One of 56 Criminal Prosecutions under the Clean Water Act (from 1989-2020)

The owner of the Youngstown oil and gas company convicted of illegal dumping into the Mahoning River was himself sentenced in federal district court for his role in ordering employees to dump frm dozens of wastewater storage tanks under cover of darkness. 

The individual charged in this case pled guilty and was sentenced to more than two years in prison for knowingly discharging very toxic pollutants into the waters of the USA.

The court heard how over the course of a year and three months, employees were instructed to partially drain 58 - twenty thousand gallon tanks holding fracking wastewater into a drain leading to a tributary of the Mahoning River.   This water sources is accessed by large population centers downstream, including Cincinnatti, Ohio and Louisville, Kentucky.

The final act of illegal discharge took place in January 2013, with an especially toxic stream containing benzene and toluene.  Samples collected from this discharge were black and found to contain brine and drill cuttings.

The corporate defendant is in this case pled guilty to a single count violation of the Clean Water Act in 2015, being sentenced to a federal fine of $75,000 and a restitution payment of $25,000.  The community restitution was directed in equal parts to the Friends of the Mahoning River and Midwest Environmental Enforcement Association. 

The individual defendant in this case was sentenced to prison for commanding employees to carry out illegal discharges in late 2012 and into 2013.   In addition to jail time, the defendant was sentenced to a federal fine.

Federal Fine: $25,000; Prison:  28 months