Patriot Water's President Blasts OEPA over Permits

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

WARREN, Ohio -- Patriot Water Treatment LLC's president says the company continues to operate, despite Monday's announcement that after Apri1 1 it will no longer be permitted to release to Warren's wastewater treatment plant treated wastewater it receives from oil and gas wells.

Andrew Blocksom also insists a hearing scheduled for tomorrow is moving forward in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, despite notification that the state environmental official from whom Patriot and the city of Warren want answers won’t be there.

Over the weekend, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency issued a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination permit renewal for the city of Warren and an additional Permit to Install to Patriot.

The five-year permit to the city has no "effluent limitation " for total dissolved solids, which will be monitored twice per week as the OEPA readies a plan to begin regular TDS monitoring at a site on the Mahoning River before itss entry point into Pennsylvania. However, the permit eliminates Warren's ability to accept treated brine wastewater from oil and gas wells.

Wastewater used for hydraulic fracturing -- or fracking -- of oil and gas wells represents 98% of the water Patriot accepts and treats prior to discharging into Warren’s wastewater system, Blocksom said.

“Patriot continues to operate. They’ll be allowed to accept other industrial wastes under this new permit,” said OEPA spokesman Mike Settles. The company can also accept wastewater from oil and gas wells but will “have to find other end uses for those waters,” he added.

The development represents the latest round in the battle between Patriot and state officials over the company’s ability to operate and discharge treated wastewaters into Warren’s wastewater system.

At a hastily called news conference Monday afternoon, Blocksom, Patriot’s president, told reporters he only learned about the permits after being contacted by reporters to respond to the news release OEPA issued that morning.

“We feel that this is a personal attack from [Ohio EPA] director Scott Nally against Patriot Water Treatment, and it’s offensive,” Blocksom said. “The information that was provided to the news media without being provided to us -- again -- is another personal insult, and it’s just time that we got answers.”

Settles said the permits were formally issued Monday. They were signed over the weekend but journalized Monday. The controvery with Patriot Water has received a “considerable amount of media attention in the community and we wanted folks to know as soon as possible” that the permits were issued, he said.

Blocksom said the permits were issued over the weekend because Patriot has a hearing scheduled before Trumbull County Judge Andrew Logan, which Nally was expected to attend, and Patriot’s attorney was under an understanding that “everything was on hold” until tomorrow’s hearing.

“So on Saturday, prior to a hearing that’s scheduled to get to the bottom of all this, on the color of night he issues a permit so that he doesn’t have to come before the court and answer questions,” Blocksom remarked.

Ohio EPA filed notice Friday with the court and notified Patriot yesterday afternoon that Nally, whose appearance Patriot sought a subpoena for, wasn’t going to come to the Wednesday hearing.

There are also hearings this week and next week before the state’s Environmental Review Appeals Council, Blocksom said.

Settles said he isn’t going to comment on any hearings or legal matters before a judge or the court system. The appeals process continues, he said.

“We’re still open for business,” Blocksom asserted. The state issued a permit that states as of April 1 his company won’t be able to discharge treated wastewater from oil and gas wells into Warren’s system “unless we do something, which of course we’re going to do many things to maintain our business that are lawfully available to us,” he said.

“The only thing that this did is it showed the true color of this EPA director that’s trying to avoid getting in front of the people and answering questions. That’s it,” Blocksom said.

“We’re standing up for our rights here but the most important thing here is that your business, your job could be next,” he said. “This sets the precedent. They can come into anybody’s business and say, ‘We’re shutting you down without a reason’ even though you asked them for it.”