Landfill comments must wait

BY Kelli Young
The Canton Repository

PLAIN TWP - Health board president James Recchio Jr. saw the raised hand in the audience just before the county board planned to go behind closed doors to discuss pending litigation. He knew the man wanted to talk about the Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility in Pike Township.

He leaned over to Assistant Stark County Prosecutor Deborah Dawson.

"I'm not in a position to entertain questions, am I?" he asked.

"No," she answered....Read more.

Countywide buys more property

BY Robert Wang
The Canton Repository

PIKE TWP - Despite facing possible closure, Countywide landfill is so optimistic it will operate for decades, it bought 57 acres of adjoining land for $960,000 in December.

Will Flower, a spokesman for Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility and its owner Republic Services of Ohio, said Thursday that the land will serve as an additional buffer between the landfill and its neighbors.

"We like to have as much space as we can between the landfill and any resident. ... we're interested in running a landfill that does not present any issues for any neighbors," he said, adding that buying buffer land is a common waste-industry practice. "Buffer properties to Republic are valuable because we have control over who our neighbors are. We like control over as much property as possible."...Read more.

Get public input on landfill's future

The Canton Repository

CANTON - Stark County residents who are deeply concerned about the future of the Countywide landfill may not get to speak before the county Board of Health, which has the final say on renewal of the landfill's license. We hope the public is not denied this opportunity.

The board must hold a public hearing if Health Commissioner William Franks recommends closing the landfill. This ensures that Countywide's owners are not denied due process. But if Franks recommends renewing the license, with or without strict conditions that address continuing problems at the Pike Township facility, the board has no legal obligation to take public comments. In that case, we would urge the board to go beyond its obligation and give this important issue a public airing....Read more.

Stark board takes no action on landfill

By Bob Downing
The Akron-Beacon Journal

PLAIN TWP - Delegations from Tuscarawas County and from the Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility came to Thursday's meeting of the Stark County Health Department board, but their voices weren't heard.

The board took no action and accepted no public comment on a recommendation from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency concerning Countywide's landfill in southern Stark County.

The Tuscarawas delegation included the three county commissioners and members of Club 3000, a grass-roots group that has been fighting the 258-acre landfill in Pike Township. Officials of landfill owner Republic Waste Services of Ohio and its attorney were on hand to represent Countywide....Read more.

Smell test

The Akron-Beacon Journal

AKRON - The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency made the right call this week recommending that the Countywide landfill in southern Stark County be denied an annual operating license. Chris Korleski, the agency director, emphasized that he did not arrive at the decision lightly. He correctly seeks to use the leverage of his public office to see that persistent troubles at the landfill are addressed. For too long, those residing in the vicinity of the landfill have had to contend with foul odors....Read more.

Recommendation brings mixed emotions

By ZACH LINT
The Times-Reporter

BOLIVAR - Tuscarawas County commissioners want Countywide Recycling and Disposal Facility at Pike Township to be shut down, but that decision is in the hands of the Stark Board of Health, which isn’t expected to make a decision on the landfill’s 2007 operating license for several months.

A recommendation issued Wednesday by Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Director Chris Korleski stated that the permit should be denied but provided opportunities for the landfill to continue operation.

“We had to bring EPA into this process kicking and screaming and now our assumptions have been verified,” Commissioner Kerry Metzger said....Read more.

A welcome decision

The Times-Reporter

BOLIVAR - Finally, we have an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency director who’s willing to take action to deal with the ongoing problems at the Countywide Landfill north of Bolivar.

Chris Korleski, appointed as OEPA director last month by Gov. Ted Strickland, recommended Wednesday that the Stark County Health Department proceed with a proposed denial of the landfill’s annual operating license....Read more.

Final decision on Countywide could take years

BY Robert Wang
The Canton Repository

PIKE TWP - Elsie Zaleski spoke against the Countywide Recycling and Disposal Facility at meetings for several years.

But the 84-year-old Pike Township woman could do nothing to stop the landfill’s expansion. After months of suffering from the landfill’s odors last year, she died in June from stroke complications, her dream of a shutdown of Countywide still unrealized.

