Foul Email To Environmental Activists Preceded DEP Secretary's Resignation

by Tony Romeo

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Pennsylvania's former secretary of environmental protection unleashed an obscene e-mail rant several weeks before he stepped down last week.

In an email that surfaced publicly Monday dated April 13th, former Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Quigley uses obscenities as he questions the commitment of environmental advocates in the fight for approval of new rules, including new drilling regulations in Pennsylvania.

In the email, Quigley castigates environmental activists for failing to push back against what he calls "Russian show trials" conducted by state lawmakers on "vital environmental issues," adding that the "environmental community is without influence in Harrisburg."

Governor Wolf announced Quigley's resignation on Friday, appointing Patrick McDonnell, most recently director of policy for the DEP, as acting secretary of the agency.