Panel to tour landfill locations

The committee must make recommendations on landfill regulations.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
GIRARD -- A state committee charged with overhauling regulations for landfills in Ohio will be touring four Trumbull County locations next week.
The 13-member committee must make recommendations on landfill regulations by Sept. 30. State Rep. Sandra Stabile-Harwood of Niles, D-65th, a committee member, said the recommendations would likely be made law "as soon as practical."
Another member is state Sen. Marc Dann of Liberty, D-32nd.
Stabile-Harwood said she asked the committee to tour landfills here because these are representative of the landfill problem throughout the state.
She also said bringing the committee to the area would give two citizens groups -- Girard United Against Ruinous Dumping and Our Lives Count -- a chance to air concerns to committee members. These groups formed to stop the creation of more dumps.
The committee will tour the four sites Tuesday.
Visiting four sites
The tour will begin just off U.S. Route 422 at the potential site for a Total Waste Logistics landfill, then move on to the LAS Landfill, also in Girard. The committee next will be taken to Warren Hills and will later end the tour at LaFarge Recycling in Lordstown.
Stabile-Harwood said the four tour locations will give committee members a full picture of the landfill problem -- with everything from a potential site to a site that is almost full and another site that is being shut down.
Stabile-Harwood said two things have contributed to the landfill problem here and around the state: lax laws on landfill creation and dumping, and low fees for bringing in material from out of state to be dumped. State officials, she said, have addressed the fees issue but have a long way to go in addressing the laws associated with landfills.
"Most states treat waste all the same," she said. "Ohio, for some reason, decided to make a distinction between solid waste and construction and demolition debris with very little regulation on the demolition debris. This has made us a very popular dumping ground for out-of-state waste."
Possible changes
Small adjustments, she said, such as paved roads in landfills, not accepting shredded waste, liners in all landfill areas, well- and ground-water testing, setback requirements and background checks of owners would be steps in the right direction.
Stabile-Harwood said an added benefit of the committee's visiting the Valley is that it will give committee members a chance to see the people the landfills here affect.
"Some people say, 'Northeast Ohio, well what does it matter,' but it does matter," she said. "This is a beautiful place to live, work and raise a family."
jgoodwin@vindy.com