Decline in Environmental Criminal Cases Part of Trends in Enforcement, Official Says

摘要

The number of pollution cases handled by the Department of Justice's Environmental Crimes Section keeps shrinking, a trend related to a lack of environmental enforcement resources at the Environmental Protection Agency, DOJ's environmental crimes chief said at a D.C. Bar event May 5. Chief Deborah Harris said that the number of attorneys in her section has remained steady at about 40. But she told Bloomberg BNA that the work they're doing has shifted from about 75 percent pollution cases and 25 percent wildlife cases in around 2008 to about 50 percent pollution cases today, while "the void is filled" with more wildlife cases, as well as other cases related to such issues as animals endangering people and worker safety.