Ohio man pleads guilty to dumping fracking waste into Mahoning River

[Galraedia]

Source: Raw Story

Michael Guesman, an employee at Hardrock Excavating in Youngstown, Ohio, pleaded guilty yesterday to an unpermitted discharge of pollutants under the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water Act. Guesman said that his boss, owner Benedict Lupo, ordered him to dump tens of thousands of gallons of fracking waste into the Mahoning River on at least twenty-four separate occasions.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the process of injecting millions of gallons of chemically treated water at a high pressure into the ground in order to create tiny fractures — often less than a single millimeter — through which underground gas resources can migrate. That water, however, must be removed before the resources can move into them, and the EPA has strict rules governing how that toxic byproduct is disposed.

Guesman admitted to running a hose from a 20,000-gallon storage tank full of liquid fracking waste to a storm drain, then draining the combination of saltwater brine and a toxic oil-based drilling slurry from the tank directly into drain. The dumps occurred between November 1, 2012 and January 31, 2013, and they always happened at night and when Guesman was the only employee still at the facility.

According to Guesman, Lupo had also ordered him to lie to law enforcement officers about the number of times he disposed of the waste and the amount of waste that was disposed each time.

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/30/ohio-man-pleads-guilty-to-dumping-fracking-waste-into-mahoning-river/

[TeamPooka]

1. Fraking gas-hole. nt

[Ilsa]

2. Bastards. Seize the assets of the company

before the owner runs off with them. I hope the owner has a long prison term.

[cstanleytech]

17. Sadly I doubt that will happen. He might get a few months but most likely it will be a "fine"

which sucks.

[Supersedeas]

19. there is a separate set of rules for the "haves" and the "have-nots"

[reformist2]

3. I strongly suspect this is standard practice, and could end the fracking industry.

Fracking uses so much water, there's probably no economical way to store it, let alone purify it. So they dump it, surreptitiously, in the middle of the night.

[Lenomsky]

5. On the bright side ..

it's not Fukushima Daiichi pouring their toxic blend down the storm drains as they have an Ocean

UK Government have given the Green Light for 'Fucking the UK' and been following the whole Fracking US early adopter thing for 4 or so years. The mind boggles .. income over safety!

PS I love wind turbines lol seems some hate them but no idea why they are atheistically pleasing IMO .. random Friday thought

[calimary]

8. Welcome to DU, Lenomsky!

Glad you're here! You made me think back to when dubya said in what I think was complete, stunning, and bittersweet candor: "Sometimes, money trumps peace." That's the whole ballgame. Money trumps everything. Money trumps climate change and responsible planet stewardship. Money trumps our very lives.

When I look at the scads of windmills dotting the crests of the hills - as there are on the way to Palm Springs and thereabouts from L.A., I can see how some people really dislike them. However, the idea behind them is what I find most beautiful!

[joshcryer]

10. Key word "by product."

If they were doing their toxic waste dumping job properly there wouldn't have been "by product." It would've all been rendered underground (to surface later, no doubt). In fact, typically the "by product" or "waste water" is not treated, it's reinjected deep underground in dead wells. The bigger operations actually reinject the "by product" as new fracking fluid, since it works just as well as clean water.

Screwed up, huh?

[cstanleytech]

18. " there's probably no economical way to store it, let alone purify it." Would you please explain?

About there being no way of purifying the water I mean.

[Archae]

4. Any bets as to what happens to his boss, Lupo?

Even money Lupo gets off scot-free.

[theHandpuppet]

6. Yeah, unfortunately I'll bet your right

It makes me sick.

[awoke_in_2003]

7. Youngstown...

Home of James Traficant. I met him once. Nice guy, but a total fucking loon.

[joshcryer]

9. Fracking fluid can be anything.

In reality fracking is a way to deposit toxic waste underground (and into the water bed). This sounds like they had some filthy leftovers and didn't know what to do with it.

There's a reason the fracking industry don't want to disclose their fluids, they've found a way to take industrial waste and make it profitable without having to properly dispose of it.

[theHandpuppet]

11. Here are some more threads on fracking operations in Ohio

Here are a few links. For more on what's going on with fracking in Ohio, visit the Ohio forum.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1071801
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1071812
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1071853

[formercia]

12. Can you say Organized Crime?

The Mafia is notorious for their methods of disposal of Hazardous Waste. They charge lots to the companies to take their Waste, then dump it illegally and pocket the difference from what it would have cost them to deliver it to an approved facility for proper treatment.

This has been going on for Decades, all over the Planet.

[samplegirl]

13. Great I am less

than a few miles from this!

[ElsewheresDaughter]

14. you canbet there are hundreds more loyal employees dong the same

[Dash87]

15. Cool scapegoat bro

"Look over there! Look over there!" - Michael Guesman's employer

[Archae]

16. I remember a segment of "Lou Grant" that had this storyline.

When the company was caught, naturally, who got blamed for the company getting caught dumping toxic waste down the sewer?

Yup. The reporters.