stands. PA DEP’s Office of Environmental Justice has expanded its role in recent years, and CENSWPA partners — including the Center for Coalfield Justice, ACCAN, and Women for a Healthy Environment — actively engage on EJ-related policy. The annual SWPA Environmental Summit that CENSWPA coordinates with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Public Health Practice serves as a regional convening grounded in EJ principles.
• Where the work goes next. Pennsylvania has made progress on environmental justice engagement through its updated 2026 policy, including expanded screening, earlier and more structured public participation, and clearer expectations for agency consideration of EJ concerns. However, the policy remains guidance-based and does not establish a comprehensive, enforceable cumulative impact framework to guide permitting decisions. As a result, there is no requirement to systematically assess or act on combined exposure burdens when new sources are proposed. Advancing policy that links cumulative impact assessment to permitting outcomes — including thresholds for denial, conditioning, or mitigation — will be critical to aligning regulatory decisions with the region’s existing exposure realities
  • Example Objective: Strengthen EJ-grounded policy in Pennsylvania’s environmental permitting and regulatory processes.
  • Example Intervention Strategy: Coordinate SWPA-based advocacy for cumulative impact assessment, stronger EJ designation criteria, and binding community participation requirements in state and county permitting processes.

The build-out of unconventional natural gas development (UNGD) across Southwestern Pennsylvania has placed thousands of well pads, compressor stations, and associated infrastructure in close proximity to homes, schools, and other sensitive receptors. Setback distances are a critical direct land-use policy levers available to reduce population exposure to UNGD-associated hazards, particularly air pollutants linked to carcinogenic risk. Scientific studies have documented that increasing distances between emission sources and occupied spaces can meaningfully reduce exposure and associated cancer risk.

• Where SWPA stands. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision in Robinson Township v. Commonwealth re-affirmed municipalities’ authority to use zoning to regulate oil and gas development in order to protect public health and welfare. In SWPA, CENSWPA partners — including Center for Coalfield Justice, Mountain Watershed Association, Environmental Health Project and FracTracker Alliance — have supported municipalities in developing and defending zoning ordinances that incorporate greater setbacks and other protective provisions. While a number of jurisdictions have adopted setback requirements exceeding state minimums, implementation remains uneven, frequently contested, and constrained by the boundaries of state law.
  • Example Objective: Strengthen setback distance and zoning protections for SWPA communities affected by unconventional natural gas development.
  • Example Intervention Strategy: Support municipalities in shale-impacted counties to adopt and enforce evidence-informed setback ordinances, and coordinate state-level advocacy for stronger uniform standards, in partnership with the Center for Coalfield Justice, Mountain Watershed Association, and other affected-community organizations.

Even if tobacco smoking were eliminated, a recent study documents that regions with substantial industrial air pollution would continue to experience elevated lung cancer risk due to persistent exposure to carcinogenic air toxics. In and around Allegheny County where both rates of lung cancer and air pollution remain significantly elevated, reducing cancer risk from industrial air pollution depends fundamentally on enforcement of existing standards, accountability for repeat violators, and the use of the strongest available regulatory tools under federal and state law. These include stringent permit conditions, meaningful penalties, injunctive relief, and, where warranted, operational restrictions or shutdowns for chronic non-compliance.

• Where SWPA stands. The Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) has used its coke oven emissions and hydrogen sulfide regulations to pursue enforcement actions against repeat violators in the Mon Valley, including high-profile cases involving facilities such as U.S. Steel Clairton Coke Works. Regional CENSWPA partners — including Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP), The Breathe Project, PennEnvironment, and Allegheny County Clean Air Now (ACCAN) among others, have sustained advocacy for stronger enforcement, greater transparency, and public accountability.
• Where the work goes next. Enforcement consistency, penalty levels, and the speed of regulatory response to violations remain points of friction. Priority actions include supporting Allegheny County Health Department’s existing authority to adopt and enforce more stringent emission standards, accelerating long-overdue updates and implementation of the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for major industrial sources (regulations that control releases of carcinogenic pollutants such as benzene, coke oven emission and arsenic among others).
  • Example Objective: Strengthen consistent enforcement of air quality standards against SWPA industrial polluters.
  • Example Intervention Strategy: Coordinate SWPA partner advocacy for stronger ACHD enforcement authority and improved transparency in violation reporting and penalty practice.

