TRUMBULL COUNTY Landfill owners settle

The solid-waste district was seeking $145,000.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The owners of a city landfill have agreed to pay $36,000 in waste generation fees for trash it illegally accepted in 1998.
Settling this bill with the Geauga-Trumbull Solid Waste Management District could help clear the way for Warren Recycling Inc. to renew its operating permit with the city health board, said Robert Villers, waste district director.
The health board will vote Dec. 31 on whether to issue a permit to Warren Recycling for another year.
Residents complain that the construction and demolition debris landfill on Martin Luther King Boulevard is smelly and noisy, and some say pollution from the facility causes asthma.
Officials from the Ohio EPA have opposed Warren Recycling's permit until issues going back several years are addressed by the company. EPA officials have declined to elaborate.
1998 situation
The settlement between the waste district and the company stems from an 1998 situation in which the company was convicted of illegally accepting thousands of tons of manufacturer's waste.
The waste, from Kraftmaid Cabinetry Inc., of Middlefield, was primarily wood.
The company is licensed to accept only construction and demolition debris. Debris from an industrial process is considered solid waste.
When Warren Recycling accepted Kraftmaid's trash, it did not pay the $3.50-a-ton fee the waste district charges haulers, Villers said.
This comes on top of the $99,000 fine levied by the court.
The district does not collect a fee on construction and demolition debris, Villers said.
Including late fees and penalties, the solid-waste district calculated that Warren Recycling owed $145,000, Villers said.
"A lot of the number was late fees that mounted while we were talking to come to a settlement," said William M. Repke, a Geauga County commissioner and member of the solid-waste district board.
The settlement calls for the company to pay $1,000 a month for the next three years "as a way of correcting for the past and getting right with us for the future," he said.
Telephone calls to Warren Recycling and the attorney representing the company in negotiations were not returned.
siff@vindy.com