US Attorney: Sentence well-deserved in Lupo oilfield dumping case

CLEVELAND

Ben Lupo’s sentence of 28 months in federal prison and fine of $25,000 for ordering illegal discharges of oilfield waste down a storm drain and into a Mahoning River tributary in Youngstown are well-deserved, a U.S. Attorney said.

“Clean water and fresh air are not only important; they are the birthright of every man, woman and child in this great state,” said Steven M. Dettelbach, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, after the Tuesday sentencing.

“Today’s sentence was a significant sentence, but it was fully justified by Mr. Lupo’s repeated — 31 different times — his repeated decisions to have pollutants dumped,” into the tributary, Dettelbach said. “Environmental crimes are extremely serious matters.”

As he spoke to reporters outside the federal courthouse, Dettelbach held a sample jar containing oil floating on water, which was collected from one of Lupo’s tanks, whose contents were dumped illegally on Jan. 31, 2013.

“First, he ordered low-level employees to do this, and second, he took basically what he didn’t want any more and treated our environment like his dumping ground,” on multiple occasions, said Brad Beeson, the assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case.

“Ben Lupo put his own interests ahead of everyone else’s, and he deserved to face a severe penalty for his actions,” said Ohio Atty. Gen. Michael DeWine in a statement.

The discharges, which the U.S. Attorney said began Nov. 1, 2012, led to a $3.1 million cleanup that lasted more than a month.

The judge noted that the illegal discharges occurred on more than 30 occasions. “It was done at night and in secret,” the judge said.

“My actions were irresponsible and foolish,” Lupo said in a statement read by Joseph Gardner of Canfield, another of his lawyers.

In that statement, Lupo admitted he directed his employees to discharge the waste and apologized to the Mahoning Valley community, his family, his former employees, the government and the court.

Kurt Kollar, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency on-scene coordinator, who oversaw the cleanup, testified that “There was no sign of aquatic life, whatsoever,” in the creek immediately after the discharges.

Read the complete story in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.