Air Date: Week of March 21, 2025

Due to the high levels of pollution, there’s a sign warning Yukon residents to be careful around Sewickley Creek. (Photo: Scott Goldsmith, Inside Climate News)

The expansion of fracking or hydraulic fracturing for natural gas is generating large amounts of waste contaminated with heavy metals and radiation. Some of it gets sent to landfills like one in the small town of Yukon, Pennsylvania. Kiley Bense of Inside Climate News explains to Host Jenni Doering how EPA has documented unacceptable levels of pollution draining from the landfill into a local creek.

Transcript

BELTRAN: It’s Living on Earth, I’m Paloma Beltran.

DOERING: And I’m Jenni Doering.

There are communities all across the country fighting industrial pollution. And we turn now to the small, predominantly white town of Yukon in western Pennsylvania, which faces a fracking waste crisis. Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, leaves behind contaminated wastewater as well as solid waste, which gets sent to landfills like one in Yukon. In 2023, after decades of locals raising concerns about air and water pollution from the landfill, the Environmental Protection Agency finally conducted an inspection. The resulting report states that in addition to showing signs of disrepair, the landfill is draining heavy metals into a local creek at levels far above what its permit allows. Here to speak to us about this fracking waste is Inside Climate News reporter Kiley Bense. Welcome back to Living on Earth, Kiley!

BENSE: Thanks so much for having me. I'm really excited to be here.

DOERING: So I understand that you actually spent eight months reporting this story about Yukon, Pennsylvania. Paint a picture for me, please, of Yukon. Who lives there, and what's the landscape like?

BENSE: Sure, Yukon is kind of a typical small town in western Pennsylvania. It's about 30 miles from Pittsburgh, set on Appalachian hills. It's a lot of small houses, horse paddocks, chicken coops. It's actually quite bucolic. There's a creek that runs through or next to the town that has all these beautiful old trees, and the fall foliage was in full form when I was there. So it's quite pretty.

DOERING: Yeah, sounds like real small-town America.

BENSE: Yeah. And then in terms of who lives there, it's a small town, only a few hundred residents. Most of the residents are older, so people who are retired, living on fixed income, and the income level tends to be slightly lower than the rest of the state.

DOERING: So how is Yukon being impacted by fracking waste?

BENSE: So I think the story of how Yukon is being impacted by industrial pollution, which includes oil and gas waste, goes back quite a long ways. There's a landfill there that's owned by a company called MAX Environmental Technologies, and that landfill opened in 1964, so there's a lot of history. In terms of fracking waste, the landfill started to take more waste related to the fracking boom when fracking started in Pennsylvania. So that was in the early 2000s and then it really ramped up in the 2010s, and that's when the landfill started to take this kind of waste. And residents who live in Yukon had complained about waste and pollution from the landfill before this, but many of them noticed, or started to feel that the pollution from the landfill was worse when they started taking fracking waste. So residents noticed things like odors, dust, truck traffic, noise, light that was really impacting their quality of life.

DOERING: You know, of course, landfills are supposed to, in theory, keep in the bad stuff that we put into them. But in this case, it seems like some of it was getting out into the environment, and people were noticing. So what specifically were they seeing in terms of this pollution?

BENSE: So I think one of the most alarming things that we've seen is increased radioactivity in the waterways that the landfill discharges wastewater into. There's a creek called Sewickley Creek that is, again, as I mentioned, this beautiful spot where people fish and swim and kayak. Children play there. And there's a discharge pipe from the landfill that goes into this creek, and scientists from the University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University have done testing at this outfall, which is basically a word for the discharge point, both upstream and downstream of the point. And they've found increased radioactivity in the sediment downstream. It's unclear what the effects will be on the environment and people, but it is kind of alarming. And then the other effects are increased water pollution that includes heavy metals like arsenic, lead, cadmium, zinc. And then, as I mentioned before, this air pollution.

DOERING: So you said there's an outfall pipe going right into this creek. Why is there this pipe that's directly linking a landfill with a creek?

BENSE: So this is quite common, and this is really emblematic of the way that our country regulates hazardous waste and landfills in general. People might think that when we issue a permit to a landfill, maybe that permit says you can't pollute our public waterways at all, but that's actually not what permits say. They basically set limits for how many or the types and levels of pollutants that can be discharged into the stream. And in this case, MAX Environmental over multiple years exceeded those limits. The fact remains that even when they're operating legally, they're still allowed to just discharge things like arsenic into the water.

