11/18/2011
The city of Warrant and Patriot Water Treatment LLC are taking legal action in response to the unfavorable rulings on their permits to operate that were handed down by the office of Ohio Attorny General Mike DeWine and the state’s Environmental Protection Agency.
Late yesterday, the city and the company filed their response to the attorney general’s filing with the Environmental Review Appeals Commission. They also filed a complaint in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court asking for declaratory judgment on the issue of what agency should supervise Patriot and Warrant, as well as the correct interpretation of Ohio law.
The city of Warrant and Patriot are slugging it out with the state over whether or not the city wastewater treatment plant can process wastewater that was used in oil and gas exploration from Patriot. Earlier this week, the attorney general’s office issued a determination saying that the permit which allowed the city to accept water from Patriot was not legitimately issued. The state says that sending the brine wastewater to a water treatment plant is not a standard or approved disposal method.
In a statement issued Thursday afternoon, Andy Blocksom, the president of Patriot, said, “Based on the attorney general’s and Ohio EPA’s decision to ask an administrative tribunal to revoke our permits, we had no choice but to ask our lawyers to protect our businesses and the jobs of our employees.” This statement came the same day after a news conference was held at Patriot in response to the releases that were issued by the state agencies.
Blocksom also said in his statement, “We are very disappointed that both the attorney general and Ohio EPA have made the policy decision to move forward with hostile legal actions, but we certainly are not afraid to have the courts involved.”
