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Reactions/Comments: Grand Jury Report On Regulatory Failures During Natural Gas Fracking Boom

There have been many reactions to and comments on the Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s announcement of the Grand Jury Report on regulatory failures during the natural gas fracking boom.

PA Environment Digest will continue to post those comments and reactions and other information related to the Grand Jury Report so there can be an informed discussion of the issues raised in the Report.

Wolf Administration

The Wolf Administration issued this statement in response to the Grand Jury Report--

“Governor Tom Wolf shares the Attorney General’s commitment to upholding Pennsylvania’s constitutional promise of clean air, pure water, and to protecting public health.

“The Wolf Administration inherited a flawed ideological approach to regulation of unconventional oil and gas development that was forced on the departments of Environmental Protection and Health by the Corbett Administration, which promoted the rapid expansion of natural gas development and profit above these other priorities.

“The administration, acting through DEP and DOH, has taken steps from its first days in office to meet this commitment, implementing new environmental regulations, fighting for a reasonable severance tax on natural gas, increasing inspections of well sites, pipelines and other natural gas facilities, and promoting transparency and science-based decision-making on the health impacts of natural gas development.

“The vast majority of the issues highlighted in the report took place under the Corbett Administration.

“This administration has acted aggressively to address the previous administration’s regulatory failures, remove restrictions on enforcement, and has put in place new regulations to hold natural gas companies to some of the most stringent environmental standards anywhere in the country in order to protect public health and the environment.

“This change in approach under the Wolf Administration immediately produced results.

“In the four years of the Corbett Administration, DEP averaged 11,821 unconventional well inspections. In the Wolf Administration, this number has increased to 16,396 per year, a nearly 40 percent increase.

“Last year there were over 18,500 inspections conducted, nearly 7,000 more than the last year of the prior administration. These inspections resulted in 3,636 citations for violations through 2019.

“Under Governor Wolf’s leadership, as of early 2020, DEP has issued more than $67.5 million in penalties to oil and gas companies polluting Pennsylvania’s land, water, and air. This total includes the largest civil penalty ever collected in a single settlement.

“The Department of Health has also undertaken efforts to promote transparency related to the potential health impacts of natural gas development.

“This included removing Corbett Administration directives that prevented DOH from discussing complaints about fracking, establishing a transparent health registry, and more recently funding two research studies in partnership with an academic center to investigate health effects related to the natural gas industry, in particular as they pertain to confirmed cases of Ewing Sarcoma and other childhood cancers in southwestern Pennsylvania.

“Many of the recommendations in the report either mirror activities that the administration already has in place or it supports as additional actions by the legislature. We stand ready to assist helping the legislature in developing language to address the concerns raised by the report.

“The governor is proud of the work done by both the Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Health, and he stands by the secretaries and hardworking staff at both agencies as we continue to strongly support rigorous oversight and enforcement of the laws and regulations to protect the environment and public health.

“The administration will continue its efforts to ensure that individuals or businesses that violate these laws and regulations are held accountable.”

Click Here For DEP’s response to the Report. Click Here for the Health Department’s response.

Sen. Gene Yaw

On June 26, Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming), Majority Chair of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, issued the following statement in response to the Grand Jury Report--

“Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry is one of the most regulated in the nation and is subject to regulations by DEP and EPA under numerous laws including the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Act, the Clean Streams Law, the Air Pollution Control Act, the Solid Waste Management Act, erosion and sediment control and post-construction stormwater discharge regulations to name a few.

“Clearly, oversight by environmental agencies is extensive.

“The Legislature passed Act 13, which raised 40 environmental protection standards. We passed Act 9, which required emergency response 911 plans. We passed Act 127, which requires pipelines to adhere to federal safety laws and empowers the PUC to enforce it.

“We passed an Impact Tax, which has provided $100 million to DEP and conservation districts to enforce environmental protection standards. In addition, we raised penalties for bad actors.

“In 100 pages of the Attorney General’s report, there isn’t one mention of the action by the Legislature.

“Pennsylvania is now the 2nd largest producer of natural gas in the United States. That fact alone makes Pennsylvania one of the largest producers in the world.

“No governing administration of the state has acknowledged our position. Most importantly, no state administration has even tried to promote Pennsylvania’s position as a world leader in the natural gas market.

“The Wolf administration has paid lip service at best to the importance of this multi-billion dollar industry to Pennsylvania.

