Radical Transparency Expands to Radiation Monitoring and Disclosure
CNX and the Shapiro Administration take the nation's first public-private environmental monitoring collaboration to a new level, adding continuous gamma radiation monitoring and expanded waste disclosure.
September 17, 2026
By Positive Energy Hub Staff
CNX Resources has announced the next evolution of Radical Transparency, its first-in-the-nation public-private environmental monitoring and disclosure collaboration with Governor Josh Shapiro and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
The program will now add continuous ambient gamma radiation monitoring at CNX's unconventional well pads and certain produced water facilities, along with expanded public disclosure of radiation surveys on waste leaving its operating sites.
From Air and Water to Radiation
Since Governor Shapiro and CNX signed the historic Statement of Mutual Interest in November 2023, Radical Transparency has grown from a commitment to disclose air quality, water quality, and drilling chemicals on a 24/7 basis into the most intensive independent study of unconventional natural gas wells in the nation. The partnership has also helped inform DEP rulemaking requiring broader chemical disclosure across the industry.
Today's announcement extends that same standard of site-level, third-party-verified data to radiation monitoring — one of the four core components of the program, alongside air quality monitoring, water quality monitoring, and additive disclosure.
Onterris, formerly Montrose Environmental Group, is the accredited third-party environmental services provider bringing this new data online. With decades of experience in scientific testing and regulatory compliance across air, water, and radiological monitoring, Onterris will apply the same independent rigor to CNX's radiation protection data that Clean Air Engineering already applies to air quality monitoring under the program.
The Next Data Points
Under the expanded program, CNX will:
- Install continuous ambient gamma radiation monitoring at or near its unconventional well pads and certain produced water facilities, covering every phase of well pad development from drilling through production. Raw data will be collected by Onterris and provided to CNX and DEP simultaneously, with quality assurance and quality control performed under a dedicated QA/QC plan. Just like air and water data, the results will be shared with the public in real time on the CNX Radical Transparency website.
- Expand public disclosure of waste transportation radiation surveys, consistent with CNX's Comprehensive Radiation Protection Plan (CRPP). CNX already surveys the radiation level of waste leaving its sites before disposal — it will now disclose that daily survey data publicly, updated monthly, from drilling through production. CNX also conducts semiannual desktop reviews and annual on-site inspections of every waste handling facility it approves to receive its waste.
Facts, Not Guesswork
"Radical Transparency was never meant to be a program with an end date — it's how we intend to manage our business moving forward, providing the public and policymakers the data needed to make informed decisions about the nature of natural gas development in Pennsylvania, and that means it must continue expanding and growing into new areas," said Alan Shepard, President and CEO of CNX. "Just as we've done with air and water quality, we're going to put actual, site-level radiation data in front of the public and DEP rather than allow questionable studies and speculation to drive the narrative on this important issue. These are voluntary commitments that go beyond what any regulation requires of us, because our communities deserve real data, not guesswork, about the operations happening near where they and we live and work."
CNX notes that these commitments are voluntary and go beyond the company's existing compliance obligations under state and federal law. As with the rest of the Radical Transparency program, the goal is to give communities, regulators, and elected officials direct access to site-level data and facts — rather than assumptions or modeling.
Additional information on Radical Transparency, including live monitoring data, is available at cnx.com/sustainability-radical-transparency.
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