Former Jeannette hemp processor leaves behind empty building, unpaid fine, jilted workers - TribLIVE

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It appears Patriot Shield won’t be returning to Jeannette this fall to dry and process hemp.

Inspections by the state Department of Environmental Protection on July 29 and Aug. 6 showed “all equipment related to Patriot Shield’s operation had been removed” from a Thomas Avenue warehouse and there was no hemp or hemp-related work going on, said Lauren Fraley, department spokeswoman.

Mayor Curtis Antoniak was happy to hear that. Patriot Shield’s beleaguered facility was the subject of shutdown orders from the city and state, odor complaints from residents and protests from workers who weren’t being paid over a few months in late 2019. The company has not made any payments on a $29,000 fine from the DEP.

“I’m glad the city stayed on them to close their facility,” Antoniak said. “With the pace that the city’s on, we didn’t need that.”

Patriot Shield started operating in the warehouse in September without getting an occupancy permit or building inspection from the city. Farmers brought their hemp crop there to be dried into smokable hemp flowers, which taste like marijuana but lack the THC necessary to get users high.

Neighbors complained about the odor that emanated from the warehouse for weeks. It brought up to 200 jobs, but many workers started protesting outside of the building after not receiving paychecks.

That issue still has not been rectified, two former employees told the Tribune-Review. The state Department of Labor and Industry’s Bureau of Labor Law Compliance performed an audit of the company, according to a letter obtained by the Trib. The department did not respond to a request for comment about the pay situation.

Tammy McCann hopes to see Patriot Shield held responsible, but she’s stopped waiting for the $900 she said the company owes her. The paycheck could come in handy as money’s been tight lately.

“If I get the check in the mail one day, hallelujah, but I can’t count on it,” she said.

Cameron Trice also is waiting for pay he earned. Patriot Shield’s time in Jeannette should not be ignored by its customers in other parts of the country, he said. Colorado-based Patriot Shield operates in several states, providing transportation and security for hemp and cannabis businesses.

“I think it makes the company look extremely bad, and nobody should be doing business with them with the way they treated their employees,” Trice said.

Neither Patriot Shield nor Herzl Capital responded to requests for comment. The warehouse is owned by Herzl Real Estate.

While employees were in an uproar, the DEP issued notices of odor violation in mid-October after neighborhood complaints. The city followed up with cease-and-desist orders. The DEP ordered Patriot Shield to stop operations on Dec. 2. The company would be in violation if it resumed operations without getting an occupancy permit, said city solicitor Tim Witt.

The city and DEP asked Patriot Shield to submit plans detailing improvements to the building in order to obtain permits to continue operating. Those plans never were received. Under a December consent agreement, Patriot Shield was ordered to pay $29,000 in civil penalties. Fraley said the agreement remains an “open enforcement matter” and declined additional comment.

Patriot Shield has not gotten a permit from the state Department of Agriculture to operate a hemp processing facility.

FC Meyer Packaging in Jeannette sued Patriot Shield in February after its recycled paperboard products reportedly were contaminated by the odor. The two companies shared space in the warehouse last year. Court arguments in the case are set for Oct. 13.

Meanwhile, former workers have been waiting nearly a year for back wages that may never come. Patriot Shield officials told the Tribune-Review last year that their financial affairs were ‘close’ to being in order and encouraged employees to stick around.

“They hurt a lot of people,” said McCann, one of the former employees. “I hope they get everything that’s coming their way.”

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