PHILADELPHIA, June 26, 2025 – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania filed criminal charges against the School District of Philadelphia, alleging violations of legal requirements to timely inspect, remediate, and report damaged asbestos in multiple city schools.
The United States and the School District of Philadelphia have entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) in this case, which has been filed with the court and remains subject to judicial review and approval.
This is the first time in the nation that a school district has been criminally charged with this type of environmental violation and the first time that criminal violations under the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) have been brought against a public entity. It is also the first use of a DPA in a case against a public school district in an AHERA case…