WARREN People oppose license for WRI
The vote was delayed but could be taken Dec. 31.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Approving Warren Recycling Inc.'s license application would mean the city health district was ignoring residents' complaints and the recommendation of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, a resident says.
Several complaints were fielded Wednesday by the health board, which was scheduled to decide whether to grant the application.
The board instead voted to postpone the vote until additional information can be obtained.
Another meeting is set for 10 a.m. Dec. 31.
Health board members want to know if WRI, on Martin Luther King Boulevard, is facing any lawsuit.
"If you grant this license you are ignoring an entire community," said Megan Burger, of South Leavitt Road.
"There are many city and Warren Township residents that have concerns. There is a bad stench and no one, including you on the board, knows where it is coming from, but fingers are pointing to Warren Recycling.
"I am currently going to college out of the area, but every time I come home I get sick. I've been home two days and I'm sick already."
Burger and other residents told the board many people are complaining about the odor they believe is coming from the grounds of the demolition debris landfill.
Other illnesses
One woman said her son has been sick for weeks and her husband has been diagnosed with environmental asthma.
"I'm here on behalf of the residents of Warren Township that have been living with the obnoxious stench and have serious health concerns," said Terry Ambrose, a Warren Township trustee. "I urge you not to issue the permit."
OEPA officials attended the meeting and also asked the board to deny the license until the agency reaches an agreement with the company.
The OEPA's Kurt Princic said the company has some noncompliance issues stemming as far back as 1998. He would not elaborate.
Princic noted that if the local health district approves the license, the OEPA may appeal the action to an environmental appeals board.
The company was convicted last year of a misdemeanor count of criminal damaging, accused of accepting wood in 1998 that came from a cabinet manufacturer, not from a construction or demolition site. If wood is coming from an industrial process, it is considered solid waste.
The company's landfill permit is for construction and demolition debris only; it doesn't have a solid-waste permit to dump manufacturer's waste.
The conviction resulted in a $99,000 fine.
Company's response
Atty. Steve Bell, who represents the company, told the board the company has never been told the nature of the complaints by the OEPA. He also showed the board the type of wood WRI was taking.
Numerous residents began complaining during the meeting when the board allowed Bell to speak more than the three minutes allowed for public comment. No one else was given more time than that.
Sally Schubert-Hall, a city resident, also asked the board if it was proper for health board members Fred Harris, the city's safety-service director, and Peggy Scott, a municipal court employee, to vote on the license application.
Hall noted that some city officials have said that if WRI closes, the city would lose thousands of dollars in revenue and demolition debris would have to be hauled to another landfill.
Law Director Greg Hicks, who did not attend the meeting, said later Hall makes a good point.
He noted, however, that a health district board member would have to ask him to look into the matter before he could issue an opinion on whether city employees who sit on the board should vote.
sinkovich@vindy.com