Brian Schwartz said he recently became convinced that the time had come to make a public statement about banning fracking. A shale gas industry group said a ban would bring Pennsylvania’s economy “to a standstill.”

One man who grew up near a major petrochemical plant thinks it’s a devil’s bargain: “Why should a community in America have to suffer what we’ve fought hard against?”

The Associated Press cites three sources who say FBI agents have interviewed current or former state employees in recent weeks about the Mariner East project and the construction permits.