“From day one, the administration has attempted to degrade this industry, which does not rely on government handouts, with a severance tax.

“The administration’s Department of Environmental Protection has done everything in its power to regulate and restrict the industry into oblivion.

“In 2019, there were 700 wells drilled in Pennsylvania. Also, during 2019, there were 19,485 inspections of the industry. What other business in Pennsylvania has DEP on its doorstep that many times in a year?

“When the industry continued to survive on the world stage, the administration’s response is to rehash claims through the Attorney General, which have been repudiated years ago.

“Many of these claims were actually rejected in Pennsylvania court cases. Talk about “black sludge water” went out the window with Yoko Ono’s aborted bus trip on the ice in 2009.

“It is absolutely embarrassing for a state, which is a world leader to have such a short sighted and myopic view of an industry of international importance.

“Their sentiment - ‘Let’s drive these people out of the state, now. We don’t want them.’

Marcellus Shale Coalition

The Marcellus Shale Coalition president David Spigelmyer released this statement in reaction to the Grand Jury Report- “Environmental safety and public health is a priority for the industry.

“The tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians who work across the sector – building and union trades, professional engineers, environmental professionals, health and safety experts, as well as exploration and production companies that contract with hydraulic fracturing service providers, midstream companies and countless other Pennsylvania-based small, family-owned businesses – have every reason to place the highest value on regulatory compliance and transparency.

“Our industry’s long and clear proactive and collaborative approach to ensuring Pennsylvania’s regulations encourage safety is unfortunately not reflected in this report, which we are closely reviewing.

“For example, Act 13 already requires the disclosure of chemicals, including proprietary information, which the public can access through fracfocus.org. Similarly, EPA and PADEP have established heightened standards for emissions, such as those developed by the Wolf Administration under the GP-5 and GP-5A air quality permits.

“In fact, Pennsylvania’s rigorous regulations and strong permitting requirements have been recognized by independent environmental review organizations as effective models for others to follow.

“We’re proud of our industry’s shared commitments to keeping Pennsylvanians safe while enhancing our environment – especially air quality – and helping to create good-paying jobs across the Commonwealth.

“For anyone to suggest that we are not protecting our environment and public health while responsibly and safely producing clean and abundant American natural gas should better understand the facts and science behind natural gas energy development.”

Additional Information: The Marcellus Shale Coalition released this additional reaction to the report on June 26--

An Attorney General report released yesterday ignores Pennsylvania’s modern, world-class regulatory framework, relies on decade-old unnamed anecdotal sources, and advances a false, deeply misguided understanding of safe, responsible shale development.

The report, which comes as the result of a two-year grand jury investigation, “presents an inaccurate and incomplete picture of Pennsylvania’s regulatory program,” Pa.’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) wrote in response, with many aspects of the report “factually and legally inaccurate” and “does a disservice to the citizens of the Commonwealth.”

For more than a decade – spanning three governors, two Democratic and one Republican – MSC and its members have taken a proactive and collaborative approach to ensuring Pa.’s regulations encourage safety and environmental protection.

We have supported significant fee increases to fund DEP oversight, transparently disclosed chemical use prior to it becoming law, adhered to stricter setback requirements, and pioneered innovative water recycling and reuse practices, to name a few of the meaningful regulatory and voluntary actions.

“Environmental safety and public health is a priority for the industry,” MSC’s Dave Spigelmyer said in response to the AG’s report. “The tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians who work across the sector – building and union trades, professional engineers, environmental professionals, health and safety experts, as well as exploration and production companies that contract with hydraulic fracturing service providers, midstream companies and countless other Pennsylvania-based small, family-owned businesses – have every reason to place the highest value on regulatory compliance and transparency.”

A review of Pa.’s unconventional oil and gas regulatory landscape details 43 laws on the books, seven technical guidance documents, and 28 permit authorization packages just with the DEP.

From 2010 to 2019, DEP inspected unconventional well sites 134,681 times, including more than 19,000 well site inspections last year with 677 unconventional wells being drilled, the highest to date.

In fact, the Commonwealth’s regulatory framework has been repeatedly referenced as a model for others to follow. The State Review of Oil and Natural Gas Environmental Regulations – an independent, non-profit regulatory review commission – has given Pa.’s oil and gas program high marks, citing it as “well-managed, professional and meeting program objectives.”

