Lupo, Guesman Plead Not Guilty to Dumping Charges
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Ben Lupo, owner of D&L Energy Group and Hardrock Excavating LLC, and former Hardrock employee Michael Guesman pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court this morning to one count of violating the Clean Water Act.
Lupo, Guesman, and Hardrock were indicted by a federal grand jury Feb. 28, charging they violated U.S. environmental law after it was discovered the company had illegally dumped wastewater from drilling operations into a storm drain on D&L's property on Salt Springs Road.
"There are always two sides to every story and there are two sides here," said Joseph Gardner, Lupo's attorney, shortly after his client's appearance. "We're preparing the case."
Gardner said he and his client are awaiting summary discovery from the government so they could move forward with the case.
U.S. Attorney Brad Beeson told the court that the penalty for violating the Federal Water Pollution Act, commonly known as the Clean Water Act, was three years of custody, a $50,000 per day fine or $250,000, followed by two years of supervised release.
Lupo, dressed in a black T-shirt and dark trousers, acknowledged the not-guilty plea when asked by U.S. Magistrate George J. Limbert. He also acknowledged the possible penalties involved in the case.
Lupo was released on a $50,000 unsecured bond Feb. 14 after the federal government filed an initial complaint in the matter and the case was bound over to a federal grand jury.
Guesman's attorney, Carolyn Kurcharski of the federal public defenders office in Cleveland, entered a plea of not guilty on behalf of her client.
It was Guesman's initial appearance before the court, and Magistrate Limbert ordered Guesman released on $20,000 unsecured bond. Guesman was then taken into custody and processed by federal marshals before he was released.
Kurcharski provided no comment after Guesman's arraignment.
Attorney J. Gerald Ingram, appearing on behalf of Hardrock Excavating, entered a plea of not guilty for the company.
The indictment alleges that on numerous occasions Guesman was directed by Lupo to discharge wastewater into a storm drain that flows to a tributary of the Mahoning River. The contamination eventually found its way into the river, court documents say.
According to affidavits filed with the court earlier, an employee at Hardrock said Lupo instructed employees to say that dumping occurred at the site no more than six times. That affidavit, delivered by an individual known as "Employee No.2," said that Lupo directed dumping on more than 20 different occasions over the last six months.
The government's indictment says Guesman, on Nov. 1, 2012, emptied one of the storage tanks into the storm drain. The act was repeated "over the next several months, on numerous occasions," the indictment said.
Court papers say that the last time Guesman discharged wastewater into the storm sewer was Jan. 31, 2013, when an official from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources observed an employee dumping waste in the drain.
A sample of the discharge that evening shows that the waste contained several pollutants, including benzene and toluene, the indictment said.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.