D&L Energy files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

D&L Energy files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

YOUNGSTOWN

Ben Lupo’s D&L Energy Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing the high cost of cleanup of the Jan. 31 oilfield waste discharge Lupo allegedly ordered, and the deceased business stemming from the post-spill reputational damage.

Lupo, 62, of Poland, has pleaded innocent to a federal criminal charge of violating the Clean Water Act in connection with the spill of brine and oil-based drilling mud into a storm drain flowing into a Mahoning River tributary.

One of the cleanup companies, Sunpro Inc., of North Canton, has sued D&L in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for $1 million in unpaid cleanup costs.

The D & L bankruptcy filing was Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Youngstown, where Judge Kay Woods will conduct a 9:30 a.m. Friday hearing on the matter.

The Youngstown-based D & L has 580 operating wells and 21,000 acres under oil and gas drilling leases.