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Bankruptcy Court Sets Auction for D&L's Assets
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- An auction that would sell "substantially all" the assets of embattled injection well operator D&L Energy is scheduled for Nov. 13 in Cleveland.
According to a notice filed Oct. 18, the auction will take place at 10 a.m. at the offices of Squire Sanders LLP in downtown Cleveland.
The court has approved certain bidding and auction procedures that allows the debtor to solicit bids for its assets, documents say.
A hearing to consider approval of the sale is set in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Youngstown for Nov. 19 at 9:30 a.m., court papers say.
D&L Energy filed for bankruptcy in April after an employee of an affiliated company was caught illegally dumping drilling wastewater down a sewer drain. The wastewater ultimately contaminated a portion of the Mahoning River, and D&L's owner, Ben Lupo, is now charged with one count of violating the U.S. Clean Water Act.
The employee, Michael Guesman, pleaded guilty last month to a single count of violating the Clean Water Act.
The company has incurred more than $1 million in cleanup costs associated with the spill.
Two entities, Shale Energy LLC and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, have filed objections to D&L's motion to sell its assets.
Shale Energy, a startup, has invested $330,000 in D&L's North Lima Disposal Well # 4, court papers says, and Shale Energy is asking for the first right of refusal to buy the North Lima well.
ODNR objects to the sale because it doesn't want D&L or any other asset buyer to be released from the company's obligation to remediate the site or address any other environmental issues.
In a document filed Oct. 11, D&L said the company it's hired to market its assets has received signed confidentiality agreements from 44 potential bidders.
D&L stated in court documents that it owes more than $5.2 million to its 20 largest creditors.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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