Board angers residents by giving WRI permit

OEPA also may appeal the city health board's decision.
& lt;a href=mailto:dick@vindy.com & gt;By DENISE DICK & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The president of a citizens group plans to appeal the city health board's decision to grant a 2003 operating license to a construction and demolition debris landfill.
Debbie Roth, president of Our Lives Count, said the group would hire an attorney to file an appeal to the state Environmental Review Appeals Commission. Residents have been complaining for months about a hydrogen sulfide stench they believe is emanating from the landfill.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency recommended earlier this year that the city health board not renew the 2003 permit for Warren Recycling Inc.'s landfill because the company isn't in "substantial compliance" with the law.
Health board members voted 4-1 Tuesday to renew the company's license. They referred to a lack of a definition of "substantial compliance" in casting their votes.
OEPA's Kurt Princic said that the facility has been referred to the Ohio Attorney General's office because of violations that occurred in 1999. The OPEA considers a facility not in "substantial compliance" if it has been referred to the AG's office, Princic said.
"It's not the popular vote, but legally, I don't see anything before this board to deny [the permit]," said Peggy Scott, board member.
Board member Lillie Brooks cast the dissenting vote. The meeting didn't include a public comment session.
Disapproval
The vote elicited shouts of disapproval from the crowd that packed into the conference room at the Community Services building.
"This is a farce," shouted one resident.
"You don't care about the health of the community at all," another piped in.
OEPA had recommended that the health board issue what is called a proposed denial of the license. That would allow the company to continue to operate. The company could request a hearing at which the health board could hear evidence. Based on that, the health department could issue a license, but postpone a decision until a settlement is reached among the company, OEPA and the state Attorney General's office or issue a final denial.
In making its recommendation, OEPA referred to a 1999 violation when the company accepted industrial solid waste at the facility. That resulted in a conviction in January 2002 on misdemeanor charges against the company and some of its employees.
That left the civil aspects of the case unresolved. WRI, OEPA and the state Attorney General's office are negotiating to reach a consent decree to resolve the civil aspects.
Conflicts of interest?
Last month, Councilman James A. "Doc" Pugh, D-6th, wrote a letter to Greg Hicks, city law director, asking if two health board members, Fred Harris, safety-service director, and Scott, who works at municipal court, have a conflict of interest in voting on the license.
Pugh's letter said that both may have an interest because they are city employees. He referred to comments from city officials that the closure of the facility would result in lost revenue for the city.
Hicks wrote a letter to Pugh this week, saying he doesn't see a conflict because neither Harris nor Pugh have a personal interest in the outcome.
Atty. Steve Bell, who represents WRI, argued that it would be an abuse of the health board's authority to base a denial of the company's license on an "unwritten, informal policy" of the OEPA regarding substantial compliance.
He said he last met with representatives of the two state agencies Nov. 7. The representatives presented the company with a consent agreement outlining what the agencies want WRI to do.
The only issue in dispute is groundwater monitoring, he said, listing the number and depth of wells and frequency of sampling as some of the items where the sides differ. He said he sent a counterproposal to the agencies Nov. 13 and is awaiting a response.
Princic said he would talk to the agency director to determine what the agency's next step will be. OEPA can also make appeal to ERAC. The city also could lose its approval to operate a health district.
OEPA's director reviews local agencies that are given that authority.
"They could be removed from the director's approved list," Princic said.
Roth acknowledged that if the city board had followed the OEPA's recommendation, it would have enabled the company to continue to operate.