Pennsylvania’s most active shale gas driller has pleaded no contest to environmental crimes over its handling of contamination at a pair of well sites. The state attorney general’s office announced Friday that Range Resources Corp. pleaded no contest in Washington County Court to seven misdemeanor counts. As part of its plea, the Fort Worth, Texas-based company will pay $50,000 in fines and make $100,000 in charitable contributions to a pair of watershed groups. Range has drilled more than 1,500 unconventional gas wells in Pennsylvania. It says it’s taken responsibility for the contamination and has improved its operations.
By MICHAEL RUBINKAM
Posted inArticle, Business
Prosecutor: Former top stockbroker ‘built business on lies’
A former financial planner who was kicked out of the securities industry and ordered to pay millions of dollars in damages to customers he allegedly tricked into high-risk investments is on trial in Pennsylvania. Some clients say they lost their life savings because of Anthony Diaz. The ex-broker has pleaded not guilty to criminal fraud charges. His federal trial began Monday in Scranton. A prosecutor accused Diaz of using lies and deceit to get customers to invest in financial products that weren’t meant for them. His lawyer says Diaz was trying to help his clients diversify after the last financial crisis.
