MARTINS FERRY — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is asking a Belmont County judge to find Austin Master Services and Brad D. Domitrovitsch, who is in control of the company, in contempt for failing to meet the court’s deadline to clean up the illegal levels of fracking waste stored at its recycling facility in Martins Ferry.

“The urgency of this situation cannot be overstated,” Yost said. “We are operating quickly to make sure contamination can be avoided and we protect Ohioans and the waterways we share.”

In a lawsuit filed in late March in Belmont County Common Pleas Court, Yost sought a temporary restraining order to force the Pennsylvania-based company to stop storing brine and drilling waste in volumes exceeding its permit with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Yost wrote that the waste, some of which is radioactive, threatens the Ohio River and Martins Ferry’s drinking water supply. Yost filed the complaint in Belmont County Common Pleas Court before Judge John Vavra, who issued a restraining order and preliminary injunction and imposed the April 17 deadline.

Yost’s original complaint stated that the company is failing to store waste from fracking operations properly at its facility at 801 N. First St. in Martins Ferry. The complaint notes that location is approximately 500 feet from the Ohio River and about 1,000 feet from the city’s drinking water well field.

Yost further alleged that Austin Master allowed radioactive liquids and sludge to flow uncontained on the facility’s floor and that it used unpermitted storage containers, including three dumpsters, a “green frac tank” and railcars, to store dangerous waste products.

The facility is permitted to store 600 tons of such waste, but it allegedly had collected around 10,000 tons before it laid off its staff and ceased operations in mid-March.

Yost said the company did not comply with the order, and the danger posed by the materials prompted ODNR to take steps to prevent releases from the facility.

In an amended complaint filed with the charges in contempt, Yost’s environmental team added the parent company of Austin Master, American Environmental Partners, Inc., and its chief financial officer, Domitrovitsch, as defendants in the case. In addition, the modified lawsuit seeks reimbursement from the company for ODNR’s cleanup costs.