Pa. attorney general brings charges against Marcellus Shale production company for spill

Kathleen Kane

The office of Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane has entered unprecedented waters. Kane's office is the first ever to bring criminal charges against a Marcellus Shale production company, after charges were announced Tuesday against XTO Energy Inc. for discharging more than 50,000 gallons of toxic wastewater from storage tanks at a gas-well site in 2010 in Lycoming County, an area that has 116,000 residents and includes Williamsport, Andrew Maykuth reports for the Philadelphia Inquirer. "XTO in July settled federal civil charges over the incident by agreeing to pay a $100,000 fine and deploy a plan to improve wastewater-management practices. The consent decree included no admissions of liability."

Kane's decision "has sent shock waves through the industry," Maykuth writes. "But environmentalists Wednesday hailed the prosecution of the Exxon Mobil Corp. subsidiary as a departure from the soft treatment they say the industry has received from Pennsylvania regulators." Industry leaders and the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry have protested the charges, saying they could create a hostile business environment 

XTO is charged with five counts of unlawful conduct under the Clean Streams Law and three counts of unlawful conduct under the Solid Waste Management Act, Maykuth writes. They face a fine of $25,000 per day for each violation. (Read more)