LAFARGE CORP. Board delays vote on permit

Neighbors complain that Lafarge's slag dump is dusty and noisy.
By STEPHEN SIFF
and SHERRI SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LORDSTOWN -- Missing tonight's midnight deadline to renew the operating permit for a Lordstown landfill will likely have a minimal impact on its chances of eventually accepting debris, officials say.
Because of problems getting a quorum, the Trumbull County Health Board will not vote today to renew Lafarge Corp.'s permit for the construction and demolition debris at 2822 Selkirk-Bush Road.
The vote won't come until the middle of January, said Frank Migliozzi, the board's director of environmental health.
State law calls for landfill licenses to be renewed annually in December. Lafarge's application to begin a construction debris dump at a property where it landfills slag was first approved by the health board in August.
Lawyers for the health board are looking into whether the missed deadline should be held against Lafarge.
Migliozzi said he was advised by an official at the Ohio EPA that past practice has been not to punish an applicant for a landfill license because of a health board's failure to act on time.
Lafarge complied with all deadlines in submitting its materials. "Even if it is treated as a new application, it wouldn't make much of a difference," he said.
Tim Page, Lafarge operations manager, said the missed vote won't affect the company. "We are prepared to address the board" at its next meeting, Page said, which he has been told will be Jan. 15.
Although there have been some changes to the landfill plan to accommodate objections raised by a citizens group, the plan now is basically the same as the one approved by the health board in August, he said.
Opponent's view
The head of a citizens' group fighting the construction and demolition debris dump says she considers Lafarge's changes to its plan significant and the missed deadline a victory for her cause.
Lauraine Breda, an activist with Citizens Against Lafarge Landfill, said the missed deadline could cause Lafarge's license to lapse and subject it to another round of waiting periods and fees.
"It is very important to follow what the Ohio Revised Code says," she said. "The way a reasonable person would read it, your license runs out at the end of the year."
Lafarge has yet to put anything in the proposed debris landfill, which is also being fought by village officials.
Recently, Ron Barnhart, Lordstown's planning and zoning inspector, issued a citation to Lafarge for excessive noise and dust from its slag and mill waste operations at the same cite.
The citation was based on a written complaint from Baron Vance of Selkirk-Bush Road, a member of Citizens Against Lafarge Landfill.
Barnhart said he is awaiting a legal opinion on whether the citation can be forwarded to the Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office.
"They've been operating since the 1940s and zoning here didn't start until the 1960s," he said. "They may be grandfathered in."
siff@vindy.com