Ohio Man Charged With Dumping Drilling Waste In Local Waterway

Federal prosecutors have charged a man with illegally dumping gas drilling waste into a tributary of the Chagrin River in northeast Ohio. They allege 45-year-old James Hidey of Dover directed brine into a storm water sewer twice in 2008 while working for the drilling company Great Plains Exploration. A criminal information alleges the toxic waste flowed to a brook and eventually into the river. The two-count complaint says the dumping occurred after gas wells were completed in two east Cleveland suburbs, Mayfield Heights and Highland Heights. A message was left Friday for the attorney listed as Hidey's federal public defender.