Additional charges filed in drilling waste dumping

BY JAMES LOEWENSTEIN (Staff Writer)
Published: December 20, 2011

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Two additional charges, including a felony, have been filed against the Georgia man who is accused of dumping 800 gallons of gas drilling waste in State Gamelands 219 in Warren Township, authorities said.

A third-degree felony charge of criminal mischief and a third-degree misdemeanor charge of unlawful disposal of solid waste have been filed by the Bradford County District Attorney's Office against 27-year-old Josh Foster of Temple, Ga., according to the office of Wysox Magisterial District Judge Fred Wheaton.

The original charge against Foster, the third-degree misdemeanor of scattering rubbish, still stands, Bradford County District Attorney Dan Barrett said.

Together, the three charges, which all stem from same dumping incident in state Gamelands 219, are "more appropriate" than the original scattering rubbish charge, he said.

Foster was arrested on Dec. 1 for the dumping, which occurred on an access road to the gamelands, near its intersection with Regan Hill Road.

Foster was charged with criminal mischief as a third-degree felony because the damages he caused exceeded a threshold of $5,000, Barrett said.

In this case, the damages are the cost of the cleanup of the substance he dumped, Barrett said.

The substance that Foster is accused of dumping was composed of "fine grain rock cuttings," drilling mud and water, according to Talisman Energy USA spokesperson Natalie Cox. Drilling mud is a "mineral-oil based fluid used in the drilling process" to aid in the drilling, she has said.

The dumped substance covered an area approximately 40 feet long and 30 feet wide, said John Ambrusch, coordinator of the Bradford County Emergency Management Agency.

State police described the dumped substance as a "sludge."

The substance had been dumped not long before Foster was arrested, according to Bill Williams, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

The dumped substance had come from a Talisman Energy well site in Warren Township, Cox has said.

Foster was a subcontractor for Talisman Energy USA, according to the state police. Foster worked for RW Products of Wheeling, W.Va., police said.

"It seems that the contractor was responsible for disposing of that (substance), and that wasn't done," Williams said.

Foster must face the charges at a preliminary hearing in Wysox District Court on Jan. 17.

James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or email: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com.Additional charges filed in drilling waste dumping

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