Trumbull cops specialize in crime against environment

WARREN — In a downtown warehouse, police officers discover thousands of tires with the potential to cause an environmental disaster if they caught fire.

In a rural area of Howland Township, an inspection uncovers thousands of tires piled up in a scrap yard.

On parts of Atlantic and Washington streets and elsewhere in Warren, houses have been left without human tenants but lots of rodents, living among piles of garbage.

In rural areas of northern Trumbull County, along natural gas well roads, people have dumped big piles of trash.

And everywhere, beer packaging and the bags and wrappers from fast food are carelessly tossed alongside of the road.

These are just a few examples of illegal activities that have been uncovered since July, when the city of Warren and the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Department began to employ environmental police officers.

Detective Pat Marsico, a former Warren patrolman for 16 years; and Deputy Harold Firster, a retired physician; were hired this summer to enforce environmental laws in a way that officials hope will create a new attitude about trash.

Robert Villers, Geauga-Trumbull Solid Waste District executive director, says zoning, police and health officials have attempted to enforce dumping and littering laws here in a variety of ways over the years. He hopes that having two officers here devoting all of their time to the problems will have a greater impact.

Frank Migliozzi, Trumbull County Health Department director of environmental health, said the work Firster has done so far with the department’s solid waste inspector Kevin Francis has been very productive.

Firster and Francis recently addressed problems with a house in Brookfield Township that was filled with water, trash and rats. The homeowner was issued a warning, and the problem was cleaned up in two weeks. Without Firster’s help, the health department would have followed its procedures for having the home declared unfit for habitation. Such a process can take months to resolve, Migliozzi said.

The money to pay for Marsico’s and Firster’s salaries — $67,000 each, including salary and benefits — came from an increase in the fees collected by the Geauga-Trumbull Solid Waste District from trash haulers when they dump their trash in a landfill.

The fee increased from $3.50 per ton to $5.50 when a new 15-year plan was approved late last year by cities, townships and other government bodies throughout the county.