Sierra Club alleges ODNR withholding dumping records

Associated Press

columbus

An environmental group seeking documents related to possible illegal dumping of wastewater from oil and gas drilling into a Northeast Ohio storm sewer is suing the state for access to the records.

The Sierra Club filed its suit Monday in the Ohio Supreme Court. The group alleges the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has failed to produce public records it requested six months ago.

The club’s Ohio chapter is seeking documents related to the department’s investigation of D&L Energy and Hardrock Excavating in Youngstown after an incident that occurred Jan. 31, when the companies’ former owner, Ben W. Lupo, reportedly instructed an employee to dump tens of thousands of gallons of oilfield waste — including brine water — down a storm drain at 2761 Salt Springs Road where Hardrock and D&L shared their headquarters with several other companies. The wastewater made its way into the Mahoning River, forcing regulators to undertake an extensive cleanup.

The department revoked D&L’s operating permits in February and it also revoked Hardrock’s brine-hauling permit amid a federal and state investigation, in which ODNR said it would work aggressively to determine how the wastewater was transported to and stored at the facility, among other things.

An ODNR spokeswoman said the department does not comment on pending litigation.

The employee, Michael P. Guesman, 34, of Cortland, and Lupo, 62, of Poland, were both charged with violating the U.S. Clean Water Act.

In August, Guesman pleaded guilty to one count of violating the act and agreed to cooperate with the prosecution in the ongoing federal case. He will be sentenced in November.

Lupo was scheduled for a pre-trial conference Monday, at which time nothing had changed with the not-guilty plea he filed in U.S. District Court in March.