As previously announced, Michael Krancer stepped down from his role as Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection by April 15. As part of the mid-March announcement, Christopher Abruzzo, deputy chief of staff for Governor Tom Corbett, was named to serve as acting secretary. Abruzzo worked closely with Krancer and the DEP staff in his position as deputy chief of staff, and is expected to hold both positions until Corbett names a new Secretary.
In his inaugural note to DEP employees, Abruzzo said:
“I want to take a moment to express how pleased I am to have joined the DEP team. As a deputy chief of staff to the Governor, I’ve had the opportunity to work closely with Secretary Krancer and many at DEP over the last two years on a significant number of issues and initiatives. I fully appreciate the great work being done by the DEP team each and every day, and I am honored to have been asked to serve as Acting Secretary. Having worked in the Office of Attorney General for 15 years, I understand the culture of an agency filled with dedicated professionals who could work anywhere, but choose to do the work they love protecting the Commonwealth and its citizens.”
Prior to his appointment as the Governor’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Abruzzo was a Chief Deputy Attorney General in the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, supervisor of the Drug Strike Force Section. Abruzzo served as the Attorney General’s principal legal adviser on electronic surveillance matters and wiretap applications made pursuant to Pennsylvania’s Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act. Prior to joining the state Attorney Generals’ office, he served as a senior deputy district attorney in the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office from 1992 thru 1996 where he prosecuted a wide variety of criminal offenses, but specialized in drug prosecutions.
Abruzzo received his bachelor’s degree from St. Joseph’s University and his J.D. from the Widener University School of Law.