Waste Hauler Accused of Illegal Dumping
Washington
PA Observer
Reporter
18 March 2011
By Tara Kinsell, Staff writer
tkinsell@observer-reporter.com
WAYNESBURG - A well-known Greene County waste hauler and his
corporation were charged Thursday with illegally dumping millions of
gallons of wastewater from natural gas drilling, sewage sludge and
restaurant grease into streams and mine shafts in a six-county area.
After a two-year investigation, the state attorney general's office
filed 98 criminal counts against Robert Allan Shipman, 50, of 432
Renner Creek Road, New Freeport, and 77 counts against his company,
Allan's Waste Water Service Inc. of 1487 Toms Run Road, Holbrook.
"This was a calculated and long-running scheme to personally profit by
illegally dumping wastewater, regardless of the potential for
environmental damage," said acting Attorney General Bill Ryan.
Shipman is accused of orchestrating a scheme to dump waste products
into streams, mine shafts and business properties across Allegheny,
Fayette, Greene, Lawrence, Washington and Westmoreland counties.
Proecutors said the activities took place between 2003 and 2009.
Charges include participating in a corrupt organization, criminal
conspiracy, theft, forgery, receiving stolen property, pollution of
waters, tampering with public records and violations of the
Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law, Solid Waste Management Act and Fish and
Boat Codes.
According to grand jury testimony, Shipman and his company were hired
by multiple businesses in the region to haul and dispose of wastewater
by-products.
Several former employees testified that Shipman instructed them to mix
various wastewater products together in what they referred to as a
"cocktail" and then dump that mixture at various locations throughout
the region. Ryan said the reason behind the cocktail was to conceal the
true contents of the wastewater, allowing it to be disposed of in an
improper manner, as well as to increase the volume of disposals that
were billed to various customers.
According to the grand jury, Shipman directed his drivers to falsify
manifests so his company could bill customers for the full capacity of
their trucks, regardless of the amount of waste actually being
transported and disposed of.
Agents from the attorney general's office said they identified forged
manifests for numerous businesses operating in Southwestern
Pennsylvania, including Penneco Oil Co., American Oil and Gas, Luzerne
Township Sewage Authority, Menallen Township Sewer Authority,
Washington Penn Plastics and others.
Ryan said Shipman is accused of stealing in excess of $250,000 from
clients as a result of the over-billing practices.
April Morris, a former administrative assistant for Shipman's company,
told the grand jury she was often instructed by Shipman to shred or
discard the customer's copy of the manifest. She said Shipman would
then instruct her to complete blank manifests with fraudulent
information regarding the quantity of waste hauled, sign drivers' names
to the manifests and send the manifests to customers.
Testimony by former drivers indicated that Allan's Waste Water was
responsible for transporting and disposing of production water from gas
wells owned and operated by CNX Gas. According to the drivers, CNX's
gas wells began to generate more production water in the summer of 2007
than the company was capable of handling.
"It is a lot of information we need to digest," said Shipman's
attorney, Christopher Blackwell of Washington. "Our contention has
always been that this is a group of disgruntled employees who have made
these accusations."
Blackwell said it appears the case is going to come down to the
credibility of the witnesses who may have "an ax to grind with Allan
Shipman."
The drivers told the grand jury that Shipman showed them how to leave
water valves open at gas wells in order to allow production water to
flow onto the ground and into nearby waterways. The drivers said this
was typically done after dark or during heavy rains in order to conceal
the illegal discharge.
Areas where Shipman is alleged to have directed wastewater to be dumped
include Green Hill Tank Farm along Rush Run in Greene County, Morris
Run Creek and Rush Run. It was further alleged by the former employees
that Shipman directed them to dump residual wastewater left in the
trucks at the end of the day down a drain at his business. The drain
leads to Tom's Run, a tributary of Dunkard Creek.
It is also alleged that Shipman directed waste products to be dumped
into the Morris Run air shaft at the abandoned Blacksville No. 1 Mine
along Morris Run Creek in Brave. Consol Energy is permitted by the EPA
to dump production water into the Morris Run shaft via a series of
piping inlets. The airshaft leads to a mine pool that ultimately
discharges into Dunkard Creek, according to Samuel Harper, DEP Water
Management Environmental Program manager, who verified that Shipman and
his company were not permitted to discharge waste into that location.
The criminal charges filed Thursday carry substantial prison terms upon
conviction, along with fines in excess of $1.5 million for Shipman and
$1.2 million for his company.
Blackwell said the defense is in the process of interviewing drivers
from the company who have indicated that Shipman never directed them to
do any of the things alleged in the complaint. Blackwell said these
witnesses have also said that they never witnessed Shipman illegally
dumping anything.
"There were a number of documents found in the trucks that Allan was
unaware of what the drivers were doing while they were out," Blackwell
said. "Maybe the lines at the dumping facilities were so long that they
didn't feel like waiting in line there."
Christopher M. Capozzi, attorney for Allan's Waster Water Services
Inc., had no comment.
Shipman is free on $500,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled
for June 6-7 before District Judge Glenn Bates.