WARREN RECYCLING OEPA proposes denial of air-permit change for landfill

The company plans to submit more information to OEPA.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency's director has proposed denying an air-permit change for Warren Recycling Inc., but a spokesman for that company doesn't believe the agency has all of the information it needs.
"I am not prepared to allow Warren Recycling to accept more waste until the company can demonstrate that it can comply with current limitations and regulations," said OEPA Director Christopher Jones in a written statement Friday.
The company, which operates a construction and demolition debris landfill on Martin Luther King Avenue in the city, wanted to modify its air permit for the landfill so it can accept more waste.
Complaints and report
Jones referred to receipt of 800 complaints from more than 100 people about hydrogen sulfide odors near the landfill since February 2002. He also cited the Agency for the Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's November 2003 report concluding that an "urgent public health hazard" exists based on hydrogen sulfide levels connected to the landfill.
The company's records indicated violations of the amount of the maximum waste accepted at the facility, and the landfill experienced underground fires last summer, Jones listed as reasons for his decision.
The permit change would have allowed more than double the amount of particulate emissions, or dust generated, from what is acceptable in the present permit.
A proposed denial is a required step before a permit can be denied, said Kara Allison, an OEPA spokeswoman. The company has 30 days to appeal the decision. If an appeal is filed, a hearing officer will conduct an adjudication hearing and decide whether to uphold the director's decision or to recommend another course of action.
Jack Stacy of Warren Hills, the company that manages the landfill, doesn't believe the agency had all of the information about improvements at the facility when rendering its decision. The company plans to submit that information to OEPA, he said.
List of improvements
Stacy listed capping of the hills, removal of 1.6 million gallons of leachate, establishing a system of gas extraction to keep it from being released into the community, conducting a hydrogeological study of what's beneath the landfill and developing a groundwater monitoring system as improvements.
"We've put about $1.6 million into the facility," he said.
Debbie Roth, leader of Our Lives Count, a citizens group formed because of concerns about the landfill, was pleased with OEPA's latest move.
She wasn't impressed with improvements Stacy says have been made.
"Those are things they have plans submitted to Ohio EPA to do as part of the consent agreement," Roth said. "It's implementation time."
The company and the Ohio Attorney General's office agreed last summer that the company would make improvements to resolve a 1998 violation when the landfill accepted solid waste.
The facility has to demonstrate that it can curb the problems that already exist, she said.
"I don't see how they can turn it around fast enough to make the decision change," Roth said.
Allison said the director made his decision based on the current status of the facility.
"They need to demonstrate that they can comply and implement the systems and that they'll work," Allison said.
denise.dick@vindy.com