GIRARD WASTE Group turns eyes on transfer station

Group members want the transfer center to be moved.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
GIRARD -- Members of Girard United Against Ruinous Dumping spent months fighting a proposed landfill, and now want officials to do more to regulate a local waste transfer station.
Sam Pagano, city resident and member of GUARD, said he and other members of the GUARD group have been keeping a close eye on the five-year-old transfer station lately.
Pagano said construction demolition debris is brought by rail to a site off of U.S. Route 422 where it is transferred to trucks, which take the material elsewhere.
Pagano said GUARD is concerned about the dust coming off of the trucks driving along 422 and any pollution put in the air during the transfer process. He said several city residents and business owners in the immediate area of the transfer station have voiced concerns about the transfer station.
"We have people complaining about the pollution and having to wash the dust from their houses every year," he said.
No permits required
Pagano was told by city officials during a council meeting last month that no permit is needed to operate the transfer center. He said GUARD would like to see permits required for the operation of the center and more inspections and regulations from city officials.
James Dobson, city health inspector, said the transfer station has been operating for five years and city officials keep an eye on activity at the transfer station.
"There is no such permit in the state for [such operations]," he said. "Just because they don't have to have a permit doesn't mean we don't inspect. We can control it through local nuisance ordinances."
Dobson said city officials make regular inspections of the transfer station. He said the company had been cited a few times in the past for issues concerning dust.
Still, Pagano said members of GUARD would be more comfortable if the transfer station were moved away from homes and businesses.
"I don't know how they would do it -- that's their problem -- but our people should not have to put up with all the dust and pollution," he said.
jgoodwin@vindy.com