DOERING: And what is this waste, exactly? I mean, you know, it's a byproduct of fracking, but what is in it and where does it come from?

BENSE: Sure. So MAX Environmental takes a ton of different kinds of industrial waste, both hazardous and non-hazardous. Important to note that most oil and gas waste is not considered hazardous, so it is treated less stringently than waste that is labeled hazardous, but oil and gas waste and fracking waste is toxic and often radioactive. And the reason for that is that when you frack, so when you drill a well, it requires a huge amount of water, and there's often like chemicals that are added, drilling fluids that are added to that water in order to release the gas from the rock. And then when they successfully drill the well, the water comes back up. It's already been contaminated with the chemicals from the company, and then it's further contaminated with radioactive materials and heavy metals that are like deep underground. So some of the chemicals that they have specifically been cited for violating the permit exceedances, so how much they've discharged into the creek, for example, are things like lead and cadmium and arsenic and zinc. And then there's also this issue of radioactivity. Basically, the oil and gas industry creates a huge amount of toxic and radioactive material, both solid waste and water. And with the oil and gas industry, this has been a known problem for decades. It's not like this is a new issue. Fracking accelerated it and created a lot more of this waste, especially in a place like Pennsylvania, which saw a huge uptick in natural gas production because of fracking. But this has always been a problem, and we've sort of been, you know, kicking the can down the road for many years now.

DOERING: Tell me more about the potential health impacts of this waste. You mentioned radiation. How is that affecting the local people and community and Yukon residents?

BENSE: Yeah. So a lot of really good questions there. To start with the radioactivity, we don't really know how it's impacting people's health and animals and plants in the area, mostly because it's under studied. It doesn't mean that there isn't an impact. We just don't know. And then in terms of other health impacts from the landfill, there's a long history of residents in Yukon complaining about things like elevated levels of cancer in this small community, respiratory symptoms like asthma, sore throats, headaches and then reproductive symptoms like miscarriages that people believe is because of exposure to pollution from the landfill. It's really heartbreaking, the testimonies of residents, like if you read the transcripts of public hearings where people have gone and talked about the impacts on their lives and their neighbors, it's really devastating.

DOERING: Now the U.S. EPA and Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection did investigate MAX Environmental Technology's landfill. What did they find there?

BENSE: So what they found was pretty alarming. The EPA inspected the landfill in March of 2023 and they found what they called pretty significant disrepair. One of the things that inspectors saw was a containment building, which is supposed to hold untreated hazardous waste, had a hole in the roof and was leaking. And on the day that inspectors were at the landfill, it was raining, and they were able to watch the waste and run-off like leaking out of the building.

DOERING: Wow, that seems concerning.

BENSE: Yes, it definitely seems concerning. It's literally a containment building that is supposed to contain the waste, so if there's a leak in it, that is a big problem.

DOERING: So Kiley, we have this landfill that's wildly out of compliance with their permits, but at the same time, it sounds like nobody entirely knows what to do with fracking waste. So what's the solution here?

BENSE: I mean, I wish I knew the answer to that. That is a huge question that no one has really solved. There have been many solutions, so to speak, tried about what to do with fracking waste. For example, a lot of fracking wastewater is sent to injection wells, which you may have heard about, because in other states they've caused earthquakes. And then another thing that now is banned in a lot of places, but not all of them, is using this wastewater because it's very salty to deal with ice and snow on public roads. You can see why that might be a long term problem, or might cause long term problems to put toxic and radioactive water on public roads. To my knowledge, nobody has a long-term solution. I don't think that we know of one.

DOERING: So what's next at this point for MAX Environmental Technology's landfill? To what extent are there any actions they need to take to comply with the permits that they have?

BENSE: So there's a lot of different requirements that they need to fulfill based on these two consent orders that the EPA issued last year. And they talk about the requirements that the landfill has to meet in order to come into compliance. And it's very detailed. There's deadlines, you know, it requires, like hiring a third party auditor to make sure that everything's above board. It's a long process, though. So the EPA was keeping a very close eye on the landfill in communication with the company and making sure that they were meeting deadlines and doing the repairs that needed to be made and hopefully meeting the standards that are outlined in the permit.

DOERING: So of course, the U.S. EPA is currently in turmoil as the Trump administration slashes jobs, and even though some jobs have been restored, there's a lot of uncertainty. How might major cuts at EPA impact this situation with this landfill?

