Check this one out . This is one of the people that dumped on a Monroe county Farm .

WOW !!!!!

Guilty plea in Clean Water Act case

February 14, 2013
From staff reports , The Marietta Times

A New Matamoras man has pleaded guilty to a violation of the Clean Water Act by allowing oil and gas well wastewater to flow into a tributary of the Little Muskingum River three years ago.

Robert D. Armstrong, 54, also entered a guilty plea on behalf of his company, RCA Oil and Gas LLC, which was charged with the same offense, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Carter M. Stewart with the Southern District Court of Ohio.

Armstrong entered the guilty pleas Tuesday before U.S. District Court Judge Michael Watson, who had not set a sentencing date as of Wednesday afternoon.

But, according to court documents from Tuesday's hearing, joint sentencing recommendations agreed to by both parties in the case include 48 hours of imprisonment, followed by eight months of home confinement, with work release time, for Armstrong.

Also recommended is 12 months of supervised release during which Armstrong would complete 288 hours of community service.

He would also agree to arrange for publication of a quarter-page ad in an oil and gas industry magazine, listing the requirements for proper disposal of brine waste and the consequences for failing to do so.

The amount of any fine would be determined by the court.

The maximum sentence that Armstrong could face is three years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and a year of supervised release.

Armstrong initially pleaded not guilty to the offense when first indicted on Nov. 29, 2012.

The pollution violation took place in June 2010 at an RCA well off Monroe County 19, about five miles north of New Matamoras in Benton Township.

Armstrong had built a reservoir with an earthen wall to hold water he intended to use in the fracking process of a nearby well.

The reservoir contained approximately 2.2 million gallons of fresh water. But Armstrong had added thousands of gallons of brine or wastewater from the fracking process at two other oil and gas wells to the reservoir.

As a result of the addition, all of the liquid in the reservoir was classified as oil field wastewater.

On June 19, 2010, Armstrong used a backhoe to breach a wall of the reservoir, releasing the wastewater into Rockcamp Run. The reservoir contained about 800,000 gallons of wastewater at the time, most of which entered Rockcamp Run.

Analysis of wastewater from the reservoir showed significant concentrations of barium and sodium.

Ingesting drinking water containing higher levels of barium than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency drinking water guidelines of 20 milligrams per liter can cause gastrointestinal disturbances and muscle weakness with short-term exposure and kidney damage over a longer period of time.

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 Reply by Jack Straw

"It would seem that two guilty pleas suggested no accident."

it might indeed suggest that there was no accident in this case, but in case you arent aware, legal defense can be very costly. oftentimes suits such as this are settled with guilty pleas to avoid the bankrupting effects of defending oneself against the inexhaustible legal resources of the government. remember too, that initially he pled not guilty.

"

"RE: "shouldnt we all be held to the same standards of accountability?"

No, there are many situations in which the "standards of accountability" differ according to circumstances. Examples being crimes against children, elder abuse, Good Samaritan laws, etc.. "

you mention "priviledged groups" several time in that post, and so i would ask you, what "priviledged group" may have been harmed by this guy?

and regardless what groups may be harmed in actions requiring adjudication, all who perpetrate such actions are held to the same standard of accountability under the law, only the punishments vary according to how egregious the offense may have been. and the range of severity of those punishments are set by law, not subject to arbitrary whims as you seem to be suggesting that they should be.

an item of related interest is creeping up here in this discussion with you jack.

this standard of accountability seems to be on a sliding scale for some here, depending on whether they see themselves as possibly gaining or losing from how accountable one party or the other is held to be.

i'm referring to recent discussions about whether new laws should be enacted that would relieve landowners of their contractual obligations under their leases.

you seemed to be in favor of ex post facto laws which would do so retroactively, thus letting landowners "off the hook" for leases (contracts) legally consumated.

there's an old saying jack, "whats good for the goose...."

simply put, ya cant have it both ways.

and if he is guilty, he is guilty. (actually it doesnt matter anymore, he pled guilty) but the punishment should fit the crime. maybe this guy did it deliberately to save a couple of bucks. and maybe (i cannot tell from that article) he was just some dumb schmuck who got hung out to dry. i know of other cases where just that, has happened.

in any case, it's always best to not rush to judgement, especially based on a news article with incomplete facts.

wj

RE: "you seemed to be in favor of ex post facto laws which would do so retroactively, thus letting landowners "off the hook" for leases (contracts) legally consummated."

