Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Mike Krancer will leave his position on April 15 to rejoin the Philadelphia office of Blank Rome LLP, the law firm and Gov. Tom Corbett announced.
Krancer will chair Blank Rome's energy, petrochemical and natural resources practice.
"His guidance on a variety of issues related to the environment has been vital," said Corbett, who appointed Krancer upon taking office in January 2011.
Corbett credited Krancer for his role the rebirth of the Philadelphia refineries and Royal Dutch Shell Group's potential new petrochemical facility in western Pennsylvania. Krancer also oversaw the permit review process and permit decision guarantee, which the governor said brought timeliness and consistency to the permitting process for all agency-regulated activities.
The DEP has a $655 million budget.
In April 2011, Krancer and Corbett called on Marcellus Shale operators to stop delivering shale gas drilling wastewater to plants that were not equipped to fully treat it.
