Investigation reveals oil and gas drilling waste dumped at local
magistrate, Dairy Queen by Alyssa Choiniere, Mar 29, 2017, Herald Standard
An investigation conducted by the Office of the Attorney General revealed oil and gas industry waste was illegally dumped at multiple Fayette County locations, including Dairy Queen property in Uniontown and a magistrate’s office.
John Ashley Joseph, 45, of Connellsville allegedly directed Perry Stone and Supply Co.
employees to dump the waste at the illegal locations, and continued doing so after he was directed to stop. The investigation began in 2014 after the state Department of Environmental Protection received a complaint about illegal dumping.
The illegal dumping allegedly occurred at five locations, including an area behind Dairy Queen at 575 West Main St. in Uniontown and Magisterial District Judge Richard Kasunic II’s office at 3177 Pittsburgh St. in Star Junction. The waste originated at Trans Energy sites in West Virginia.
Test results completed at each location detected diesel fuel and compounds including barium, sulfate and strontium, indicative of shale formation cuttings, investigators said.
Employees allegedly began the illegal dumping at Joseph’s property, called the “Perry Pit” off of Zias Road on Joseph’s direction. He allegedly admitted that he began directing drivers to dump 1,000 tri-axle truckloads of waste, or about 22,000 tons, beginning in mid-2013. He said he did this because he could not access a permitted landfill over a holiday weekend, investigators said.
… Drivers told investigators they then began dumping waste behind the Dairy Queen parking lot, and continued the night after they received a complaint about dumping during the day. One driver said he dumped about 20 truckloads of waste at the location.
Joseph then allegedly advised his drivers to dump waste at the future site of Kasunic’s office. One driver said drill cuttings were spread as fill, and the office was built on top of it. Another driver said “a large former foundation and the parking lot are completely filled with drill cuttings,” according to the affidavit.
…
Joseph is facing 21 counts of unlawful conduct filed Wednesday before Kasunic.
[Emphasis added]
Kasunic vies for district judge by Mark Hofmann, February 23, 2013, Triblive
Richard A. Kasunic II, 38, has announced his candidacy for magisterial district judge in District 14-3-06 in Smock. … Kasunic is the son of state Sen. Richard A. Kasunic and the late Laura J. Gannon-Kasunic.
“Providing the public with excellent service is certainly second nature to me, and I promise to work hard to earn the respect of all of the constituents of the district,” Kasunic stated. “After all, the taxpayers should expect nothing but commitment and service from all elected officials.” [Emphasis added]
Pa. Bill Backing Use Of Mine Water In Fracking Moves Ahead by Kelly Knaub, January 14, 2014, Law360
A controversial Pennsylvania bill that would limit the liability of landowners and mine operators that reuse mine water for hydraulic fracturing in oil and gas well development cleared the state Senate Appropriations Committee in a 16-9 vote Monday.
S.B. 411 — introduced by Sen. Richard Kasunic, D-Fayette/Somerset…
[Refer also to Encana’s waste dumping on cropland at Rosebud, Alberta:
