Martins Ferry Council Pressures ODNR to Clean Up AMS Facility…NOW
We have been tracking and reporting on the drama surrounding Austin Master Services (AMS), a radiological waste management solutions company in Martins Ferry (Belmont County), Ohio, located close to the Ohio River (see our AMS stories here). Two weeks ago, a Belmont County Common Pleas Court judge ordered AMS to be fined $200 per day for failing to meet its permitted requirements for the amount of frack drill cuttings and other frack waste products housed at the Martins Ferry site. However, paperwork filed with the court by AMS claims the company is out of money, deep in debt, and is “effectively a dead company” that will not be able to meet the court’s order … unless it gets sold (quickly) to someone else who can do the cleanup work (see Austin Master Services Claims It is “Effectively a Dead Company”). The problem is that nothing is getting done to clean up the mess left by AMS, and the city of Martins Ferry is not happy with the stalemate.
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Every now and again, the liberal Democrat editors of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette publish an unsigned editorial (from the editors) that surprises us. Yesterday was another such instance when Post-Gazette editors said Pennsylvania should leverage frack wastewater to extract lithium, which can be used to make electric vehicle batteries for Joementia’s EV fantasies. The editors cited a study recently published (in April) by the National Energy Technology Laboratory that says Marcellus wastewater in Pennsylvania alone has enough lithium to provide 40% of the country’s needs (see 
Nearly a year ago, MDN brought you the news that the federal EPA had issued a permit to G2 STEM LLC based in Fairfax, Virginia, to build a Class IID oil and gas wastewater underground injection well in Young Township, Jefferson County, PA (see 
We have been tracking and reporting on the drama surrounding Austin Master Services (AMS), a radiological waste management solutions company in Martins Ferry ( Belmont County), Ohio, located close to the Ohio River (
One of the aspects of the Austin Master Services (AMS) story (from Ohio) that captures people’s attention is that the frack waste at the facility contains drill cuttings, some of it with a low level of radioactivity. The headline-grabbing media touts that aspect of the story, overplaying just how “radioactive” it actually is. “OMG! If that stuff gets into the Ohio River, it’s an ecological disaster!” That sort of thing. While the percent threat to public health from AMS’ stored drill cuttings is not zero, it’s also not 100. We need a little balance added to the discussion. Just how much of a threat is the waste in the AMS facility?
We’ve had more than a few MDN readers pass along links from recent mainstream media stories about the treasure trove of lithium available “beneath Pennsylvania” in the state’s brine (shale wastewater) production. Which makes us a little bit crazy and amuses us at the same time because we’ve been reporting on this story since 2019! In October 2019, Eureka Resources, which operates three frack wastewater treatment facilities in the Marcellus Shale (and is building a fourth facility in Dimock, PA), began extracting lithium from Marcellus wastewater at one of its plants in Bradford County, PA (see 
Yesterday was the second and final day of a hearing begun on Monday in Belmont County, OH, Common Pleas Court to determine whether or not Austin Master Services (AMS) and its parent company American Environmental Partners (AEP), along with the owner of both companies, Brad Domitrovitsch, has failed to comply with an order from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) to clean up and clear out a facility in Martins Ferry that currently holds too much frack waste. The hearing concluded with the judge’s finding that AMS, AEP, and Domitrovitsch are in “contempt” of a previous court directive to get the facility cleaned by April 17. Beginning yesterday, AMS will be fined $200 per day. If the facility is not cleaned up and in compliance by July 22, the judge has ordered Domitrovitsch (who does not live in Ohio) to report to Belmont County jail to serve a 30-day sentence.
One month ago, the Ohio Oil and Gas Commission upheld a regulatory order from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) suspending the operation of three wastewater injection wells located in Torch (Athens County), OH, owned by K&H Partners, a subsidiary of Tallgrass Energy (see 
American Environmental Partners (AEP) and its owner, Brad Domitrovitsch, had their first day in court yesterday 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. Although the hearing was scheduled to begin at 10 am, it didn’t actually start until 11:10 am. The judge gave the attorneys for the parties involved time to talk in an effort to arrive at a resolution. Which obviously didn’t happen as the hearing went forward. There was just one witness for the day yesterday.
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.
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 
The Cleveland Plain Dealer has the long knives out for Ohio State Senator Brian Chavez (Republican) and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (also a Republican). The Plain Dealer is accusing DeWine’s Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) of corruption in not charging an injection well company owned by Chavez called DeepRock Disposal $1.3 million for cleaning up wastewater that migrated from a DeepRock injection well to a nearby conventional production well in Noble County. Instead, says the Plain Dealer, the ODNR sent the bill to the conventional well operator!