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Updated: D&L Energy's Lupo Arraigned in District Court
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Ben Lupo, owner of D&L Energy Group and Hardrock Excavating Co., appeared this morning at an arraignment on a charge of illegally dumping wastewater into a tributary of the Mahoning River.
Lupo, who has admitted to investigators that he ordered Hardrock employees to dump wastewater from the fracking process into a storm sewer that empties into the Mahoning River, did not enter a plea during the initial appearance. He was released on a $50,000 unsecured bond following the 10:30 a.m. hearing, said deputy clerk Suzanne Ray. The hearing took place a few hours prior to a 1 p.m. news conference scheduled by the U.S. Department of Justice to announce federal charges that were to be filed related to the dumping.
The news advisory said the federal charges relate to violations of the Clean Water Act; it did name the entities or individuals who will be charged.
The complaint, signed by David J. Barlow, a special agent with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Magistrate Judge George Limbert, charges Lupo with "unpermitted discharge into a water of the United States." It states that Lupo "directed the discharge of brine and oil-based drilling mud into a stormwater drain" which flowed into a Mahoning River trubutary and ultimately the river itself.
Lupo has admitted ordering Hardrock workers to dump drilling waste into a storm drain at both companies' headquarters at 2761 Salt Springs Road in Youngstown. Lupo said the waste was dumped at least six times, and officials have estimated as many as 250,000 gallons may have been illegally dumped.
Present at the news conference will be U.S. Attorney Steven M. Dettelback, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains, Ohio Department of Natural Resources Director Jim Zehringer and representatives from the U.S. and Ohio Environmental Protection Agencies. It is scheduled to take place at 1 p.m. at the park at the B&O Station, 530 Mahoning Ave.
Check back at this site for more details as they become available.
CONTINUING COVERAGE:
Breaking: EPA Says Lupo Dumped at Least 6 Times
EPA: 40K Gallons Dumped; Hagan Demands Arrest
D&L Energy Says It May Appeal Shutdowns
Ohio Shuts Down Lupo's D&L, Hardrock Excavating
D&L's Lupo Owns Company That Dumped Drilling Waste
Petitions Filed for Citizens' Bill of Fracking Rights
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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