Fifth defendant admits role in oil field waste dumping

Staff report

CLEVELAND

The fifth defendant in the dumping of oil-field waste into a Mahoning River tributary in Youngstown late in 2012 and early in 2013 has pleaded guilty to violating the federal Clean Water Act.

David N. Jenkins, 34, of Warren, pleaded guilty Friday before U.S. Magistrate Thomas M. Parker.

Jenkins admitted violating the act by directing Michael P. Guesman, another employee of Hardrock Excavating LLC, 2761 Salt Springs Road, to dump fracking waste into a storm drain flowing into that unnamed tributary without a permit.

Jenkins will be sentenced at 11 a.m. Oct. 4 by U.S. District Court Judge Christopher A. Boyko.

Ben Lupo, Hardrock’s owner, directed Jenkins to contact employees about emptying the stored waste liquids into the storm-water drain at night, the U.S. attorney said.

Lupo is serving a 28-month prison term and was fined $25,000 after he pleaded guilty to violating the act.

He is scheduled to be released Oct. 11 from the Federal Medical Center, Devens, in Ayer, Mass.

Hardrock provided services to the oil and gas industry in Ohio and Pennsylvania, including the storage of brine and oil-based drilling mud used in hydrofracturing, or fracking.

The facility had about 58 mobile storage tanks, each holding about 20,000 gallons.

Lupo, 65, of Springfield Township, directed employees to empty some of the waste liquid stored at the facility into the drain on or about Nov. 1, 2012, when they were alone after dark.

The last time an employee emptied waste liquid into the drain was Jan. 31, 2013.

The other defendants in this case were Guesman, of Cortland, and Mark A. Goff of Newton Falls, who were put on probation after pleading guilty to violating the act and saying they repeatedly dumped the waste at Lupo’s direction; and Hardrock Excavating LLC, which pleaded guilty to violating the act and was fined $75,000.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine filed a civil suit against all five defendants in the federal case, plus D&L Energy Inc., another Lupo company, for more than $25,000 on June 3 in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, saying the discharges from Hardrock violated state environmental-protection laws at least 25 times.

The federal case is being prosecuted by Brad Beeson, an assistant U.S. attorney, after an investigation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Ohio EPA, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Youngstown Department of Public Works and the Youngstown Fire Department.