(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE—In this file photo from March 12, 2020, work continues at a shale gas well drilling site in St. Mary’s, Pa. Pennsylvania attorney general Josh Shapiro is scheduled to release results on Thursday June 25, 2020 of a grand jury investigation into natural gas hydraulic fracturing. The fracking process has raised environmental concerns while turning the state into a major energy producer. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)

(Reported by Danielle Smith of Keystone News Service)

(Penn Township, PA) A nonprofit group is challenging permits for the construction and operation of fracking wells in western Pennsylvania’s Penn Township. A hearing set for January 15th will examine whether the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection lawfully issued drilling permits to Apex Energy. Attorney Lisa Johnson, who represents the group Protect P-T, short for ‘Penn-Trafford,’ says it’s been a years-long fight to block the Drakulic Well project, for its proximity to homes and an elementary school. Johnson says the case underscores the importance of Pennsylvania’s Environmental Rights Amendment, which protects citizens’ rights to clean air and pure water. In 2023, the state partnered with CNX Resources, which acquired Apex Energy, to boost transparency in fracking, including chemical disclosures and expanded no-drill zones near homes, schools and hospitals, to better address health and environmental concerns.