Debris brings health citations

The superintendent said he relied on the management company.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A property owner who bought demolition debris from the former LaBrae High School says he's worried a health department citation could cause serious financial problems.
Meanwhile, Debbie Roth, the LaBrae Board of Education member who has been active in efforts to clean up the nearby Warren Hills landfill, said she finds it ironic that this problem would occur here.
Rusty Sewell, LaBrae Athletic Club treasurer and a school board member, said the organization took about 10 loads of the demolition material to use in its parking lot on state Route 82 in Braceville. He said the club paid $720 for the material but he fears it will cost much more to have it removed.
Sewell said a Trumbull County Health Department representative has told a club member that the material would have to be removed and taken to an accepted demolition debris landfill.
Sewell said a representative from R.P. Carbone Construction Co., the Cleveland management company that oversaw the school demolition, told the club that the debris would be acceptable for parking lot fill because it had been ground up.
Cited
Frank Migliozzi, county director of environmental health, said the athletic club and four other property owners were cited for having the demolition material and required to remove it within 14 days. Migliozzi said it's the property owner's responsibility to remove the material at their cost; it will be up to them to try to recoup costs afterward.
Another place that got the material is Warren Revival Center on West Market Street, near the former high school in Warren Township. Albert Davis, church board member, said the church had not yet received a citation.
Three other locations that are cited, Migliozzi said, are S & amp; J Babyak residence at 3671 Ravenna-Warren Road, M. Mulligan residence at 3425 West Market St., and J & amp; A Gray residence at 657 state Route 534, all of Braceville.
The other citation went to the LaBrae Board of Education for burying the debris on the site, Migiozzi said, adding that this material will also have to be removed and sent to an appropriate landfill.
Ron Joseph, schools superintendent, said the school's involvement in the demolition was minimal because the state had assigned R.P. Carbone to oversee the construction and demolition projects.
He said he felt it was appropriate for R.P. Carbone to ensure that the work by Dave Sugar Excavation of Petersburg was done correctly. Joseph said a meeting is scheduled among the parties and the health department next week.
Migliozzi said Sugar Excavating gave a letter to the county Building Inspection Department on March 3, saying it would be taking the demolition material to Allied Waste landfill in Lowellville. The department was notified, however, by at least two sources that the company was burying material on the site and that some of the material had been hauled to other places. He said Ohio law allows for exemptions, but none was requested for this project.
Inspector's findings
A health department inspector found none of the property owners who received the material had given the health department written notice seven days beforehand; and material taken to the five properties was not clean fill because it contained materials such as plaster, foam and wood co-mingled with the acceptable materials, such as brick, concrete and asphalt.
Migliozzi said such material is not allowed to be used as fill material because it can get into groundwater or cause an odor.
Roth said she had talked to Joseph to make sure school officials understood the legalities of how the work had to be done. "I don't understand how we got this point today," she said.
Dave Sugar said he believes he took out all needed permits, including an Ohio EPA crushing permit to allow the crushing and burial of the material at the school. Migliozzi said he has checked with the EPA and not found that Sugar took out any such permit.
Sugar said he is not responsible for any material that ended up on the church property, ballfields or any of the residences and said others delivered that material after they requested it. Sugar said the majority of the school debris went to the Allied landfill.
runyan@vindy.com