Drinking water contamination is a cancer prevention priority that tracks existing patterns of geographic and economic inequities. Several drinking water contaminants relevant to cancer risk are present in SWPA water systems, and policy is the principal lever for addressing them at scale. Two priorities stand out for the region: per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are linked to kidney and testicular cancer, and disinfection byproducts that form when chlorine or other halogen substances, such as bromine in water treatment reacts with organic matter in source water. The latter problem is intensified in SWPA because elevated bromide loads — much of which trace to unconventional natural gas operations and other industrial discharges — drive the formation of brominated disinfection byproducts that carry elevated bladder cancer risk and possibly rectal cancers.

• Where SWPA stands. Pennsylvania adopted state-level drinking water Maximum Contaminant Levels for PFOA and PFOS in 2023, and EPA finalized substantially more protective federal limits in April 2024 — meaning Pennsylvania’s standards now lag behind the federal limits. PFAS contamination in SWPA traces to multiple sources, including legacy industrial sites and aqueous film-forming foam fire suppression used at regional airports, firefighting training facilities, and military sites. Disinfection byproduct levels in SWPA public water systems have at times exceeded national averages, with the bromide pathway from oil and gas operations a documented contributor — an issue CENSWPA partner, Three Rivers Waterkeeper has engaged through surface water monitoring and advocacy focused on mitigating problematic industrial discharges. A substantial share of rural SWPA households also rely on private wells, which fall outside any required testing or treatment framework; the Environmental Health Project has documented water quality concerns near unconventional gas operations in shale-impacted counties, and Women for a Healthy Environment continues to concerns regarding contaminated drinking water in their public education and advocacy efforts across the region.
• Where the work goes next. Aligning Pennsylvania’s PFAS standards with the more protective federal rule, addressing source-water bromide at the watershed scale through stronger discharge limits on oil-and-gas wastewater, and expanding private-well testing and remediation access in rural counties are continuing fronts.
  • Example Objective: Reduce SWPA residents’ exposure to PFAS, disinfection byproducts, and other cancer-relevant drinking water contaminants — across both regulated public systems and unregulated private wells.
  • Example Intervention Strategy: Advance a coordinated drinking water policy agenda that (1) accelerates Pennsylvania adoption of the federal PFAS standards and supports treatment-plant upgrades to meet them, (2) require the substitution of AFFF with safer alternatives; (3) reduce bromide and other disinfection-byproduct precursors at the source through stronger discharge limits on oil-and-gas wastewater, and (4) expands private-well testing and remediation programs through county health departments and state-funded well-stewardship initiatives — with explicit prioritization of fenceline and frontline communities.

Childhood cancers — particularly leukemias and central nervous system tumors — show consistent associations with residential pesticide exposure, and pesticides used in agriculture contribute to occupational cancer risk among agricultural workers, including landscapers. Several widely used pesticides — including glyphosate, 2,4-D, and the organophosphate class — are classified as known or suspected carcinogens by IARC. Reducing pesticide exposure across agricultural, residential, and public-land applications is one of the most direct policy-level cancer prevention levers available, and it carries co-benefits for asthma, neurodevelopmental health, and pollinator protection.

• Where SWPA stands. CENSWPA partner Women for a Healthy Environment has led pesticide reduction work across the region, including advocacy for organic land care policies in municipal parks and ongoing engagement with school districts on Integrated Pest Management implementation under the Pennsylvania School Integrated Pest Management Act. Early-adopter municipalities have begun shifting public-land management practices, but significant gaps remain across suburban municipalities, county and authority parks, and rural counties where agricultural-worker exposures and drift into residential areas are continuing concerns.
• Where the work goes next. Scaling municipal organic land care policies beyond early-adopter jurisdictions, strengthening Pennsylvania School IPM Act enforcement and parent and staff notification provisions, and addressing agricultural-worker and bystander exposures in rural counties through partnerships with extension services and worker-rights organizations are continuing priorities.
  • Example Objective: Reduce SWPA residents’ exposure to cancer-relevant pesticides through restrictions on use in shared public spaces and stronger protections for occupational and bystander populations.
  • Example Intervention Strategy: Build a regional municipal organic land care coalition to expand pesticide-free park, school, and public-land policies across SWPA; strengthen enforcement and notification under the Pennsylvania School IPM Act; and partner with Penn State Extension and worker-advocacy organizations on training, protective-equipment access, and exposure monitoring in rural counties — with explicit prioritization of schools and recreation spaces serving fenceline and frontline communities.