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.
“A lack of mens rea requirement here offends the principles of justice and does not provide adequate notice of the offending conduct that could form the basis for criminal liability,” Energy Transfer’s petition said.