New Fracking Criminal Cases Demand Action from Governor Wolf

For Immediate Release
 

Fracking company Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation is facing felony charges tied to water contamination in a Pennsylvania town that came to symbolize the dangers of the gas drilling industry. 

Cabot was the subject of a long-running grand jury investigation, with Attorney General Josh Shapiro charging the company with a total of 15 criminal counts connected to water contamination in Dimock Township.

This news followed the announcement last week that fracking giant Range Resources had pleaded no contest to crimes connected to contamination in Washington County. 

While Attorney General Shapiro has stated that other investigations are underway, Governor Tom Wolf has continued to prop up the fracking industry.

In response, Food & Water Action Allegheny County organizer Robin Martin released the following statement: 

“These cases tell us what we already know: Fracking is a grave danger to clean water, clean air and public health. These criminal investigations and penalties only scratch the surface. The real question is whether Governor Wolf will take appropriate action to protect our state. Instead of clamping down on corporate polluters, Governor Wolf has approved new pipelines and fracked gas power plants, and spent last year pitching a plan that would issue bonds backed by the fracking industry -- locking the state into decades of dirty drilling. Fracking poses direct risks to our health, our air and our water. Governor Wolf must take action to put the needs of the people of Pennsylvania over the interests of corporate frackers.”

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