It’s an ugly day for Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale gas industry.

A Northumberland County company that specializes in hauling waste and equipment for gas drillers is facing 64 criminal charges filed last week by Attorney General Kathleen Kane.

The charges stem from allegations that the Milton-based company, Minuteman, its subsidiaries and its owner, 43-year-old Brian Bolus, were burying and dumping solid waste from gas drilling operations in several counties.

The extensive list of charges include multiple counts of fraud and criminal conspiracy related to illegal dumping and overbilling major natural gas companies.

Bolus and Minuteman are accused of overbilling every business with which they contracted by at least one hour per invoice. According to a grand jury report, the company defrauded some of the state’s biggest natural gas companies, including Cabot Oil & Gas, Chesapeake Energy, EQT, Range Resources and XTO.

“Brian Bolus and Minuteman blatantly exploited hard-working employees, dozens of businesses and the environment,” Attorney General Kane said in a statement. “The laws are in place to ensure that all businesses are on a level playing field. When one company cheats, all good companies and the citizens of Pennsylvania suffer as a result.”

Kane, in her statement attempts to isolate Minuteman and depict it as one bad apple. She tries to emphasize the difference between Minuteman and the dozens of reputable companies with which Bolus did business.

Unfortunately for the fracking industry, this is a case of one bad apple tainting the bunch of them. The distinction between Minuteman and those who try to harvest energy conscientiously will likely be lost on the clamorous — and until now, mostly ineffective — opposition.

And they might as well forget the distinction. The net effect is the same, whether it was caused by one or by all: damage to the environment and capricious violations of the rules.

Until now, there seemed to be an uneasy balance between the gas exploration companies and the environmentalists. The Marcellus drillers, whether voluntarily or not, adhered to sound environmental practices and good-neighbor policies under the watchful eye of environmentalists.

But the case against Minuteman threatens to knock that equilibrium out of balance. It gives anti-frackers ammunition with verifiable evidence that frackers can’t be trusted.

And if the charges against Minuteman stick, it will take a lot of persuading by the industry to repair the damage Bolus has inflicted.