Austin Master Services Responds to AG Lawsuit; Court Hearing Today
American Environmental Partners (AEP) and its owner, Brad Domitrovitsch, are due in court today in Belmont County, OH, to address a motion by Ohio’s Attorney General, David Yost, to hold the company and Domitrovitsch in contempt for not complying with an order to clean up the Austin Master Services (AMS) facility owned by AEP. AMS is a radiological waste management solutions company in Martins Ferry ( in Belmont County) close to the Ohio River. Media accounts report that AMS has stored at least 10,000 tons of fracking waste (drill cuttings with low radioactivity) at the facility. The facility is rated and permitted to hold 600 tons. In March, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost asked the Belmont County Common Pleas Court to block AMS from receiving more waste and order it to clean up and comply with its rating. The court granted both requests with a deadline of April 17 to comply. The deadline came and went without compliance.
Read More “Austin Master Services Responds to AG Lawsuit; Court Hearing Today”
Two weeks ago, MDN told you about an odd situation in Ohio. DeepRock Disposal, an injection well company owned by a former member of the Ohio Oil & Gas Commission and current State Senator, Brian Chavez, leaked injected wastewater beyond its permitted boundary of a half mile into a non-functioning conventional well “miles away” (in Noble County) where the water came to the surface (see 
Fake research used by Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) will be allowed in a hearing that appeals permits granted to Olympus Energy to drill shale wells at the Metis well pad in Penn Township, Westmoreland County. The PSR’s so-called research is a mish-mash accumulation of other people’s research that doesn’t apply specifically to the wells permitted by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). The so-called research is sprinkled with lots of scary words like PFAS and “forever chemicals,” implying such chemicals are being used by Olympus in drilling and fracking its wells — allegations with NO basis in fact. Protect PT, a radicalized group that receives funding from other Big Green groups, is challenging the DEP permits for the Metis pad, using SPR’s so-called research in its challenge. Olympus tried to have the SPR’s throw-enough-crap-against-the-wall-and-hope-some-of-it-sticks “research” tossed from being considered, but the Environmental Hearing Board (EHB), the special court in PA that hears appeals of DEP decisions, refused to toss the crap-throwing “research” out, saying Olympus should challenge said research during cross-examination.
The “sue-till-green” strategy sweeping the nation began in 2012 when the radicalized Climate Accountability Institute (CAI) hosted a conference in La Jolla, California. The gathering discussed a new approach to climate activism, mirroring the campaign against Big Tobacco — but this time targeting the oil and gas industry. The goal of the radicals is to effectively revoke the oil and gas industry’s “social license to operate.” Ultimately, this approach buries oil and gas companies with legal fees and, together with other “green” policies, artificially raises the cost of reliable energy and subsidizes the production of unreliable alternative energy sources. Disgusting. And now this strategy has come to Pennsylvania.
Although the weakened Bidenistas signaled they would consider lifting the political “pause” on approving new LNG export projects if Congress would vote to grant HUGE piles of money for the wars in Ukraine and Israel, and even though Republicans had the Bidenistas on the ropes, at the last minute the GOP didn’t press the advantage and voted in favor of the aid package without requiring Biden to lift the LNG pause. It is a shame and a wasted opportunity. So what happens now? The so-called LNG review goes forward, and new global warming criteria will be used (at least during the Biden administration) to evaluate new LNG export projects.
Last week, the Baker Hughes U.S. rig count added a single rig, now up to 604 active rigs. Since last October, the national count had gone as low as 616 and as high as 629, and that was it — a fairly narrow band. That is, until a month ago when it crashed through the floor and went lower, down to 613. Then, three weeks ago, it was down to 605. Two weeks ago, it went even lower, down to 603, the lowest since January 2022 (see 
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: The green energy wall can’t arrive quickly enough; Gulfstream LNG gains FERC approval to begin prefiling process; Permian gas processing plans hint at impending rebound in production; NATIONAL: RRC challenging new EPA rule; US appeals court won’t pause EPA power plant emissions rule for now; American energy is clean energy – it’s time to admit it; Cattle may actually decrease climate change, research shows; Why natural gas prices have collapsed; INTERNATIONAL: Oil posts weekly gain settling above $80.