Warren settles suit restricting waste ending up in Mahoning River

WARREN

The city has settled a federal lawsuit filed by the environmental group Freshwater Accountability against the city and the company Patriot Water.

The terms of the agreement require the city to put greater limits on the total dissolved solids and barium entering the city’s wastewater treatment system, which releases its treated water into the Mahoning River, said city Law Director Greg Hicks.

The city will pay $116,616 of Freshwater’s legal fees, which Hicks said is a fraction of the fees. The settlement also avoids paying fines.

The city has paid out $527,339 in legal fees and other costs in 2017 and 2018 associated with defending the suit, city Auditor Vince Flask said.

The costs will be paid through the city’s wastewater fund and will not come from the city’s general fund, Hicks said.

Hicks said Patriot, which is still in the suit, is not likely to ever discharge wastewater into the city’s sewers again. Patriot, which began operations in 2011 on Sferra Drive in Warren Industrial Park, accepted wastewater from the gas and oil industry, treated it, and released it into the city’s sanitary sewers. It has not sent waste into the city’s sewers since 2017, though it is still in operation.