Neighbors rally against dump

Legislation for stricter requirements will get its first hearing this week.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LORDSTOWN -- Citing health concerns and contending they are "terrorized" by noise, dust and toxins, neighbors of a proposed landfill took their complaints to the streets.
Roughly 50 representatives from environmental groups, state and local legislators and citizens rallied in the rain Monday afternoon near Lafarge North America, on Newton Falls-Bailey Road.
The site operates as a slag dump, but a construction and demolition debris landfill is under construction, set to begin accepting waste Nov. 1.
Lauraine Breda, leader of Citizens Around Lafarge Land, told the crowd the group is dedicated to getting stricter requirements against C & amp;DD landfills in the state, as well as making sure those in existence live up to the current requirements.
"We don't need to be patronized," she said. "We need to be protected."
Another site
Reading from a prepared statement, Breda called for a moratorium on future landfills in the state, as well as the closure of Warren Hills Recycling Inc. in Warren Township.
"Those people have been through enough," she said, referring to neighbors of the landfill who have complained to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency about odors and health problems they believe are related to the company's operations.
State Rep. Sandra Stabile Harwood of Niles, D-65th, and state Sen. Marc Dann of Liberty, D-33rd, also attended the rally, briefly speaking on companion pieces of legislation they've introduced into both sides of the Legislature.
The bills would require stricter guidelines for licensing of new landfills, as well as give the EPA more discretion in issuing licenses, Harwood said. Her piece will get its first hearing Wednesday in the Ohio House of Representatives.
Dann pledged to continue work in Columbus to help stop out-of-state waste from being dumped in Ohio.
"I'll be damned if I'm going to let Trumbull County become a dumping ground for the eastern United States," he said.
Breda and others also spoke against the construction at Lafarge to complete the landfill site, saying the dust and noise are wreaking havoc with the health and well-being of the company's neighbors.
Word from Lafarge
Tim Page, operations manager of Lafarge, said construction at the site takes place from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., though a license from the EPA allows them to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, he said.
"Construction is only working a double shift right now, because of the short time between now and winter," he said.
Page said construction on the first phase of the landfill will be complete within 10 weeks, with the second phase finishing up 20 weeks after that.
Once the landfill begins accepting waste, it will come mostly by rail and truck. Again, Page said, a license allows the company to accept loads from 6 a.m. to midnight, though that will not be the case, he said.
The site has accepted aggregate slag by rail since the 1940s, he said. The slag portion of Lafarge has no restrictions on operations, he said, adding the company does not operate that function 24 hours a day.
slshaulis@vindy.com