Hi Reader,

Last month’s newsletter started with an update about a plastics “chemical recycling” (pyrolysis) facility outside Hebron, Ohio and how local residents and watchdogs pushed Ohio EPA to treat it like what it is—a plastic-burning operation with real consequences for air quality and public health.

Now there’s a major update: Freepoint Eco-Systems has announced it’s shutting down the facility this summer. Community members are calling it a win.

It turns out that the viability of a lot of projects really depends on weak oversight. In those cases, pushing for regulation can be the chink in their armor.

According to Buckeye Environmental Network, the shutdown notice came after the plant’s fifth Notice of Violation and a string of malfunction events.

This win belongs to the people who kept documenting what they saw and kept demanding accountability. And it’s a reminder to the rest of us that organizing can change outcomes.

Read on for more wins, and my take on what really sustains movement…

​Click here to view this email in your browser.

What We're Following

Rail safety win comes 3 years after the derailment in East Palestine

A House committee voted to add a package of rail safety rules to a larger infrastructure bill, including more frequent track checks, better early-warning sensors for overheating railcar bearings, giving local fire departments faster access to cargo information, and keeping at least two crew members on trains carrying hazardous materials.

Th bill hasn’t been passed yet, but this inclusion signals that policy makers are finally taking rail safety seriously.

Want the deeper story behind why these safeguards matter? Rail Watch founder Jess Conard joins a podcast episode unpacking what it’s been like to live through the East Palestine derailment and it’s aftermath.

​Listen here.​

Alarm over fracking health risks in America’s World Cup city

With Arlington, TX hosting World Cup matches at AT&T Stadium, a Reuters report highlights concerns that nearby fracking in the Barnett Shale exposes residents, especially children, to air pollution and hazardous chemicals.

Texas law limits how much cities like Arlington can restrict drilling, and local regulation actually allows wells within a few hundred feet of homes, schools, and daycare centers. Researchers point to evidence linking proximity to oil and gas operations with elevated health risks like asthma and childhood leukemia, but TotalEnergies’ local subsidiary disputes the findings and says it is working to reduce emissions. Residents and advocates argue that even “permitted emissions” still leave families vulnerable.

​Read the Reuters story.​

New report tracks “super-emitter” methane plumes across Appalachia

The Gas Leaks Project and Earthworks published a new analysis of satellite-detected “super-emitter” methane events across the Appalachian Basin. The report finds nearly 100 emission events from 70 oil and gas sources in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia—together estimated at more than 162,000 pounds of methane per hour. Repeated plumes could mean actual emissions exceed what companies publicly report. The report also links a subset of investigated plumes to potential benzene exposure risks for nearby residents, highlighting the stakes of rapid detection and mitigation.

​Read the summary and download the full report.​

Network Spotlight

Submit your nominations for the 2026 Community Sentinel Awards

FracTracker Alliance, in partnership with the Halt the Harm Network, is hosting the 2026 Community Sentinel Awards for Environmental Stewardship, an awards program honoring people across the U.S. who show extraordinary courage and commitment in protecting their communities from environmental injustice and the harms of the fossil fuel industry.

Since 2015, the Sentinel Awards have recognized frontline leaders in many forms: organizing grassroots campaigns, advocating for stronger laws and regulations, conducting independent research, creating art that raises awareness, and educating the public about fossil fuel impacts.

Nominations for 2026 are now open! If you know someone doing this kind of work, consider submitting a nomination—and share the call with your networks so more community leaders are recognized.

​Submit a nomination here.​

Upcoming Events

All event replays can be found in the Recordings Space in the HHN Network.​

Don’t Panic. Get Organized: Fundamentals of Rural Organizing

Tucker United is a grassroots coalition in West Virginia formed in 2025 after learning of plans for a massive gas- and diesel-fueled power plant proposed within two miles of their community to supply a 10,000-acre data center complex.

In this session, co-founders and organizers Amy Margolies, PhD (Executive Director) and Shaena Crossland (Community Organizer) will share what they’ve learned from a year of organizing for transparency, health and safety protections, and community oversight—what worked, what didn’t, and what they’d do differently. There will be time for Q&A and discussion.

The workshop will be useful to rural community organizers everywhere, whether you’re working on an issue related to fracking, pipelines, data centers, or something else entirely.

​RSVP here.​

Data Center Locations Training and Q&A with FracTracker

Data center development keeps accelerating, and communities need clear, current information about where these facilities are going and how they affect them. Mia Glover of FracTracker Alliance walks through the Open U.S. Data Centers Tracker live, shows what’s new since the last session, and takes your questions — so bring a project you’re watching and learn how to find it on the map.

This training is part of a new, regular series of recurring meetups for leaders facing data center threats. Alongside our ongoing policy updates and resource updates, it’s meant to help you stay current as the landscape shifts.

​RSVP here.​

Uncovering the Harms of Radioactive Landfill Leachate

How Regulators Could Protect Residents from Radioactive Leachate in Landfills (but are they?)

Landfills across Pennsylvania take in radioactive fracking waste, and it’s not just in Pennsylvania either. The leachate produced at these landfills is harmful and raises important questions for communities bearing the risks. How can regulators protect communities instead of buckling to the pressure from industry? A line up of expert presenters from different organizations will present on the science, health impacts, a PA case study, and resources we need to push back on fracking waste.

​RSVP here.​

More events...

Closing Comment

It feels amazing to hear about movement wins once in a while, whether it’s the closing of a pyrolysis facility, a policy shift on rail safety, or something else.

They add fuel to the fire, but it’s not what keeps us going every day—that wouldn’t be sustainable.

For me, it’s knowing that I’m part of a huge community (of family, friends, organizers, and relatives of all kinds) and knowing that I have their back and they have mine.

​Come find us in the network, any time, any where.

Sincerely,

Ryan Clover

Ryan Clover ​Network Facilitator, Halt the Harm Network ​View Profile​

​