Defendants in Dumping Case to Be Arraigned March 15
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Arraignments are set for March 15 for Ben Lupo, his Hardrock Excavating LLC and a Hardrock employee.
The three were indicted last week by a federal grand jury for violating the Clean Water Act after it was discovered Lupo ordered an employee to discharge tens of thousands of gallons of drilling wastewater into a storm drain that led to the Mahoning River.
Lupo, who owns Hardrock and D&L Energy Group, is scheduled for arraignment at 9:30 a.m. before Magistrate Judge George Limbert. He made an initial appearance Feb. 14, the day the U.S. Department of Justice announced federal changes in the chase. Initial appearances and arraignments are scheduled for 9:45 a.m. for Lupo’s Hardrock Excavating and for 10 a.m. for Hardrock employee Michael P. Guesman.
Lupo, 62, of Poland; Guesman, 34, of Cortland; and Hardrock are each accused of “illegally discharging brine and oil-based drilling mud into a stormwater drain on numerous occasions,” according to a the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Cleveland. The drain flowed into a Mahoning River tributary and ultimately into the river over a three-month period.
In the meantime, Lupo’s D&L Energy has filed an appeal with Ohio’s Oil & Gas Commission seeking restoration of its state permits, various media outlets reported Monday. In its filing, D&L officials charge that their company is “being punished for the conduct of the employees of another company,” Hardrock. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources revoked both companies’ permits last month.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio