State EPA chief to recommend course of action on landfill odor

By ZACH LINT
The Times-Reporter

CANTON – The weight that falls on the Stark County Board of Health’s shoulders in 2007 could get heavier this week when Joseph Koncelik, outgoing director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, issues his findings and recommendations on how to handle the future of Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility.

Koncelik’s recommendations could include continuing or revoking the Pike Township landfill’s operating license and should be made public Friday, his final day in office, according to Mike Settles, OEPA Northeastern District spokesman....Read more.

Red tape surrounds landfill - Ohio EPA sets hearing for comment on proposed clarifications on enforcement

By ZACH LINT
The Times-Reporter

EAST SPARTA - The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency will hold a hearing Jan. 8 in Columbus for comment on proposed clarifications to several of its regulations, including one that states its Division of Air Pollution Control will not take action against odors “unless the emission associated with the odor also causes adverse health effects or property damage.”

“This is a clarification on the way we’ve been enforcing it for years,” said Linda Fee Oros, OEPA spokeswoman. “A lot of people are confused about what we can and can’t do where odors are concerned.”...Read more.

County using landfill to produce 'green' energy for state

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

ATLANTA, GA - When thousands of Georgia residents flick their light switches, their rooms are being brightened by rotting food scraps and moldering paper in a DeKalb County landfill.

DeKalb is the first county government in Georgia to harness the power of landfill gas.

Since October, two 20-cylinder engines have been creating electricity by burning methane emitted from a county-owned landfill.

They now consume about two-thirds of the methane emitted from the decomposing garbage....Read more.

Cleanup plans due in Copley next year

By Bob Downing
The Akron Beacon Journal

COPLEY TWP - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is still investigating two contaminated sites in Copley Township, and plans for final remedies should be drafted next year.

That report on the former Bessie Williams Landfill at 2020 Knox Boulevard and on contaminated water at Copley Square at Copley and Jacoby roads was made at Wednesday's meeting of the Copley Township trustees.

The main issue at the old dump is contaminated lead in the soil on the 18.6 acres, said EPA staffer Sharon Jaffess.

The site was an unlicensed landfill from the 1950s to the 1980s....Read more.

Landfill expansion will meet opposition

BY Kelli Young
The Canton Repository

CANTON - Stark County health officials warn that quadrupling the size of an Osnaburg landfill could affect nearby water wells.

Kirk Norris, director of environmental health at the county Health Department, says Stark C&D Disposal’s plans to expand its 20-acre landfill by 95 acres will bring its disposal area within 1,000 feet of private wells, a violation of state regulations.

Norris plans to recommend to the county Board of Health that it deny Stark C&D’s request to modify its 2007 operating license. The board meets Jan. 10....Read more.