Articles by Michael Biesecker and Michael Rubinkam

Residents Await Fix for Pennsylvania Methane Leak

A vent at an underground natural gas storage well in Western Pennsylvania has been spewing massive amounts of planet-warming methane into the atmosphere for more than 11 days and attempts to plug the leak have thus far failed. Owner Equitrans …

PennDOT Faces Wrongful Death Suit Over Open Ditch Hit by Motorcyclist

Pennsylvania’s transportation agency dug a ditch and didn’t tell anyone, and it cost a motorcyclist her life, the victim’s family says in a new civil lawsuit. Leslie Gingrich, a mother of three who was training to get her commercial driver’s …

Judges Behind ‘Kids-for-Cash’ Ordered to Pay More Than $200M

Two Pennsylvania judges who orchestrated a scheme to send children to for-profit jails in exchange for kickbacks were ordered to pay more than $200 million to hundreds who fell victim to their crimes. U.S. District Judge Christopher Conner awarded $106 …

Pipeline Agrees to Pollution Remediation, Watersheds Restoration in Pennsylvania

The developer of a major pipeline system that connects the Marcellus Shale gas field in western Pennsylvania to an export terminal near Philadelphia pleaded no contest Friday to criminal charges that it systematically polluted waterways and residential water wells across …

Firefighter’s 10 Relatives, Including 3 Children, Among Victims in Fire He Battled

Fire tore quickly through a house in northeastern Pennsylvania early Friday, killing seven adults and three children and horrifying a volunteer firefighter who arrived to battle the blaze only to discover the victims were his own family, authorities said. The …

Family Blames Fatal Wreck on PennDOT’s Failure to Fix Ditch

Matt Neidlinger crested the hill of a narrow, twisty state road and found a nasty surprise waiting for him at the bottom. The ditch was a couple of feet wide and spanned both lanes, and Neidlinger barely had time to …

Gunmaker Sig Sauer Sued by Veteran Claiming Pistol Goes Off by Itself

A pistol made by Sig Sauer and sold to law enforcement and civilians alike is prone to going off without the trigger being pulled, a defect that has led to dozens of injuries over the past several years, a U.S. …

Parents of Teen Shot on Bridge Sue Pennsylvania State Police, District Attorney

The parents of a 19-year-old man who was killed by state troopers on an overpass in the Pocono Mountains filed a wrongful-death suit Wednesday, saying video that Pennsylvania State Police initially tried to keep secret shows he was pointing a …

EPA Releases $1 Billion to Clean Up Toxic Waste Sites in 24 States

Nearly 50 toxic waste sites around the U.S. will be cleaned up, and ongoing work at dozens of others will get a funding boost, as federal environmental officials announced a $1 billion infusion to the Superfund program. The money comes …

Pennsylvania Contact Tracing Breach Impacts Private Info of 72K People

Employees of a vendor paid to conduct COVID-19 contact tracing in Pennsylvania may have compromised the private information of at least 72,000 people, including their exposure status and their sexual orientation, the state Health Department said. Workers at Atlanta-based Insight …