You seem to be ready to rush to judgment.

To what are you referring in your accusation?

And could you provide a link to what I may have stated in support of ex post facto laws?

 

JS

easy there jack...i never accused you specifically of anything.

i said you seemed to be in favor of such things, and i based the observation on the tenor of some of your posts in discussions on that subject.

forgive me, i cannot figure this forum out. i have no idea how to find those posts now without going back through tons of stuff. not worth it. at this point, if you say that i am mistaken, that's good enough for me. only you know what jack straw is about, and often the written word is difficult to get a clear meaning from.

wj

 

another thought.

the title of this thread is "BIG DUMPER......".

BIG is a relative term, let's put it in perspective.

there were approximately 800,000 gallons of something, some of which got into a stream.

800,000 gallons is roughly 130% of the volume of an olympic swimming pool. i dont know how big this stream is, but in many small streams that volume or more of water passes any point in it in about a second.

i'd be curious to know the average flow volume of that creek in order to assess the magnitude of possible impacts.

(this is for folks who dont believe that even one drop of spillage should be punishable by death)

wj

 I live near a small town in south east PA. There is a small stream that flows through the town that dumps into the Wissahickon creek which is stocked by the fish and game.People noticed a oily film flowing down the sream and they called the EPA to look at it.They tracked it up the stream about a mile or so and determined it was home oil they found the violater.It was a under ground home oil tank leaking at a church,the insurance payed for the clean up and no headlines. 

OK  WY-Jim  , we did a little investigation on this LITTLE dumper you refer to and look what was found .

This Happen before the Marietta Times story .

We are PRO Oil and Gas but this is over the top !!!

We  will order your Dumpers Delight Cocktail W Jim  .As you will see it is kind to animals also .

www.ohiopollutionpictures.com

This chump was on this site also .

Remember our source tell us that this was for sure before the Marietta Times .

 

All everyone wants is to NOT DUMP CONTAMINATED FLUIDS FER PROPFIT !!!

An accident is just that and happens but this is no accident .

if what you say is true, then this guy certainly should be discouraged from working with dangerous materials.

but those tanks don't look like they were used in the oil industry to me.

they look more like skid tanks for refueling heavy equipment on a jobsite.

another thing odd about the collection of pictures is the interspersing of wildlife pictures. it suggests an agenda, rather than a fact based expose'

one thing for sure, you certainly seem to be on this one particular guys tail. that fact in and of itself may be very telling.

wj

What I find to be funny (in a series of sad stories) is the inclusion of the pictures of the deer.  That's a purely emotional addition to the otherwise important message.  When the guy opens up his website with the words "I am a hunter..." it's hard to imagine him being too worried about the deer.  "Don't drink that polluted water, Bambi, you'll die before I get the chance to shoot you!"

Anyway, that thought gave me a chuckle. 

Grayson you are truly a DORK !  

Yet again you have you have insulted thousands of people .

Being who you are you really should not insult people for what they do 

outside of there careers . Hunters have done more for the wildlife the DORKS like you .

I remember you being exposed for your crap on this site before .

So to all of those who hunt or manage wildlife GRAYSON  is not your friend .

People like Grayson are why most don't trust others in the Oil and Gas business !

First of all, WJ....they've changed colonoscopies during the past decade.  You should schedule yourself for another.

Speaking of Big Dumpers....you and Jack both sound like you need to take one.  Just kidding of course.

Jack and WJ, please exchange phone numbers.

If you continue this dialogue on this forum, please embolden your responses.  It's really a pain in the butt (another reference oh dear) to read through your posts.

PS  I see both your points.  Open your minds.

WJ is not industry btw.

Sally LOL !!!

WJ,

OK Jim, we have jousted before with respect.  However this time you are soooooo wrong.

I have been on more damn job sites than you can shake a stick at.  The tanks in the pictures are indeed water storage tanks that are used on every drill site since time began.  You gotta know you are wrong, get over your pride and admit it!  It was no accident, period.  It is your kind of thinking that created places like the Love Canal.  So, rethink it bud.

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