TRUMBULL COUNTY Warren Recycling misses deadline to set aside money under agreement

The money was to be set aside for closure and post-closure concerns.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A Martin Luther King Avenue landfill missed a deadline required in a consent agreement reached with the state attorney general's office last year.
Kara Allison, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, said the agreement reached in July set Jan. 17 as the date by which Warren Hills and Warren Recycling Inc. had to meet the financial assurance component.
That component calls for money to be set aside for closure and post-closure concerns at the landfill. Under OEPA rules, companies that operate landfills are responsible for five years after closure for groundwater and explosive gas monitoring, gas extraction procedures, leachate collection, creation of a soil cap and maintenance of proper storm-water runoff at landfills.
The financial assurance is to address those elements, though a specific dollar amount wasn't established in the agreement.
"As of last Friday, they still hadn't met that requirement," Allison said.
The agency sent a notice of violation to the company.
The consent agreement was to settle violations stemming in part from a case that resulted in criminal charges against the company in 2001.
The company was fined $99,000 in 2001 after being convicted of dumping wooden products without the proper license. The company was convicted of a misdemeanor count of criminal damaging.
Seeking extension
Paul Barley, operations manager for Warren Hills, the company that manages the landfill, said the company is in the process of asking for an extension.
"We're in the process of trying to speak with regulators," he said.
Allison said that even if the agency meets the requirement today, the violation could be considered by the agency if further enforcement action is required down the road.
The facility also has been issued notices of violations in recent months when inspectors found solid waste material in the disposal area of the landfill.
Late last month, OEPA's director proposed denying an air-permit change for the company that would have allowed the landfill to accept more waste.
"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," Christopher Jones wrote in the proposed denial.
The company has until the end of this month to appeal that decision.
"We're still reviewing our options," Barley said.
denise.dick@vindy.com