“The review team has determined that Pennsylvania has a rigorous process for developing regulations, reviewing regulations and obtaining input from various stakeholders including the public,” the organization wrote in a 2013 review. “The state’s well completion report requirements and chemical disclosure requirements exceed public disclosure and reporting requirements.”

Even former DEP Secretary John Hanger, a former PennFuture executive who led the agency under Gov. Ed Rendell, wrote to the New York Times in 2011 that “Pennsylvania has the strongest enforcement program of any state with gas drilling. Period.” Seven years later, current DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell confirmed before lawmakers that Pennsylvania has “very good oil and gas regulations.”

We’re proud of our industry’s shared commitments to keeping Pennsylvanians safe while enhancing our environment – especially air quality – and helping to create good-paying jobs across the Commonwealth.

Unfortunately for Pennsylvanians, this report does little to meaningfully advance discussion around the safe, responsible development of our abundant natural gas resources. It specifically ignores more than a decade of regulatory upgrades and recommends policies that are already on the books.

These basic, fundamental flaws suggest the Commonwealth’s top law enforcer has a poor understanding of modern, responsible shale development and little knowledge of the laws developed over the last decade to protect the public and advance environmental goals.

Ignores Existing Law

Since shale development began in earnest, the Commonwealth’s laws, regulations, and policies have been studied, reviewed, and modernized under Governors Rendell, Corbett and Wolf.

As the DEP noted in their official response, jurors were not provided “accurate information about the existing laws, the scientific and policy underpinnings of the regulations, and the commitment of DEP staff to create and implement a comprehensive and effective regulatory program that protects the citizens and environmental resources.”

Of particular concern, the report is missing key components of Pa. Act 13, the comprehensive unconventional oil and gas act signed into law in 2012, which includes, among others:

-- Chemical disclosure – Act 13 requires chemical additives and the amounts used to be transparently disclosed to regulatory agencies and made publicly available on the FracFocus.org, a national disclosure clearinghouse.

-- Pre-drill notification – Operators seeking permits must notify host and adjacent municipalities of their intent to drill and list these municipalities on the permit application. In addition, the law requires applicants to notify surface landowners and water purveyors near the well site.

-- Water well testing – Operators are fully responsible for completing pre and post testing of water wells within a half mile radius. If changes in water quality occur, operators are presumed liable.

-- Setbacks – Act 13 enhanced the distance a well can be constructed from 300 to 1,000 feet from public water wells and springs and 500 feet from buildings.

-- Impact Fee – The Impact Fee is the state’s tax on natural gas production, which is on top of all other taxes in the Commonwealth, and has generated more than $1.9 billion since inception, with approximately two-thirds of the revenues directly supporting all 67 counties and local governments.

Other significant legislative changes include Act 127, Act 9, and more recently Chapter 78 and 78a.

Pa. Act 127 was signed into law in late 2011 and enables the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to enforce federal laws pertaining to the transportation of gas and hazardous liquids throughout the Commonwealth via pipelines. Act 127 also requires the PUC to maintain a registry of pipelines and pipeline operators.

The Marcellus Advisory Commission was established in 2011 through an executive order by Governor Tom Corbett to ensure proper emergency and safety protocols are created at each well site.

Under the order, which is Pa. Act 9, the DEP and PEMA are required to “adopt emergency regulations directing the operators of all unconventional wells within this Commonwealth to register street and GPS addresses, to post signs, and to develop and implement emergency response plans.”

More recently Chapters 78a regulations were adopted in 2016, focusing on well monitoring, public resource impact screening, water supply replacement standards, waste management and disposal, and site remediation.

Recommends Existing Policies

The AG’s report identifies eight policy recommendations, many of which already exist under Pennsylvania law or would amount to an outright ban on development. A review of some of the proposed policies include:

1. AG Proposal: Expand the setback distance between homes and gas wells from 500 feet to 2,500 feet and require an even bigger buffer between wells and schools and hospitals.

Pennsylvania has the second largest well drilling setback requirement in the nation: No unconventional well may be drilled within 500 feet of a building or private water well, and cannot be drilled within 1,000 feet of a public water supply well, reservoir, or other water supply point unless approved by the building or well owner.

In fact, in DEP’s response, the agency questions the proposed setback, calling them “arbitrarily” set and not supported by scientific or technical rationale. Under current regulations, municipalities can set zoning restrictions and have the authority to regulate noise, among other items.

