The Slatest

Ohio Fracking Operator Gets Jail Time for Dumping Toxic Wastewater Into Creek 33 Times

Fracking involves pumping fluid into the ground to break up rock; the chemicals used in the fluid can be toxic, as can substances that become part of it during the pumping process.

Photo by Trueffelpix/Shutterstock

Ohio fracking company owner Benedict Lupo had a choice: He could dispose properly of byproducts from his drilling operation, or he could have his employees dump the wastewater in a local creek. He chose the latter. The employees tried to talk him out of it; he insisted. Then he did it again 32 more times, killed everything in the creek, got caught, and will now go to jail for 28 months. From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

On Jan. 31, 2013, state authorities, acting on a tip, caught one of Lupo’s employees dumping the waste. [Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad] Beeson, in court records, said the impact of the dumping was devastating. Officials found the creek “void of life,” the prosecutor said.

“Even the most pollution-tolerant organisms, such as nymphs and cadis flies, were not present,” Beeson wrote in court documents. “The creek was essentially dead.”

The two employees who dumped the waste were sentenced to probation.

via ThinkProgress