OEPA investigates whether company violates air permit

LEAVITTSBURG -- The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is looking into whether a Warren company is violating its air permit.
Kara Allison, OEPA spokeswoman, said a video shown at a meeting last week of the citizens group Our Lives Count sparked the investigation. The video showed trucks coming into Warren Recycling Inc., kicking up dust.
"We can't use the video as physical evidence," Allison said.
But representatives of Mahoning-Trumbull County Air Pollution Control will do surveillance to determine if the company is in violation of its permit. The permit allows for three minutes of particulate emissions, or dust clouds, per hour for unpaved roads or one minute per hour on paved roads, Allison said.
"There are ways to control dust," she said. "You can spray the dust or use water to keep the dust down."
If the company is found in violation, OEPA would send them a notice of violation and suggest ways to correct the problem, Allison said.
"Nothing like that has happened," she said.
If it continues after that, the agency would pursue additional enforcement, Allison said.