Joshua Ferguson, 42, of Martha, was sentenced Oct. 13 in federal court in Ashland by Chief U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning. Bunning placed Ferguson on five years of probation, with the first year to be served on home detention. Ferguson may leave home for work, church, medical appointments and other approved activities.

Ferguson had faced up to three years in federal prison for violating the Clean Water Act.

The case began with a tip to the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection last fall about brine water being dumped into Left Fork Blaine Creek, a waterway in Lawrence County that feeds into Yatesville Lake.

Brine water, also called produced water, is a byproduct of oil production. According to a government memorandum filed in the case, it can be saltier than seawater and may contain toxic and radioactive substances.

On Sept. 3, 2025, an inspector found a hose connected to a brine tank at the site of two oil wells in Lawrence County that led toward the creek. The hose had been buried, but the inspector tracked its path and determined it was discharging into Left Fork Blaine Creek, according to a plea agreement Ferguson signed.

Downstream from the discharge, the water was orange and the inspector saw no sign of life in the creek.

When the inspector spoke with Ferguson the following day, Ferguson admitted he had run the hose to the creek to discharge the polluted water. He said he had buried the line two years earlier to save money on legal disposal costs, according to the court record.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Greenfield sought prison time, arguing the offense was serious and had continued over an extended period.

"People and companies in this industry must be deterred from polluting to make a profit," Greenfield wrote in a sentencing memorandum, referring to the oil and gas industry.

Ferguson's attorney, Stephen W. Owens of Pikeville, argued incarceration was unnecessary. Owens said Ferguson had worked steadily throughout his adult life and is well respected in the community, and that the federal charge itself was punishment.

Bunning adopted the government's recommendation for a fine of at least $20,000 but declined to impose prison time.

The discharge occurred in a rural corner of northeastern Kentucky where small-scale oil and gas operations are common, and where creeks like Left Fork Blaine feed larger waterways used for recreation. Yatesville Lake, the downstream destination of the affected creek, is a regional destination for fishing and boating.

The case is among a handful of federal Clean Water Act prosecutions in the region in recent years targeting illegal disposal of oilfield waste, a practice regulators say can be difficult to detect because the discharge lines are often buried and out of sight.