Austin Master Services to face court Monday for radioactive liquids and sludge waste

MARTINS FERRY, Ohio (WTRF) — “Radioactive liquids and sludge,” “harmful contaminants,” and “worsened conditions,” are among the descriptions that make up the allegations found in the dozens of pages of court documents against Austin Master Services.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is now asking a Belmont County Judge to hold Austin Master Services, parent company American Environmental Partners and owner Brad Domitrovitsch in contempt for failing to clean up by a court-ordered deadline. They now have a hearing set for May 20 in Belmont County Common Pleas Court.

The lawsuit alleges the company has added tons of waste, far beyond its permitted capacity. Taking a closer look, the complaint paints the story of a company’s problem that kept getting worse week after week despite multiple warnings.

On February 7, staff from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management saw solid waste that exceeded the limit, among other issues. On that day, they issued a Notice of Violation requiring AMS to take several steps which included removing the extra waste by March 15.

On March 15, Division staff came back and said they saw the situation was even worse.

“Free liquid and sludge were also observed on the floor of the Facility,” according to the lawsuit. They issued a second Notice of Violation, this time requiring AMS to “immediately” take action to clean up. That same day, the complaint says AMS terminated most if not all of its staff.

7 News visited Austin Master Services’ main office in an effort to verify the termination claim. According to the complaint, AMS and parent company American Environmental Partners, have their registered office at 6000 Town Center Boulevard, Suite 210 in Canonsburg, PA. 7 News visited that office only to find it completely empty during regular business hours.

The Martin’s Ferry facility has been listed as “permanently closed” on Google and their website is no longer running.

On March 19, the Division issued an order to suspend operations and to clean up contamination.

Since April 10, the Division said the state had removed more than 9000 gallons of processed wastewater. On April 17, there was an informal hearing and the Division issued a final suspension order. Now they’re also asking the court to make AMS pay for the costs of rectifying the violations.

“We are operating quickly to make sure contamination can be avoided and we protect Ohioans and the waterways we share,” Yost said in a statement. But experts including Science Journalist Justin Nobel say the employees were likely affected.

“It was splashing up on them, they were getting soaked in it, their clothes were getting covered in this sludge.” Nobel said. “We were later able to get some of that sludge tested and learned that it’s wildly radioactive.”

​Nobel says a worker’s cleaned boots still tested 7 times higher than the legal limit for radiation.

Now as the company goes to court, a judge will decide if they will side with the state’s accusations.

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