Countywide: years for fix - Company maintains that there's no fire at controversial landfill

By PAUL KOSTYU
The Times-Reporter

COLUMBUS - Maintaining its view that there are no underground fires at the Countywide landfill, Republic Services of Ohio said in its Fire Suppression Plan to the Ohio EPA that fixing problems there will take years. Critics accused the company of wanting to maintain the status quo to the detriment of landfill neighbors.

In March, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency ordered the com-pany to submit a plan by Tuesday to deal with the fires within the 258-acre Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility.

In the plan, the company said excavating the 88 acres where the problems have occurred would take 10 years to complete, “be prohibitively expensive,” “create significant health and safety concerns for site workers” and “create significant air emissions resulting in overwhelming odor impacts for the community.”...Read more.