BENSE: I think it's too soon to know for sure what it will mean for this specific site, but I will say that residents and activists who work on this issue are concerned about this because it does seem like the Trump administration really wants to roll back environmental regulations and cut staff. And that is not helpful for making sure that this company comes into compliance. This is a very complex and large operation, and these consent orders are many pages long. There's all these detailed requirements. You know, it requires staying on top of it, and it requires time and effort and personnel, especially personnel with expertise. And, you know, if you're cutting the agency, it's unclear how well they're going to be able to stay on top of the orders and on top of the company.

DOERING: Kiley, before you go, what can other communities who have been affected by fracking waste learn from Yukon?

BENSE: I mean, I think that one of the things that made a difference here, and that led to these consent orders and this investigation happening, and all of this pressure coming from the federal government and the state government is that the residents there and people who are involved locally have been resisting and speaking out and protesting and writing their state legislators for decades. They have not given up, despite many obstacles and the many difficulties in being heard. And I do think that any progress that has been made in terms of regulating this landfill so that it is operating more safely is because of those grassroots movements and the work being done by residents, that the voices of individual people really do matter. And I'd also say that, although this story focuses on this small town in western Pennsylvania, it really does have resonance and importance for the whole state and the whole country. Whether you live near one of these landfills or not, this does affect you in ways, both large and small, and it's part of the price and the cost of our oil and gas development in this country.

DOERING: Kiley Bense is a reporter based in Pennsylvania for our media partner, Inside Climate News. Thank you so much, Kiley.

BENSE: Thank you.

DOERING: The landfill owner MAX Environmental provided a statement that reads in part, “There is no air or radiation pollution from our Yukon operations. There have been some exceedances of metals in our permitted effluent discharges from our wastewater treatment plant which we are in the process of correcting.” The full statement is linked to on the Living on Earth website, loe.org.

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STATEMENTS FROM MAX ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES IN AN EMAIL DIALOGUE

LIVING ON EARTH: We are collaborating with the Inside Climate News reporter Kiley Bense to cover the situation in Yukon, PA. It is our understanding that the residents of Yukon, as well as the state and federal governments, claim that Max Environmental’s landfill is polluting Yukon both through the air and water and that some of that pollution is radioactive.

MAX ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES: There is no air or radiation pollution from our Yukon operations. There have been some exceedances of metals in our permitted effluent discharges from our wastewater treatment plant which we are in the process of correcting. We do not believe that these exceedances have caused any negative environmental impact to the receiving stream (Sewickley Creek). We also do not believe that our operations are causing any impact to our neighbors’ properties or their health. EPA has stated that the environmental indicators of potential human exposure and potential groundwater impacts are under control.

LIVING ON EARTH: What is your understanding of the situation in Yukon? What is Max doing to address the EPA and DEP’s concerns? What is Max Environmental’s long term plan for the landfill in Yukon?

MAX ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES: The situation with our Yukon facility is that we are a properly permitted waste treatment and disposal facility and provide a needed service to industry and government and private cleanup projects in the mid-Atlantic region and beyond.

Based on an inspection conducted in 2023, EPA concluded that there were some operational areas that needed to be further evaluated and improved, resulting in two EPA consent orders with MAX to address those issues. We are complying with those consent orders regarding the treatment and testing of waste and the treatment of wastewater. We are also working with EPA and PADEP to resolve any outstanding concerns that the agencies may have, including the repair of infrastructure, updating operational plans and improvements to our wastewater treatment operations. A third-party audit of our Yukon waste treatment and testing operations concluded that we are treating and testing waste properly. EPA has approved that audit report. A third-party consultant has evaluated our wastewater treatment plant, concluding that we have made some improvements along with suggesting some additional evaluation of our operations to determine if additional improvements are necessary. EPA is reviewing a report prepared by that consultant. MAX will review any comments from EPA on that report and will take appropriate actions after it is received.

We plan to continue our current waste treatment operations at Yukon long into the future. Treated waste is shipped off-site for disposal at permitted facilities and some is still disposed of on-site in our permitted landfill. Any landfill expansion plans have been put on hold for the time being.

 

Links

Read Part 1 of Kiley Bense’s article here

Read Part 2 of Kiley Bense’s article here

Examine documents connected to MAX Environmental Technologies’ landfill.

Learn more about fracking