Group sues Patriot, Warren for alleged water act violations

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The environmental group Freshwater Accountability Project has filed a federal lawsuit against Patriot Water Treatment of Warren and the city of Warren alleging the company has committed violations of the U.S. Clean Water Act.

It says the city is in violation of the conditions of its Environmental Protection Agency permit to operate its wastewater-treatment plant.

The suit lists chemical compounds the group says were found in the Warren wastewater-treatment system in recent years in excess of Clean Water Act standards, city ordinances and national standards.

They include zinc, molybdenum, ammonia, chemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids and total dissolved solids.

The suit says the city violates its permit to operate by “failing to issue adequate control mechanisms to Patriot, a significant industrial user, to ensure compliance with pretreatment standards.”

Andrew Blockson, president of Patriot, did not return a phone call seeking comment on the suit. Warren Law Director Greg Hicks said he has not seen a copy of the suit yet and will be in a better position to comment after he has.

Patriot began its operations in 2011 to treat wastewater from the gas and oil industry but has since expanded its customer base to include non-gas-industry companies, according to Ed Haller, Warren’s director of water pollution control.

The suit has been assigned to Judge Benita Y. Pearson of Youngstown District Court. Freshwater Accountability Project is from Grand Rapids, Ohio.

The city has been in discussions with Patriot in recent weeks over an odor problem reported by residents and other companies on the north end of Warren not far from Patriot, which is on Sferra Avenue.

The city eventually concluded that the smells were coming from Patriot discharges of the chemical dimethyl disulfide that were being delivered by truck to Patriot for treatment.

Patriot discharges its wastewater into the sewers. The water then travels to the city’s wastewater-treatment plant on Main Avenue Southwest for further treatment.

Patriot temporarily halted its discharges about two weeks ago to address the odor complaints.

The lawsuit seeks a declaration by the judge that the company and city are violating the Clean Water Act and to stop them from further violating the act.