A 2,500-foot setback would essentially ban natural gas development in Pennsylvania which, as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce identified last year, would destroy more than 600,000 good-paying jobs and result in a $261 billion hit to the state’s GDP.

2. AG Proposal: Stop the “chemical cover-up” by requiring drillers to make public to everyone, not just the DEP, all the chemicals used in drilling and fracking.

Pa. Act 13 and Chapter 78 both mandate oil and natural gas operators to disclose chemical additives – and the amount used – to the public and state regulators, and to physicians and emergency first responders.

MSC and its members were first movers, adopting the use of FracFocus.org – a national, publicly accessible chemical disclosure site, prior to being required by law in 2012.

The report also omits the significance of the Zone of Presumption law, which automatically presumes any water contamination is a result of oil and natural gas operations, and fails to state that pre-drill water testing is completed within a half mile radius of the well.

3. AG Proposal: Require regulation of all gathering lines.

Act 127, which is not mentioned in the AG’s report, extended oversight, construction and operational standards to unconventional pipelines transporting gas and hazardous liquids.

Then State Representative Shapiro voted in favor of the law, which passed in 2011, and granted the Public Utility Commission the authority to regulate the safety of pipelines that are operated by public utilities, including intrastate transmission lines and natural gas distribution systems.

MSC has long-supported – and continues to support – the marking of gathering lines in rural areas.

4. AG Policy: Adding up all sources of air pollution in a given area to accurately assess air quality.

The DEP established air emission requirements at unconventional well sites in 2013, which are among the most stringent in the nation. These regulations include leak detection and repair, recordkeeping and reporting requirements, and emission controls.

Prior to the construction of a well, compressor station, processing plant or transmission facility, operators must obtain either a GP-5 or GP-5A air quality permit, which ensures sites are using the best available technology for source emission control. Most notably, these permits are the first of their kind in the nation.

Further, a DEP air monitoring report near well sites and compressor stations in Washington Co. found “little risk of healthy residents getting sick from breathing the air nearby.” Other actual air quality reports have found little-to-no change in air quality near well sites.

5. AG Proposal: Requiring safer transport of the contaminated waste created from fracking sites

This recommendation “misstates the existing law and existing permitting requirements related to management and transportation of wastes generated in unconventional drilling,” the DEP wrote in its response.

Pennsylvania regulations include specified provisions related to waste management and disposal, with attention to handling radioactive materials. In 2016, the Surface Activities Rulemaking imposed more stringent regulations related to the storage, transportation and disposal of waste from unconventional development, as well as new requirements that regulate drill cuttings and wastewater.

A 2015 DEP study, which is considered “the most comprehensive radiological study of the oil and gas industry ever conducted,” determined there’s “little or limited potential for radiation exposure to the public and workers from the development, completion, production, transmission, processing, storage and end use of natural gas.”

What’s more, more than 90 percent of water used in hydraulic fracturing operations is recycled and reused, greatly minimizing the need for disposal wells and significantly reducing freshwater withdrawals.

Given the report’s fundamental lack of information about existing laws and regulations, DEP affirmed “the report also fails as a meaningful tool for improving the regulation of the unconventional gas industry, because the report is not at all informed by applicable law or facts.”

“Although the grand jury believed it was advancing the public good in preparing and planning to publicize its report, it actually does the public a disservice,” the DEP concluded.

Click Here for the original Marcellus Shale Coalition posting

PennFuture

PennFuture President and CEO Jacquelyn Bonomo issued this statement in response to the report--

“PennFuture strongly supports the commonsense recommendations made today by the grand jury, and we are hopeful these suggestions will be implemented in an effort to hold the failing fracked gas industry accountable.

“This industry has blatantly run afoul of our laws, disrespected our communities and destroyed our natural resources.

"So much more needs to be done to protect our public health and our environment, and the recommendations spelled out today are a welcomed step in the right direction.

"Ultimately, Pennsylvania needs to reckon with a basic fact: we cannot continue to be taken advantage of by the fossil fuel industry, and state leaders need to hold the industry responsible while moving our economy aggressively away to more sustainable, family-sustaining industries.”

Clean Air Council

Clean Air Council Executive Director and Chief Counsel Joseph Otis Minott, Esq. issued the following statement--

"Attorney General Shapiro’s diligent work with the Grand Jury to investigate the Pennsylvania shale gas boom has yielded a monumentally important report.

