D & L Probe

[Towntalk]

Not The First For Lupo

SOURCE: TV 27 WKBN

Ohio EPA officials said they've removed 100,000 gallons of water and oil from the Mahoning River and a storm sewer in the 11 days since the illegal dumping from Hardrock Excavating was brought to the agency's attention.

Originally, the agency said there was 40,000 gallons dumped into the system from Hardrock Excavating on Salt Springs Road.

Youngstown Mayor Chuck Sammarone met Monday with city leaders and a representative from the Ohio EPA to be brought up to speed on the cleanup process The EPA said D & L Energy and Hardrock owner Ben Lupo admitted to them in a statement that he authorized six similar brine water dumps into the storm sewer since September of last year.

He called the material in question "clean water," used to rinse out two 21,000-gallon brine tanks.

"As he put it, it was, 'I'm doing the right thing. I did it at night because I was doing the right thing, and I didn't want somebody thinking I was doing the wrong thing, and create an uproar,'" said Ohio EPA on-site coordinator Kurt Kollar.

Kollar said cleanup crews are finding oil and oil-based mud sediment in different layers of the creek and riverbed. Mayor Sammarone was brought up to speed after being out of town last week. He said all Lupo's businesses should be shut down.

"He broke policy in drilling too deep, now he's breaking another policy, he's dumping illegally. But the issue is, the state should go after this guy," Sammarone said.

Sammarone is upset the state took away local control over issuance and enforcement of oil and gas drilling permits several years ago.

"It should have been caught right away, not because of some informant calling it in. There's something wrong with the system, when you can't catch this," Sammarone said.

The Mayor said if the state and feds don't file criminal charges, the City Prosecutor will. And he questioned whether anything Lupo says is true.

He's saying six times so, based on what he's done, his track record, I wouldn't believe too much this man said. If he said it was raining outside, I better go look out the window," Sammarone said.

Ohio EPA documents indicate workers with Hardrock dumped brine into the storm sewers on Lupo's direction. The material was dumped from a Hardrock tanker, according to reports.

The EPA report states the ODNR received an anonymous tip about the dumping and ODNR inspectors witnessed the dumping the evening of Jan. 31. It said Lupo contacted ODNR inspectors and "accepted full responsibilities."

Ohio EPA officials said they hope to have everything cleaned out of the riverbed in the next two weeks.

[Rick Rowlands]

How many millions of taxpayer dollars did Solyndra, Evergreen Solar and the other bankrupt companies blow through?  How much productve activity has to be expended to create those tax dollars in the first place?  A tremendous amount of energy and resources were expended just to make the money that were paid in taxes that ultimately was just "lost". 

I doubt that the "environment" was permanently harmed by the D&L spill.

[irishbobcat]

Pretty weak, WhyTown....thanks for trying....

[Youngstownshrimp]

YTown! I'm impressed.

[Why?Town]

No time to look at the moment but those windmills and solar panels don't get built without heavy machinery usually powered by nasty stuff. That certainly affects the environment. I also believe windmills have been accused of killing migratory birds by the greenies.

[irishbobcat]

Show me how a green energy official destroys the environment like Mr. D&L Energy did....

[Why?Town]

Imagine that, a fracking company breaking the rules.....

The word  "fracking"  could be replaced with any industry. Lupo is a bad egg, they exist everywhere, unfortunately.

I bet they can even be found in green energy.

[Towntalk]

But can we honestly say that 100% of the companies are following Lupo's example ... or 75% ... or 50% ... or 25%.

Clearly, Lupo is not a very nice person if even peoplewithin his companies are draging him into court ... but does this example reflect badly on the entire industry or just him.

Certainly since this issue first emerged in the news, we've had examples of such things as accidents that resulted in polluted streams that were later cleaned up, but nothing like what has emerged with D & L. This case surpasses any example that has been given so far.

[irishbobcat]

Imagine that, a fracking company breaking the rules.....

[Towntalk]

I suspect that by now, you've all read today's Vindicator report page 1 story on D & L, so I shant post the link to the article, but simply illicit your astute comments on what was revealed in it.

This is a lengthy article, and shows that Mr. Lupo is facing challenges from within that will result in court actions over and above the ones that the state may bring against him.

Obviously, judging from the revelations in the article, said Mr. Lupo has not been operating the company in the best interests of either the shareholders or the community at large.