LANDFILLS Operators face costly, complex regulations

The book with procedural requirements is more than 2 inches thick.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
There's much more to it than simply digging a hole and putting garbage in it.
Before any company begins operating any type of landfill in Ohio, several requirements must be met, according to state and local officials. And over the years, those requirements have gotten stricter.
"It's not easy," said Tim Page, operations manager for Lordstown Construction Recovery on Newton Falls-Bailey Road in Lordstown. The construction and demolition debris landfill, which was licensed in 2002 but has yet to begin operations, is a subsidiary of Lafarge North America.
"It's very expensive and very difficult for the company to get the license and to start operations," Page said. "And it's very emotional for the people [living nearby], too."
Anthony DiCenso, spokesman for Warren Recycling Inc. on Martin Luther King Avenue, said the amount of time, energy and money that goes into opening a landfill can be a little daunting for many companies. The C & amp;DD Warren Hills Landfill, owned by Regus Holdings of Buffalo, N.Y., is at the same site as Warren Recycling.
The area also serves as a transfer station for solid waste; the materials are brought in, loaded into a larger truck and then taken to BFI Carbon Limestone Sanitary Landfill on South Stateline Road in Lowellville.
"Finding the land, getting the zoning approval, the geological testing, the engineering costs ... it's not easy," he said.
"It's hardly a one-page application process," he added, holding up a 2-inch-thick manual that contains the procedures to open and operate a landfill in Ohio.
State regulations
According to regulations from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, C & amp;DD and municipal solid-waste landfills are required to meet siting, design, operating and closure requirements. The facilities also are required to have a leachate management system and to manage surface water.
C & amp;DD landfills can accept only debris from construction and demolition activities, plus three specific types of solid waste: packaging resulting from the use of construction materials; tree stumps, trunks and branches exceeding 4 inches in diameter where the branches are clean of leaves and smaller branches; and asbestos-containing materials as long as an air permit has been granted. A C & amp;DD landfill cannot accept other solid waste, hazardous waste, regulated PCB wastes, bulk liquids or wastes containing free liquids, infectious waste, scrap tires or yard waste.
Municipal solid-waste landfills can accept municipal solid waste as well as all other solid waste and exempt waste, including wastes from households, offices, stores and other nonmanufacturing activities.
MSW landfills cannot accept hazardous waste, regulated PCB wastes, bulk liquids or wastes containing free liquids, untreated infectious waste from a large generator, scrap tires or yard waste. An MSW landfill can accept regulated asbestos-containing materials if an air permit has been granted.
C & amp;DD landfills also are prohibited from being within a 100-year flood plain or within the boundaries of a sole-source aquifer.
Records must be kept
To maintain operations, operators of either type of landfill must keep records of accepted and rejected waste loads, prevent fires and prevent nuisances or health hazards.
Andrew Booker, a supervisor with the OEPA, said that typically, local health departments inspect and monitor operations at local landfills.
"The OEPA does provide technical assistance for departments that need it," he said.
Local health departments apply to the OEPA for permission to handle those duties, and can receive additional funding from the state to cover the costs associated with inspections and complaint investigations, he said.
Local health departments can also negotiate a host facility fee with landfills operating within their district, he said. Fees are mandated by the state for MSW landfills, but C & amp;DD landfills are not required to pay an equivalent fee, he added.
Locally, health departments do negotiate host facility fees from C & amp;DD landfills. In Girard and Warren, locations of LAS Recycling Inc. and Warren Recycling Inc., respectively, the fees are deposited directly into the cities' general fund. Page said LRC is in negotiations with the Trumbull County Board of Health for receipt of host facility fees.
slshaulis@vindy.com