By: Reid Frazier
Cohen Seglias Partner Christopher Carusone is quoted in the witf article, “Pa. prosecutors eye potential ‘environmental crimes.'”
Investigators will be assessing intent or state of mind, a former federal prosecutor said
(Harrisburg) — When he ran for attorney general in 2016, Josh Shapiro promised to prosecute the state’s fracking industry. In a campaign ad, he said regulators in Pennsylvania were being too soft on polluters.
“All they’ve ever gotten is a slap on the wrist. It’s time for that to change,” Shapiro promised. “I’ll hold the oil and gas companies criminally liable for poisoning our air and our drinking water.”
Shapiro appears to be living up to his campaign promise. He’s summoned witnesses before an investigative grand jury in Pittsburgh to look into possible “environmental crimes” related to oil and gas activities. Close to Philadelphia, he’s helping Delaware County prosecutors investigate the troubled Mariner East pipeline project, which has caused sinkholes, contaminated well water, and leaked gasoline into waterways.
And Shapiro isn’t the only prosecutor in the state looking into the oil and gas business.