Martins Ferry City Council altered its usual order of business during its meeting, opening the session by allowing Mayor John Davies to honor some police personnel and then deliver his report. After he informed council that the local American Legion would like to hold paper poppy sales from 11:30 a,n, to 5:30 p.m. May 24, he reminded the public that the street sweeper will run during the last two weeks of April. He said anyone parking in areas restricted for sweeping during those times will receive a ticket, he noted.

Davies also said the community cleanup day will be from 8 a.m. to noon April 6 at the city garage. He added that the installation of artificial turf at the recreation center is about two-thirds complete.

Davies then turned his attention to Austin Master and the news that Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a complaint in Belmont County Common Pleas Court on Monday alleging that the facility “has allowed tons of waste, some of which is radioactive, to far exceed its permitted storage capacity.”

Davies said he had been unaware of the situation at the plant until Yost’s action made headlines. The mayor said he visited the facility earlier Wednesday and found that it is “locked down” with security staff on site.

“They took an excessive amount of debris in … at this point 10,000 tons too much, which is way past their permit, outside the original containment into the secondary containment,” Davies said of the facility that processes waste material from oil and gas industry operations.

He noted that he met with representatives of 4K Industrial, which apparently purchased Austin Master.

” I was inside the facility today. … They have this mountain of debris,” Davies said, again mentioning the figure 10,000 tons. ” … To put that in perspective, that’s about 500 truckloads more than what they’re supposed to have. 4K is working with ODNR to try to remedy the situation.”

Davies added that he contacted the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency as well and plans to meet with its representatives next week, though the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and its Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management issued the permit for the site.

“I don’t see … any immediate hazard to us, but it could become an immediate hazard,” the mayor continued. “If there was a fire in there and they dumped a bunch of water on there, it’s (waste) going to come out of that building.”

Davies also said he is concerned that passing truck traffic on First Street could carry any waste that gets on the road north to the city’s nearby aquifer. For that reason, he said he is not comfortable with material being moved in or out of the building “until somebody takes responsibility and takes control of the cleanup itself.”

He was relieved to report that liquid waste previously seen on the floor of the facility has been cleaned up and that areas around entry and exit doors are dry both inside and out. He said there are five railcars currently loaded with waste, but said he believes everything is shut down and nothing can be taken in or out of the site.

During the public participation portion of the meeting, Concerned Ohio River Residents member and city resident Alexandria Goddard was first to speak.

“I’m actually really sad that I’m standing here almost three years after we came to the council and begged with hundreds and hundreds of pages” of documentation about environmental concerns, she said before reading from Yost’s complaint that the facility is located 500 feet from the Ohio River and about 1,000 feet from the city’s well field. “These are things that we addressed to council. We shared a public link to a folder online with thousands of pages of documentation, so I’m upset that we’re here. It could have been prevented. The city could have done something long ago with the ordinance (regarding a source water protection area).

When Davies began to respond, Goddard cut him off, saying that she had the floor.

“Don’t be rude,” she told him.

Council President Kristine Davis urged Goddard to continue.

Goddard then asked what the city plans to do about the situation and how it intends to protect the aquifer.

Davies replied that the city did not issue the Austin Master permit to operate at the site and that it does not have the power to revoke it. He reiterated that he intends to meet with the OEPA next week.

“I mean we all have to work together,” Goddard continued. “Because now we’re in a situation where Austin Masters has shut their website down, they fired everyone so, they’re an LLC, and probably by the end of the week we’ll have a bankruptcy filing … and then who gets to pay for that cleanup?”

Davies agreed with her speculation that Austin Master likely will seek bankruptcy protection.

“You should have looked at our stuff, Mayor,” Goddard added.

Bridgeport resident and CORR member Bev Reed was next to step to the podium. The village of Bridgeport buys its water from Martins Ferry since a village well became contaminated with a chemical commonly used in dry cleaning.

The council president attempted to limit the number of people to speak on behalf of the group, but Reed maintained that she had the right to speak. When asked if she was a city resident, Reed replied, “It doesn’t matter. That’s not in your ordinance either.”

Davis said the ordinance does specify that those addressing council should be city residents.

“OK, well I drink your water, I shower in your water, I buy your water, so I have a right to speak and I’m tired of this body trying to shut citizens down.”

Davis said she was not trying to shut anyone down but was attempting to run and orderly meeting. Reed was permitted to speak for five minutes.

“We’re concerned about this water, and the air, and the people, and the football field that’s right next to this radioactive frack waste facility and the Ohio River and it’s in a floodplain and it could catch on fire,” Reed said, noting that CORR had brought experts and scientists to speak about members’ concerns. “All of these concerns had been raised to you three years ago. … We could have avoided the worst of this. … We could have been watching this and prevented this toxic, radioactive, chemical-laden mess that’s on our aquifer. This is serious. This is a public health threat.”

Her father, Ron Reed, approached the microphone next. Davis again tried to limit the number of CORR members to speak. But the elder Reed said he was a Vietnam veteran ab=nd was requesting the right to speak. He held up a flash drive that he said contained photos of conditions inside the Austin Master facility that were “gross.” He pointed out that people in several communities use Martins Ferry’s water and need to be aware of the condition of the facility that stands so near the aquifer.

Council voted to cancel its next scheduled meeting on April 3, so members will meet again at 6 p.m. April 17 in council chambers on the second floor of the city building.