Ohio Man Pleads Guilty to Dumping Toxic Fracking Wastewater Into River – EcoWatch: Cutting Edge Environmental News Service
Excerpt:
According to The Plain Dealer, Michael Guesman, an employee of Hardrock Excavating—a company that stored, treated and disposed of oil and gas drilling waste—appeared in U.S. District Court yesterday admitting that he dumped tens of thousands of gallons of fracking waste into a tributary of the Mahoning River on at least 24 separate occasions.
The Plain Dealer reported that Guesman acted on the orders of his boss, owner Ben Lupo, when he ran a hose from the 20,000-gallon storage tanks to a nearby storm water drain and opened the release valve. A gusher of waste liquid left over from hydraulic fracturing operations poured into the drain, sending saltwater brine and a slurry of toxic oil-based drilling mud, containing benzene, toluene and other hazardous pollutants, flowing into the Mahoning, prosecutors said.
“It is apparent that widespread abuse of our environment has been going on for much longer than has been reported in the media,” Ohio State Rep. Robert F. Hagan (D-Youngstown) told EcoWatch today.
“This plea of guilt should open us to even more information on how some in the gas and oil industry have hidden their abuse of our ecosystem and will show their total disregard for anything other than their bottom line,” said Hagan. “Greed and money are really a toxic mix.”
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