About

Public Herald is nonprofit, fearless investigative journalism. Our independence is guaranteed. We’re publicly funded, which means we work for and are supported by public donations. You can’t buy us, and we don’t give credence to awards and ratings. Our Members have carried us here. Join us.

We believe in the vital role the Free Press plays in a democracy and society to protect truth, transparency and accountability. Our investigative journalists tell transformational stories that shift the status quo, and are encouraged to collaborate across platforms with artists and communities.

We’re not afraid of “pissing off the wrong person” and therefore publish whatever, wherever and whenever we want. If you’re a muckraker at heart, or a practicing muckraker or artist, email our executive staff to contribute your work.

Co-founded in 2011 by investigative journalists Joshua Pribanic and Melissa Troutman, Public Herald’s mission started as two-fold: truth + creativity. Our work uses investigative journalism and art to empower readers and hold accountable those who put the public at risk.

Public Herald has garnered millions of readers, over 2,000 Lifetime Members, published exclusive investigations that reshaped the narrative on fracking, produced documentaries that are now licensed to more than 200 U.S. colleges, and we continue to evolve to meet the needs of the public interest.

Public Impact

Public Herald’s reporting does more than inform the public — it drives action across courts, communities, classrooms, newsrooms, and public institutions.

Legal Impact

Public Herald’s investigations have become an important resource in legal challenges related to oil and gas waste, radioactive contamination, and regulatory failure.

Just one day after Public Herald published its August 2019 investigation into radioactive landfill leachate, the Ohio law firm FairShake began citing the reporting in active case work. Since then, legal teams have continued to draw on Public Herald’s findings in efforts to address the dangers of fracking waste.

Public Herald’s journalism has also informed broader environmental litigation strategies. Law firms with the resources to pursue complex, large-scale environmental cases have used our reporting as a roadmap for understanding radioactive waste issues in Pennsylvania and beyond. While we cannot speak publicly about every legal matter or firm involved, our investigations have influenced major legal efforts capable of taking on some of the country’s most difficult environmental cases.

Public Herald journalists have served as expert sources in fracking-related cases, and our investigations have been used to document regulatory shortfalls and evidence of harm.

In 2022, Public Herald’s reporting on Pennsylvania’s TENORM issues was cited in legal actions and advocacy efforts involving Earthjustice, Pennsylvania Senator Katie Muth, the East Run Hellbenders Society, and CEASRA’s work on behalf of the Allegheny River watershed. From 2021 through 2025, CEASRA also relied on Public Herald’s TENORM investigations in opposing a permit that would have allowed additional fracking waste disposal through unsafe methods.

Community Impact

Public Herald’s reporting has helped communities organize, advocate, and win.

As CEASRA, the Citizens Environmental Association of the Slippery Rock Area, wrote to us:

“Based on the Public Herald ‘We Found the Names of Radioactive Waste Locations…’ article, we are moving forward to post radioactive signs on 3 waterways in Lawrence County. Also wanted to report that we recently won our appeal to overturn a radioactive fracking waste landfill permit of Tri-County Industries in Grove City PA. CEASRA, Inc. and Liberty Township were successful in Commonwealth Court in reversing the decision of the lower Environmental Hearing Board — and we have used the Public Herald research throughout our litigation during the last 5 years.”

This is the kind of public service impact that defines our newsroom: reporting that equips people with evidence, strengthens community action, and supports accountability where institutions have failed.

Academic Impact

Public Herald’s investigations have been cited in more than 20 academic studies.

Our 2019 report on radioactive leachate quickly gained attention among researchers and helped catalyze new academic interest in the question of how technically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material, or TENORM, has entered the public domain.

Our ongoing reporting continues to examine the broader national effort to normalize the storage, transport, and treatment of TENORM in communities across the country. Through this work, Public Herald has contributed to a growing body of research on the public health, environmental, and regulatory implications of radioactive oil and gas waste.

Media Reach

Since 2011, Public Herald has informed local, state, and national coverage of fracking waste and radioactive pollution. More than 300 publications have cited our reporting.

Our work has been featured or referenced by major outlets including NPR Marketplace, Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, and The New York Times. Public Herald’s reporting has also been cited in books including Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America by Eliza Griswold, Legal Rights for Rivers: Competition, Collaboration and Water Governance by Erin O’Donnell, and Sustainability and the Rights of Nature: An Introduction by Cameron La Follette and Chris Maser.

Documentary Film

Public Herald’s documentary films and photography have been screened at universities, museums, and community forums across the United States and internationally.

Our work has contributed to policy debates, legal hearings, and advocacy campaigns, and is currently licensed by more than 200 colleges across North America. Public Herald documentary projects have received multiple audience awards, Telly Awards, humanitarian honors, and selections at film festivals around the world.

Building Capacity

Public Herald does not just report on complex environmental issues — we help build the capacity for others to report on them, too.

In recent years, our newsroom has trained journalists across the country to investigate TENORM and related issues. That expertise has expanded the number of reporters equipped to cover radioactive oil and gas waste with depth, accuracy, and accountability. By investing in this kind of training, Public Herald is helping create a longer-lasting shift in how environmental journalism addresses one of the most underreported contamination stories in the country.

Criminal and Government Accountability

Public Herald’s investigations have also contributed to criminal and governmental scrutiny.

In February 2017, Public Herald published two major investigations into fracking water contamination complaints that helped reshape public understanding of state and industry conduct. Those reports became part of consultations with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s investigative team later that year.

Our August 2019 radioactive leachate investigation intensified public concern and added momentum to demands for official action. In the years that followed, concerns raised in the reporting continued to circulate through legal, regulatory, and public channels.

By 2024 and into the present, those concerns had evolved into active scrutiny by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office regarding the alleged illegal storage, handling, and discharge of radioactive fracking waste by Eureka Resources following Public Herald’s whistleblower reporting on the company.

Public Herald’s work has consistently helped surface evidence, inform oversight, and increase pressure for enforcement related to radioactive waste, including possible Clean Water Act violations and the need for stronger radioactive discharge standards in Pennsylvania permits.

Where injustice prevails, there we’ll put our resources. So far, our resource has been you – the public – and we thank you.