Ohio Attorney General sues Martins Ferry facility over "imminent threat" and "public health emergency"
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a complaint and restraining order in Belmont County against Austin Master Services of Martins Ferry after gross safety violations discovered
In a 73-page complaint, and an 83-page motion for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost claims the Austin Master Services waste disposal site in Martins Ferry, OH, has created “an environmental and public health emergency” with “imminent threat to [the] environment, including the nearby Ohio River.”
This comes after years of pressure from concerned citizens and environmental activists. In 2021, members of the community presented reports detailing concerns regarding the site to members of the Martins Ferry council.
Austin Master Services in 2022 faced a complaint under Martins Ferry’s Source Water Protection Plan ordinance, designed to monitor potential contaminants to the city’s water system. The company rebuked concerns stating they were in compliance with all Ohio laws regarding waste disposal.
In 2023, DeSmog, a journalistic and activist website focusing on topics related to climate change, reported that the federal Environmental Protection Agency identified Austin Master Services in Martins Ferry as a potential superfund site.
Austin Master Services has operated their 150,000 square foot facility in Martins Ferry since at least 2014. The site is located 500 feet from the Ohio river and 1,000 feet from the city’s water intake. Martins Ferry provides municipal water services to its own residents, as well as residents in neighboring Bridgeport and Brookside.
In the complaint filed March 26, 2024, Attorney General Yost alleges that Austin Master Services has committed “egregious violations of Ohio law” at its site. The court filing goes on to claim “Defendant [Austin Master Services] allowed tons of waste, some of which is radioactive, to far exceed its permitted storage capacity.”
The Ohio Division of Natural Resources, or ODNR, visited the site on February 7, 2024, for an inspection. During their visit, ODNR staff observed “solid waste accumulation exceeding the primary containment storage capacity,” and further observed three unapproved roll-off dumpsters as well as rail cars, being used to store the overflow material.
The complaint continues, stating that ODNR staff observed “radioactive liquids and sludge” flowing uncontained on the floor of the facility, creating an “environmental and public health emergency” due to the risk of groundwater and soil contamination caused by the improperly stored material.
ODNR inspectors submitted their findings and instructed Austin Master Services to clean up the overflowing solid, liquid, and sludge materials and cease accepting new shipments of waste. The company was given until March 15 to comply with the ODNR’s directive.
Instead, when ODNR inspectors returned on March 15 they observed “worsening conditions.”
The complaint alleges that at that time, ODNR inspectors again observed the primary containment area overflowing and free-flowing liquid and sludge on the floor. The complaint states the “amount of waste outside containment has increased since February 7, 2024.”
In an accompanying motion for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, the Ohio Attorney General alleges Austin Master Services accepted 3,800 tons of additional liquid and solid waste from February 7 through March 15 despite ODNR ordering them to halt the shipments. During that time the company disposed of only 406 tons of solid waste.
ODNR again ordered the company to dispose of the excess material and halt accepting new shipments of waste. Rather than complying with the directive Austin Master Services allegedly fired its entire staff except for one radiation safety officer.
Due to the company’s decision to lay off its entire workforce routine and contractually-required inspections of the site did not take place. This led Ohio Attorney General Yost to file the above referenced complaint and motion for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction.
If accepted by the court, Austin Master Services could be fined $10,000 per day per violation. Eight violations of Ohio law and rules governing oil and gas waste services were detailed in the complaint.
The city council of Martins Ferry met March 27 one day after the complaint was filed.
Mayor John Davies, elected in 2019, stated he did not become aware of the situation until “yesterday,” March 26. He said the city would soon meet with the EPA to discuss next steps.
Davies also claimed the site had 10,000 tons, equivalent to 500 truck loads, of material above what they were allowed to store. He went on to claim there was no “immediate hazard,” despite the Attorney General of Ohio claiming the opposite in his court filings.
During public comments several citizens spoke about the Austin Master Services site.
Alexandria, a Martins Ferry resident, said she was “sad to stand here three years after begging the council” to do something about the site. She was referring to a prior meeting held in the community in 2022 where a local environmental organization, Concerned Ohio River Residents, or CORR, presented “hundreds of pages” of documents detailing issues at the waste disposal site.
Alexandria, as well as other members of the public who spoke, said Mayor Davies and members of council called activists “liars and fear-mongerers” when they presented their concerns in 2022. “Moving forward, I hope the council will take future concerns from citizens seriously.”
Davies responded by saying the city did not grant the permit to Austin Master Services, stating ODNR had, and reiterated that he only learned of the issues “yesterday.”
Bev Reed, a citizen of Bridgeport, OH, and an organizer at CORR, home relies on Martins Ferry’s municipal water. She said her concern was for the safety of citizens. Reed also noted that the Austin Master Services site is within the Ohio rivers floodplain.
“We raised these concerns three years ago,” Reed said, echoing Alexandria’s comments. “We could have avoided the worst of this. This is a public health threat.”
Reed continued, pushing back against claims from Davies that there was no imminent threat. “I promise you the material is on the ground. Every time it rains it’s getting into the aquifer.” She went on to cite Martins Ferry’s Source Water Protection Plan stating she hopes the city will utilize it more frequently moving forward.
Davies stated he believes Austin Master Services “took the money and ran,” seemingly agreeing with a claim made by Reed that the company used the site to accept as much waste as possible, despite regulations, to increase their profits.
In response to a question from another citizen about what the city could have done differently, Davies said the city should have requested more inspection reports. Ultimately, he laid the blame on the company for its failures.
Austin Master Services website has since been taken offline. The company refused a request for comment from WTOV9, who broke the news of the complaint locally.
A hearing on the motion for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction will take place on April 3.
CORR presented very compelling evidence at multiple city council meetings about three years ago. I attended the one in Bridgeport, and the elected officials were mostly uninterested. One, in particular - an elderly man - reacted like a petulant child to the concerns because he use to work at the location when it was a steel mill (or some such). It was embarrassing to see someone old enough to be a grandparent react with such blind ignorance and hostility. Remember, this person is a local politician.