"Energy Transfer has not yet been charged, but it is already moving to head off a criminal case over the monthslong jet fuel leak into a neighborhood’s drinking water source."
"Energy Transfer, the Dallas-based pipeline giant facing a state-level criminal probe related to a jet fuel spill that polluted drinking water in a suburban Philadelphia neighborhood, is seeking to have part of Pennsylvania’s 89-year-old Clean Streams Law declared unconstitutional.
The extraordinary lawsuit, filed quietly in April, asks Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court to declare one or more sections of the law unconstitutionally vague under the due process clauses of both the state constitution and the U.S. Constitution.
Energy Transfer’s objection to the law: Parties could be found guilty of an environmental crime even if their actions are accidental. Because one section of the law lacks what is called a
“mens rea,” or “guilty mind” provision, the company said, parties could face fines or imprisonment whether or not their actions were knowing and purposeful."
Marianne Lavelle reports for Inside Climate News September 4, 2026.
