Mayor: Garbage collection won't be interrupted

WARREN -- Mayor Michael O'Brien wants customers to know that garbage collection in Warren will not be interrupted this week or anytime soon.
O'Brien said Thursday's news coverage of legal issues surrounding the former Warren Hills landfill and Environmental Transfer Systems Inc. of Warren Township seemed to cast doubt on the future of the city's garbage collection.
The mayor, however, said residents should understand that the determination made by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency that ETS had not met the requirements of a background investigation should not cause alarm for customers -- despite the fact that the city takes its garbage to the ETS transfer station on Martin Luther King Avenue Southwest.
"Garbage will be picked up at the same time, on the same day as normal with no interruption for Warren," Mayor O'Brien said. The city operates its own sanitation department.
On Thursday, the Ohio EPA notified ETS that it failed to meet background requirements pertaining to its ability to operate a waste collection facility.
O'Brien said it is too early to tell what the ramifications of the EPA's action will be. But there is a lot of time left for the city's board of health to act on the matter before operations at the ETS facility will be affected, he said.