Pennsylvania's state Senate is weighing a measure that would give state regulators, rather than federal ones, the power to decide where to place large wells used to bury pollution from the hydrogen energy industry.

But environmental advocates and some lawmakers argue the state Department of Environmental Protection won’t be able to provide adequate oversight of carbon capture and storage, and that communities will be endangered if such projects are allowed without federal oversight.

Read Spotlight PA's full report: Safety, oversight concerns raised as Pa. lawmakers pursue billions for hydrogen hubs.

THE CONTEXT: So far, the federal government has received three applications to build hydrogen hubs in Pennsylvania, part of a federal and state-backed push to create new clean energy production centers.

In Pennsylvania, production would be powered by fossil fuels from the state's large Marcellus Shale natural gas reserves, with resulting greenhouse gas emissions trapped in underground wells away from the atmosphere. 

Currently, the federal Environmental Protection Agency has the primary enforcement authority when it comes to these wells. Better known as injection wells, they have been linked to earthquakes and water contamination.

Pennsylvania's proposed takeover is unusual — only two states have this level of injection well control now — and critics say potentially problematic.

View from the window of Bordner's Cabin in Swatara State Park, via Patty S. Have a photo you'd like to share with the whole state? Send it to us by email, use #PAGems on Instagram, or tag us @spotlightpennsylvania.

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WABTEC STRIKE: More than 1,400 union workers at Wabtec's locomotive plant in Erie are on strike after voting to reject the company's contract offer last week, Erie News Now reports. No new talks are scheduled.

REOPENING PARTY: Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration held a ceremony to celebrate the reopening of I-95 on Friday with sports mascots dancing on top of a firetruck and an army of content creators in the closing credits.

RADIO CUTS: The owner of Pittsburgh's NPR affiliate WESA-FM and WYEP plans to offer voluntary buyouts to two reporters, citing unfavorable economic conditions, per TribLIVE. Other changes are possible.

PA POD: Lovers of crime and political podcasts look no further than PA Political Digest, a deep dive into Pennsylvania's noted history of political corruption hosted by two veteran and homegrown political journalists.

MALL SALE: Going, going, sold! The Lycoming Mall has a new owner after months of delays. FAMVEST Partners plans to revitalize the 135-acre property into a "work/live/play site," NorthCentralPa.com reports.