"For over a decade, the fracking industry has run roughshod over the people of Pennsylvania. The Grand Jury’s report reveals the tragic consequences of our state government’s hands-off approach to fracking.

"The gas industry has destroyed too many lives and livelihoods. It raises the legitimate question as to whether this is an industry that maintains any social license to operate.

"The recommendations for reform made in the Grand Jury report are a significant recognition of the damage caused by the gas industry and the dire need for change. Those recommendations are only a start.

"Given the industry’s lack of integrity and the need to move away from fossil fuels to combat climate change, under what possible conditions could the public feel safe continuing to allow the industry to operate here?"

EarthWorks

Nadia Steinzor, Manager of the Community Empowerment Project at Earthworks issued this statement on June 26--

“The Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General's Grand Jury Report shows a systemic failure to protect residents from fracking that Governor Wolf and the Department of Environmental Protection can no longer ignore. More than a decade into the fracking boom, they must finally reckon with the truth that so many have spoken for so long.

“We applaud the Grand Jury's work and Attorney General Sharpiro's courage in calling out criminal acts.

“The report makes clear that state government agencies charged with protecting the people of Pennsylvania have been unable and unwilling to fulfill their public mandates, choosing instead to prioritize support for a reckless expansion of oil and gas operations. Many companies have taken advantage of DEP's lack of oversight and enforcement to act carelessly and with impunity.

“Consequently, Governor Wolf and his administration should immediately stop the issuance of new permits for oil and gas operations until the DEP has sufficient resources, a clear plan, and agency commitment to put health and the environment before industry profit.

“The AG's findings and DEP's longstanding inability to fulfill its mandate explains why many Pennsylvanians have demanded an end to oil and gas operations. Now, the state also has to content with the industry's severe climate impacts. It's abundantly clear that it’s past time for state leaders to take action to transition Pennsylvania away from fossil fuels and toward a renewable energy future.”

EarthWorks has previously issued a series of reports related to unconventional and conventional oil and gas development in Pennsylvania.

Click Here for the original EarthWorks post.

-- Reports by Earthworks

-- Gas Patch Roulette (201 2)

-- Breaking all the Rules, PA (2012)

-- Blackout in the Gas Patch (2014)

-- Permitted to Pollute (2017)

-- Press Releases by Earthworks

-- Coalition release on stronger DEP protections from PA government (2011)

-- Coalition release demanding DEP transparency on water pollution and resident impacts (2012)

-- Earthworks release highlighting DEP prioritizing permitting of oil and gas operations during COVID over inspections from citizen complaints (2020

-- Other relevant information

-- Auditor General’s Performance Audit of the PA DEP (2014)

-- Public Herald’s Investigative Report on DEP Misconduct (2017)

-- Attorney General’s Grand Jury report (2020)

Better Path Coalition

The Better Path Coalition issued this statement on June 26--

Today, the Better Path Coalition delivered letters to Governor Tom Wolf and Attorney General Josh Shapiro outlining concerns and demands stemming from the Grand Jury’s report on the state government’s failure to protect Pennsylvanians from shale gas development.

The letter to Wolf calls for the resignations of Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell and Department of Health Secretary Rachel Levine.

Additionally, the coalition expanded on its call for a halt to further permitting of shale gas activities first made in a letter sent to Wolf on June 17 that received no response.

Given the extent of the failures of the state government cited in the Grand Jury’s report, the Coalition is calling for a ban on fracking. The Governor’s office has also ignored several requests from the Coalition for a meeting with Wolf. The letter asks, once again, for a meeting.

The letter to Shapiro requests a meeting to discuss the Coalition’s prioritized concerns. Among them are concerns about the reporting hotline Shapiro announced today.

The Grand Jury recommended giving the AG’s office original jurisdiction over environmental crimes. The Coalition is concerned that Shapiro could be hindered in acting on complaints unless a change in reporting methodology aids him in gaining that authority.

The group is also calling for the lifting of existing nondisclosure agreements and a prohibition of their use in the future.

“We are grateful to Attorney General Shapiro and the Grand Jury for the work they have done to expose the failures of the state to protect Pennsylvanians. The contents come as no surprise to those who have been profoundly impacted for 16 years. The damage to our communities, to our families, and to our natural resources cannot be undone. The only thing the state can do now is stop the madness. The results of the Grand Jury investigation thus far make a clear case for a ban on fracking in Pennsylvania and more is coming,” said Karen Feridun, Better Path Coalition.

