Radioactive waste handler accused of ‘egregious’ violations
COLUMBUS — State Attorney General Dave Yost filed a lawsuit against an oil and gas waste facility with a long track record of poor handling of hazardous and radiologic waste it processes.
The suit, filed against Pennsylvania-based Austin Master Services in the Belmont County Court of Common Pleas, accuses the facility of “egregious violations of Ohio law at its oil and gas waste facility” in Martins Ferry on Ohio’s eastern border.
The facility allowed radioactive liquids and sludge to flow uncontained onto the floor of its facility, stored more of its sometimes-radioactive waste than its state permit allows, and used improper storage containers (including a dumpster) in violation of its permit, according to Yost’s lawsuit.
State inspectors on Feb. 7 of this year issued a notice of violation to the facility, demanding certain mitigation measures by March 15. At the return visit, the suit alleges things got worse.
“Free liquid and sludge were observed on the floor of the facility,” the lawsuit states. “Also, the amount of waste material outside containment had increased rather than decreased from the prior inspection, indicating that AMS had continued to accept waste rather than remove” it.
That next day, according to the lawsuit, AMS fired all staff except for its radiation safety officer, who resigned one week later. That safety officer, Troy Mazur, later resigned. In a phone call, he declined to comment to Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer, save for the fact that Austin Master Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Environmental Partners after a July 2022 acquisition. Financial reports indicate American Environmental Partners paid $3.65 million in cash, stock and debt for the purchase.
Yost is asking the court to force the company’s now suspended operations into compliance, plus pay a $10,000 fine per day for each of eight violations, plus any “extraordinary enforcement” costs.
Court records show a hearing on the case has been scheduled for April 3. Meanwhile, two company vendors filed a lawsuit against Austin Master Services last month, alleging they’re owned a total of about $67,000 for work done in March and April of 2023.
Beverly Reed, an activist who lives nearby, has been trying to push the state and federal government to crack down on the facility since 2021, after state inspectors reported spillage and sloppy handling practices. In an interview with cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer, she said the facility is about 500 feet from the Ohio River, 1000 feet from wells pumping drinking water, and 2,500 feet from a football field.
“There’s basically a big, toxic radioactive dump on top of our aquifer,” she said. “It’s going to just be a mess sitting there, and there’s nothing holding the company accountable. They can just file bankruptcy and leave.”
The Columbus Dispatch obtained some of those reports cited by Reed in 2021. They detailed radioactive waste being stored directly on the floor and not in a container; a leaking roof that resulted in pools of rainwater collecting on the warehouse floor in the same facility with overflowing bins of radioactive waste; and waste seen by inspectors being tracked by trucks outside the facility.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering the site for inclusion in the Superfund program, reserved for the country’s worst environmental disasters, according to DeSmog, a news outlet focused on climate change. However, as recently as May 2023, Ohio Department of Natural Resources spokesman Andy Chow indicated to the outlet that Austin Master Services “is operating according to Ohio law and rule.” Chow didn’t respond to a call or email.