Fracking Company Owner Admits to Illegally Dumping Waste

[GoLeft TV]

From Ring of Fire:

The owner of a Youngstown, OH-based fracking company has pleaded guilty to ordering an employee to dump tens of thousands of gallons of fracking wastewater into the Mahoning River tributary. The owner will be sentenced on June 16.

“The one refreshing thing about this particular case is that the offending party came forth and admitted wrongdoing, which is more than can be said of larger energy companies like BP or Exxon,” said Emmie Paulos, BP litigation attorney with Levin, Papantonio P.A. “The facts are in and now justice can be served.”

Benedict Lupo of Poland, OH, who owns Hardrock Excavating LLC, is facing three years in prison along with paying $3 million worth of restitution and $1 million in fines, should he be convicted of violating the Clean Water Act. The investigation, which led to the charges, were brought forth after authorities found brine and drilling mud being dumped into a storm sewer.

You can read the full article here at Ring of Fire.

[John1956PA]

1. The tap water in the towns in Beaver River valley of Western PA was tainted by that dumping.

The dumped fracking fluid made its way from the Mahoning River to the Beaver River in Western PA. Towns in the Beaver River valley which draw their tap water from the Beaver River are Beaver Fails and New Brighton. I am not sure about Rochester and the Borough of Beaver. After news broke last year about the dumping, residents of those towns sought out alternate sources of drinking water. Unfortunately, the contamination had already occurred, and probably had already passed, by the time the residents heard the news.