Marcellus Drilling News: Capital & Main settles legal dispute with CNX Resources
On February 13, the news site Marcellus Drilling News released a statement about Capital & Main’s resolution of a lawsuit by CNX Resources concerning an article from September 2025. The article, titled “Pennsylvania Gas Driller: Our Operations Pose No Health Risk; You Can’t Be Serious, Activists Say,” highlighted CNX’s previous air quality violations and criminal charges related to pollution laws. It delved into how CNX attempted to reinvent itself in the fossil fuel industry through a study it conducted in collaboration with Shapiro, an entity it had previously clashed with.
The piece mentioned that a coalition of 40 environmental groups, along with State Sen. Katie Muth, raised objections to CNX’s “Radical Transparency” program. They viewed it as an effort to discredit the numerous studies, reports, and investigations showing the negative impacts of fracking on health, safety, the environment, and the climate. This sentiment was collectively voiced in a letter submitted to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Subsequent reports revealed a legal battle between Capital & Main and CNX following the publication of the article. CNX filed a defamation suit over quotes included in the piece that criticized an industry-funded study’s credibility. Despite the litigation, Capital & Main affirmed its commitment to its reporting and pledged to challenge the lawsuit.
Marcellus Drilling News later announced the settlement between CNX and Capital & Main. As part of the resolution, an editor’s note was appended to the original article to clarify that Capital & Main did not insinuate that CNX manipulated data or engaged in stock market malpractice. Additionally, it disclaimed any beliefs or evidence suggesting such wrongdoing on CNX’s part.
The coverage proceeded to touch upon an environmental hearing board ruling regarding a DEP water supply contamination case involving CNX Gas Company. The ruling indicated possible misuse of legal proceedings by CNX to penalize an environmental advocate raising concerns about the company’s activities. Testimonies from Jodi Borello, a resident near a CNX facility, underscored her family’s firsthand experiences with gas and chemical releases that persisted for nearly a decade, ceasing only after legal intervention.
Notably, the Department of Health and Penn State Medical conducted training sessions on shale gas facility health impacts using the CNX Oak Springs pipeline as a case study. The training aimed to assist healthcare professionals in identifying health issues potentially linked to exposure to such facilities. These initiatives highlighted the broader implications of substandard environmental compliance records associated with CNX Resources and its affiliates in Pennsylvania.
A litany of violations and penalties were documented against CNX for various environmental infractions across different counties. These infractions ranged from wastewater spills to unauthorized water withdrawals, underscoring the company’s challenging track record. The setbacks underscored the persistence of questionable practices in CNX’s operational history that necessitated regulatory intervention and legal consequences to rectify environmental breaches.