Arriving with the promise to hassle the Marcellus drilling industry when she took office in January 2013, Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane kept her promise. After assuming office, she promptly looked for old cases she could reopen in order to make a name for herself. She found one in a two year-old case of an accidental spill of frack wastewater by XTO Energy (part of ExxonMobil). She proceeded to abuse the power of her office by bringing criminal charges against XTO for that two year-old (now four year-old) case (see PA AG Abuses Her Authority, Files Criminal Charges Against XTO). There is a new development in the case. XTO requested the case be dismissed because it was previously investigated “jointly” by both state and federal investigators. The judge presiding over the case has found that there was no “jointly” in the investigation and eventual settlement…
