COLUMBIANA CO. Landfill records request unfilled
The state sought the documents after reassigning landfill monitoring duties.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- A state agency's demand that the Columbiana County Health Department surrender documents pertaining to the county's construction and demolition debris landfills has yet to be met.
"We need the records," Linda Fee Oros of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency said.
The OEPA told the health department weeks ago it wanted papers the department was supposed to be keeping that documented the operation of the three construction and demolition debris landfills in the county.
The facilities accept tons of trash, much of it from the East Coast.
County health department officials are responsible for licensing the landfills, inspecting them and collecting the daily logs from the facilities, Fee Oros said.
It's unclear why the papers have not been turned over, she added.
County health Commissioner Robert Morehead and health board President Jack Amato did not return phone calls from The Vindicator.
Monitoring duties
The OEPA is seeking the documents because in April it stripped the county health department of its jurisdiction over the landfills, which are near Lisbon, Rogers and Negley.
State officials want the records to assist the OEPA in properly monitoring the landfills, Fee Oros explained.
It's uncertain what action the OEPA might take should the health department fail to produce the documents, she said.
The OEPA withdrew the health department's right to oversee the landfills because the county agency failed to administer and enforce state landfill laws, state officials have said.
OEPA officials accused the county health department of ignoring repeated attempts to correct deficiencies.
The state agency objected to the health department's August 2002 passage of a variance allowing the construction and demolition debris landfills to accept trash such as paper and other nonconstruction waste.
OEPA officials also protested the county health department's granting a 2004 operating license to A & amp;L Salvage, a landfill south of Lisbon.
A new license shouldn't have been granted because the OEPA is taking enforcement action against A & amp;L. Rules forbid issuing a license to a facility that's under enforcement action, the state agency says.
Under appeal
The health department is contesting the OEPA's seizure of landfill oversight.
An Aug. 24 hearing is set on the county's appeal -- now before the state Environmental Review Appeals Commission.
In an April 19 appeal of the matter in county common pleas court, which was rejected for jurisdictional reasons, the health department argued that the state erred in commandeering landfill oversight, saying that the state didn't follow proper procedure.
Health department officials also argued that they acted correctly in issuing the August 2002 variance allowing trash.
Construction and demolition debris typically contains nonhazardous materials such as paper, cloth and plastic that become mixed in when buildings are razed, the health department contended.
Removing local landfill monitoring will mean fewer landfill inspections and the loss of a 25-cent-per-ton tipping fee, county officials insisted.
It's unclear how much revenue the tipping fee produces.
Columbiana County's case marks "the first time in a long time" the state has removed landfill oversight authority, Fee Oros said.
Probe of spending
The confrontation with the OEPA isn't the only problem facing the health department.
Earlier this month, county Prosecutor Robert Herron ordered a criminal probe and requested a state audit of the health commissioner's use of a county-issued credit card.
The actions were triggered by a Vindicator report detailing how Morehead used the card in 2003 to make hundreds of dollars in personal buys, including books, golf accessories and Christmas gifts.
Morehead has insisted that he repaid the purchases.
The investigation and audit are ongoing.
Last week, Herron said he issued subpoenas for documents so they will be available should a grand jury hear evidence in the case.
leigh@vindy.com