No new landfills, legislation promises
Canton Repository
Wednesday, November 9, 2005
By PAUL M. KRAWZAK Copley Washington correspondent
WASHINGTON - Rep. Ralph Regula was not deterred in May when a federal judge struck down his legislation blocking development of two area landfills.
Instead, the Bethlehem Township Republican rewrote the legislation in an effort to overcome the judge’s objections, and the full House might consider it as early as today.
Regula’s original ban, which dates to 2003, prohibited the Army Corps of Engineers from reviewing proposals to build the Ridge Landfill south of Wilmot in Tuscarawas County and the Indian Run Landfill northwest of Waynesburg in Stark County. Rep. Bob Ney, R-Heath, also has supported the ban.
The new ban, in the form of a rider to a spending bill, would block the Army Corps from reviewing applications for any new landfills in an 18-county area including Stark, Tuscarawas and Carroll counties. Expansions to existing landfills are exempt from the proposed ban. The prohibition needs approval from the House and Senate and President Bush’s signature to take effect.
Regula, a leading member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, opposes any new landfills in or near his congressional district, which stretches from Stark County west through Medina, Wayne and Ashland counties. Contending the area already has enough landfills, he argues that any new ones would pose a threat to groundwater supplies used by the local population.
Norton Construction Co. of Independence, developer of Ridge Landfill, filed suit against the Regula-initiated ban two years ago.
U.S. District Court Judge Patricia A. Gaughan ruled in May that the prohibition was unconstitutional because it improperly singled out a specific developer “and prohibited it from having its application processed according to the same standards and procedures governing other applicants.” Proposed landfills require approval from both the corps and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
Gaughan further ruled there was no basis for prohibiting the development of the Ridge Landfill “in the name of protecting the region’s natural resources, but not extending this limitation with regard to any other landfills or landfill operators in that region.”
The re-crafted ban prohibits the Army Corps from reviewing proposed landfills anywhere in the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District, which is spread over 18 counties in eastern Ohio. If approved by Congress, the prohibition would be permanent until repealed or modified by lawmakers.
The future of the Ridge Landfill is still in litigation, since the corps appealed the District Court decision to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. Last week, the appeals court put a hold on the corps’ review of the landfill until the court rules on the case next year.
Norton Construction did not return a phone call seeking comment on the rewritten ban. A U.S. Justice Department attorney, who has represented the corps in this lawsuit, was unsure what legal action the corps might take if the ban becomes law.
Wednesday, November 9, 2005
By PAUL M. KRAWZAK Copley Washington correspondent
WASHINGTON - Rep. Ralph Regula was not deterred in May when a federal judge struck down his legislation blocking development of two area landfills.
Instead, the Bethlehem Township Republican rewrote the legislation in an effort to overcome the judge’s objections, and the full House might consider it as early as today.
Regula’s original ban, which dates to 2003, prohibited the Army Corps of Engineers from reviewing proposals to build the Ridge Landfill south of Wilmot in Tuscarawas County and the Indian Run Landfill northwest of Waynesburg in Stark County. Rep. Bob Ney, R-Heath, also has supported the ban.
The new ban, in the form of a rider to a spending bill, would block the Army Corps from reviewing applications for any new landfills in an 18-county area including Stark, Tuscarawas and Carroll counties. Expansions to existing landfills are exempt from the proposed ban. The prohibition needs approval from the House and Senate and President Bush’s signature to take effect.
Regula, a leading member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, opposes any new landfills in or near his congressional district, which stretches from Stark County west through Medina, Wayne and Ashland counties. Contending the area already has enough landfills, he argues that any new ones would pose a threat to groundwater supplies used by the local population.
Norton Construction Co. of Independence, developer of Ridge Landfill, filed suit against the Regula-initiated ban two years ago.
U.S. District Court Judge Patricia A. Gaughan ruled in May that the prohibition was unconstitutional because it improperly singled out a specific developer “and prohibited it from having its application processed according to the same standards and procedures governing other applicants.” Proposed landfills require approval from both the corps and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
Gaughan further ruled there was no basis for prohibiting the development of the Ridge Landfill “in the name of protecting the region’s natural resources, but not extending this limitation with regard to any other landfills or landfill operators in that region.”
The re-crafted ban prohibits the Army Corps from reviewing proposed landfills anywhere in the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District, which is spread over 18 counties in eastern Ohio. If approved by Congress, the prohibition would be permanent until repealed or modified by lawmakers.
The future of the Ridge Landfill is still in litigation, since the corps appealed the District Court decision to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. Last week, the appeals court put a hold on the corps’ review of the landfill until the court rules on the case next year.
Norton Construction did not return a phone call seeking comment on the rewritten ban. A U.S. Justice Department attorney, who has represented the corps in this lawsuit, was unsure what legal action the corps might take if the ban becomes law.
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