MARTINS FERRY — The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil & Gas Resources Management will clean up the Austin Master Services facility in Martins Ferry after the company failed to comply with court orders to clean the site by Monday.

Division Chief Eric Vendel said work to remove the oil and gas drilling waste, some of which is radioactive, will begin today.

“In March, Division of Oil & Gas Resources Management inspectors discovered Austin Master Services exceeded its waste limits and immediately suspended operations and sought emergency relief from the courts,” Vendel said in an emailed statement provided by Karina Cheung, media and outreach specialist for ODNR. “ODNR has been relentlessly pursuing AMS through litigation to hold them accountable for their responsibility to clean up the site, while closely monitoring the facility. Now that the court’s contempt deadline has expired, we are able to and will take over clean up beginning on July 23.”

In May, Belmont County Common Pleas Judge John Vavra ruled that Austin Master and CEO Brad J. Domitrovitsch were in contempt of court for failing to meet an April 17 deadline to clean up the facility, located at 4K Industrial Park along First Street about 500 feet from the Ohio River. Austin Master’s operating permit allowed it to store up to 600 tons of oilfield waste products inside the containment areas of the former steel mill; however, estimates indicate more than 10,000 tons of waste are on site. During that May hearing, Vavra established a July 22 deadline for the company to remove enough waste to bring it into compliance with its permit.

Now that ODNR is taking over the cleanup, though, it intends to go further.

“In addition to bringing the facility into compliance with permitted levels, the division will oversee a complete removal of all waste in the facility and full remediation of the site,” according to information provided by Cheung. “The Division of Oil & Gas Resources Management will utilize the bond forfeiture as well as the oil & gas fund for the clean and will also seek reimbursement from Austin Master Services.

“Under no circumstances will the City of Martins Ferry and local residents be responsible for the cost of cleanup.”

Austin Master was required to post a bond of just under $500,000 when it received its initial permit. That money will be forfeited and used by ODNR to fund a portion of the cleanup, although that amount is not expected to be sufficient to complete the job.

As part of the contempt ruling, Vavra ordered that if they did not purge their contempt by meeting the limits of the permit, Domitrovitsch would be required to serve 30 days in jail and Austin Master would be fined $200 a day beginning May 21 until the permit limits were met.

On July 16, Vavra made a special entry following a status conference conducted by phone. The entry states that the jail sentence for Domitrovitsch and the fine for himself and Austin Master will be stayed if the defendants post an additional $1.2 million bond.

Meanwhile, Cheung also wrote that the division will work continuously to ensure that the clean up is completed as quickly as possible. Vendel noted that the division will do the work as safely as possible.

“We will continue to do everything in our power to hold Austin Master Services and their affiliated entities accountable and to continue to protect the health and safety of the community and the environment,” Vendel added.

Court records and city leaders both have indicated that the owners of 4K Industrial Park have said that, moving forward, they will not lease property to any other companies that process oilfield waste products.