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D&L appeals permit revocation
YOUNGSTOWN
D&L Energy officials soon will find themselves opposite Ohio Department of Natural Resources representatives in front of an independent review committee that will decide whether to reinstate the company’s operating permits on six injection wells statewide.
D&L has filed a notice of appeal with the Ohio Oil and Gas Commission, a five-member board appointed by Gov. John Kasich that operates separately from ODNR to hear grievances against the decisions of the agency’s Division of Oil and Gas Resources.
After a Jan. 31 incident, in which D&L owner Ben W. Lupo purportedly instructed Michael P. Guesman, an employee of Hardrock Excavating, which Lupo also owns, to dump a mixture of oil, brine water and drilling waste down a storm drain at the companies’ headquarters on Salt Springs Road, ODNR ordered that both companies immediately cease operations.
“As a result of the conduct of the employees of another company, Hardrock Excavating LLC, the chief revoked D&L Energy’s permits,” wrote D&L’s attorney, Michael A. Cyphert, in the appeal. “D&L Energy has voluntarily undertaken all cleanup requests by the state and federal on-site coordinators to remedy any pollution resulting from the actions of others at its own cost amounting to almost $1 million.”
D&L claims that Richard J. Simmers, chief of ODNR’s Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management, acted unreasonably and illegally in revoking the company’s permits. Hardrock Excavating, along with Guesman and Lupo were indicted last week by a federal grand jury on charges of violating the Clean Water Act.
The commission will hear arguments from both D&L and ODNR officials and then decide whether to overturn Simmers’ decision or support it.
Linda Osterman, executive director of the commission, said both parties will have an opportunity to file an appeal in Franklin County Common Pleas Court if they are unsatisfied with the commission’s decision.
A formal hearing is expected to be scheduled Friday, but in the meantime, Cyphert has asked that the commission reinstate D&L’s permits as soon as possible by temporarily suspending Simmers’ decision until the commission can hear the case.
Osterman said the formal hearing might not occur until late spring, depending on the availability of the commission’s membership, which consists of industry representatives, academics and a public representative.
A hearing on Cyphert’s request to reinstate D&L’s permits temporarily could come as early as next week, she added.