WARREN OEPA urges landfill action

Company and city officials say they haven't seen data claiming WRI is the source.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency says a Martin Luther King Avenue landfill is the source of the area's hydrogen sulfide stench and is urging the city health department to require the facility to fix the problem.
For more than two years, residents of Leavittsburg and the city have been complaining of the rotten-egg smell. The state and federal EPAs and the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry have been studying the problem, which residents attribute to the construction and demolition debris landfill operated by Warren Recycling, Inc.
OEPA director Christopher Jones sent a letter dated last week to the city health department, listing the facility as the source, based on the date and time of odor complaints with wind data.
"Based on evaluation of the data, there is a definite correlation that the WRI facility is the source of the odors," Jones wrote.
ATSDR also previously declared the area around the landfill as a public health hazard.
Jones' letter also said OEPA and the Ohio Attorney General's Office continue to seek resolution of the outstanding violations at the facility stemming from a 1999 violation when the company accepted industrial solid waste at the facility. The facility is licensed to take construction and demolition waste only, not household waste.
That resulted in a conviction in January 2002 on misdemeanor charges against the company and some of its employees, but the civil aspects of the case remain unresolved.
Time to act
Should resolution of this case not occur by July 1, Ohio EPA is advising the Warren City Health Department to take action by requiring the facility to decrease the nuisances and meet regulations, Jones' letter said.
Debbie Roth, who leads the citizens group Our Lives Count, said the letter is a step in addressing the problem.
"I'd like the city to step up to the plate and do their job," Roth said.
The citizens group formed out of concerns about the landfill and the hydrogen sulfide odor. Roth said Jones met with group members May 28 and assured them that if the city didn't address the problem, OEPA would.
Jack Stacy of Warren Hills, the company that manages the landfill, said OEPA hasn't forwarded the data and information that led them to the conclusion, but he's confident negotiations with the agency will produce a settlement before July 1.
Robert Pinti, deputy city health commissioner, said the latest letter is the first indication from the agencies declaring the landfill as the source of the odor.
Pinti also hasn't seen the data, but, he said, "if they have identified Warren Recycling as the source of the odor, and they know it's causing a health hazard to the surrounding community, why wait until July 1?"
Because OEPA urged the city health board in December to not renew the company's 2003 operating license, the city could shut down the landfill before July 1.
dick@vindy.com