Pennsylvania environmental chief calls agency 'emaciated'

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania's top environmental regulator says his agency has been “severely compromised" by years of inadequate funding.
Environmental Protection Secretary John Quigley told the editorial board of The (Wilkes-Barre) Citizens' Voice on March 24 that his agency is “emaciated" and lacks the staff to “support our mission" of safeguarding the environment.
Quigley says DEP has lost 14 percent of its workforce in recent years, including at least half of its permit writers and inspectors.
The environmental chief says his boss, first-term Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, inherited the problems and is making accommodations for DEP in the next budget.