“Fossil fuel companies have consistently operated in the belief that they are above the law and that they can willfully ignore any laws, rules, regulations, standards or even easement agreements with impunity,” said Ellen Gerhart, Camp White Pine. “They have bullied, intimidated and targeted anyone who refused to kowtow to their demands. DEP has also been complacent and has often aided and abetted these companies by erroneously issuing permits without checking the veracity of the information on the applications. When DEP has been forced to act against these companies for a multitude of violations, the result has been little more than a slap on the wrist. The DEP, the Wolf administration, and the fossil fuel industry should all be held accountable for their failure to ensure the health and safety of the people of Pennsylvania and the environment.”

“I was allowed to have phone meetings with Dr. Levine and the PA DOH epidemiology team in 2015, 2016 and 2017 to discuss the unusually high rates of cancer in areas of fracking. The meetings lasted for one hour or more each but always ended by thanking me for my time but informing me that Governor Wolf has tied their hands and they can only work on the opioid crisis. My response was that as important of an issue that is we have been Fracking in Pa for 16 years now and have ignored the suffering of an unknown amount of children and adults. I lost my mother, father, 2 grandfathers, 3 uncles and many cousins to cancer in the past 50 years and will not stand by silently while the Governor, DEP, DOH and elected officials enable these Criminals,“ said Craig Stevens, Patriots From The Oil & Gas Shales 6th Generation Landowner.

“The permitting of unconventional gas drilling in Pennsylvania and the proven environmental catastrophes that have followed are a direct affront to Article 1, Section 27 of Pennsylvania’s constitution. It’s time for Attorney General Shapiro’s office to do everything in its power to protect our constitutional rights and stop the poisoning of our water, air and all that drink and breathe it,” said Tim Spiese, Lancaster Against Pipelines.

“When a group of 12 interfaith leaders in Pennsylvania met with Secretary Levine in 2016, we were told that the DOH's hands were filled with the opioid crisis. Concerns about the health effects of fracking were essentially dismissed. The opioid crisis then became the COVID crisis -- the health impacts of fracking are deemed insignificant,” said Rachel Mark, Better Path Coalition.

"The Grand Jury investigation has revealed a dangerous and deeply flawed state regulatory system. Community input is integral to understanding pathways of exposure and members of the community who have signed non-disclosure agreements must be released from any penalties for sharing relevant health information," said Tammy Murphy, Physicians for Social Responsibility PA.

"Facts revealed by the grand jury come as no surprise to anyone who has lived near or closely followed the ramifications of Marcellus Shale development in PA,” said Barbara Jarmoska, Project CoffeeHouse. “For the past decade, a trail of abuses, violations, deceptive practices and outright criminal acts has been blazed by the industry and its subcontractors. Government agencies charged with protecting the health and safety of Pennsylvania's citizens and the environment have failed to fulfill their mission. In reading the grand jury report, a sign of relief and one word comes to mind....’Finally.’”

Click Here for the original Better Path Coalition release.

NewsClips:

-- AP-Mark Scolforo: AG Grand Jury Finds Systematic Regulatory Failures In Natural Gas Drilling

-- Rachel McDevitt: Republican Lawmakers Defend Shale Gas Industry After Grand Jury Report Says State Failed to Protect Public Health From Fracking

-- Don Hopey/Laura Legere: AG Shapiro: Grand Jury Report Reveals PA’s Systemic Failure To Regulate Shale Gas Industry

-- Stephen Caruso: AG Shapiro Calls Out Gas Drillers; Faults PA Agencies For Not Adequately Watchdogging The Industry

-- Frank Kummer: AG Releases Scathing Grand Jury Report On Fracking Industry, State Regulators

-- Reid Frazier/Susan Phillips: PA Grand Jury Report On Fracking: DEP Failed To Protect Public Health

-- Charlie Thompson: PA Attorney General’s Report Highlights Shortfalls In State’s Marcellus Shale Oversight

-- Grand Jury: State Failed To Protect Public From Fracking

-- Grand Jury Report Blasts DEP, Health Department Over Fracking Failures In PA

-- WITF Smart Talk: Attorney General On Police Reforms, Fracking, Child Abuse