On Wednesday, her granddaughter Alison Roberts learned that the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency had recommended that the Stark County Health Department deny Countywide a new annual operating license....Read more.

EPA leaves door open for Countywide landfill

BY Paul E. Kostyu
The Canton Repository

COLUMBUS - The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency recommended Wednesday that the Countywide landfill be denied a license to operate, but provided an out to keep it in business.

In a letter to William Franks, Stark County's health commissioner, Ohio EPA Director Chris Korleski said the landfill "is not in substantial compliance with Ohio's environmental laws."

The health board is expected to read the letter today at a meeting but not take any action on it....Read more.

Agency urges against landfill permit

By Bob Downing
The Akron-Beacon Journal

EAST SPARTA - The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday recommended that a southern Stark County landfill with an underground fire be denied a required operating license.

But whether the Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility will remain open or be shut down won't be known for months.

And the closing would, if ordered, affect the entire Pike Township landfill -- not just the 88-acre parcel where an underground fire has triggered foul-smelling odors....Read more.

Agency Issues Proposal to Deny Landfill License

By Daniel Hockensmith
WKSU Radio

EAST SPARTA - Citing continued problems at a controversial Stark County landfill, Ohio EPA Director Chris Korleski has recommended to county officials that they not renew the facility's annual operating license....Read more.

EPA recommends denying permit to Stark landfill

By Bob Downing
The Akron-Beacon Journal

EAST SPARTA - The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is recommending that a southern Stark County landfill where an underground fire is believed to be burning not get a required operating license.

But whether the Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility will remain open or be shut down won't be known for months.

In a strongly worded letter, EPA Director Chris Korleski said today his agency has determined that the landfill is not in substantial compliance with Ohio's environmental laws....Read more.

Would you pay higher trash fees?

BY Robert Wang
The Canton Repository

PIKE TWP - The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency's director is set to decide today what to do with the Countywide landfill, and his decision could affect hundreds of thousands of people in Northeast Ohio.

The director, Chris Korleski, is expected to recommend whether the Stark County Board of Health should suspend the operating license of the Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility.

The landfill, owned by Republic Services of Ohio, faces the possibility of being closed to new trash, due to its odor problems. And a landfill fire expert told the agency Friday that two fires are burning inside Countywide....Read more.

Don't be surprised if landfill stays open

The Canton Repository

EAST SPARTA - Serious as the odor problem at the Countywide landfill is, Stark County residents should not be surprised if local and state officials decide that shutting down the facility is too drastic a step.

The new director of the Ohio EPA, Chris Korleski, is expected to tell the Stark County Board of Health today whether his agency believes the board should renew the Pike Township landfill's operating license. The board will consider the recommendation at a meeting Thursday that will draw a big crowd....Read more.

To close - or not to close? - Bolivar area residents crossing collective fingers; Countywide decision nears

By ZACH LINT
The Times-Reporter

EAST SPARTA - The Stark County Board of Health is expected to make a decision on Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility’s 2007 operating license Thursday based on a recommendation from Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Director Chris Korleski. That recommendation is to be handed down today.

Tuscarawas County commissioners have voted to cancel their Thursday meeting so they may attend the Stark board’s 8 a.m. session in Canton....Read more.

Lawmakers Weigh In on Landfill Controversy

By Daniel Hockensmith
WKSU Radio

EAST SPARTA - As residents of Stark and Tuscarawas counties await a recommendation this week from the Ohio EPA on licensing for a controversial landfill, Stark County's health commissioner is warning a solution to problems there will take time. Meanwhile, some state lawmakers also are talking about how the situation at Countywide Landfill could affect future legislation....Read more.

OEPA Recommends Stark County Propose to Deny License

Ohio EPA News Release

COLUMBUS - Citing continued operational problems at Republic Service's Countywide Landfill, Ohio EPA Director Chris Korleski is recommending the Stark County Health Department proceed with a proposed denial of the landfill's annual operating license.

In a letter to the Stark County Health Department, Korleski determined Countywide Landfill (3619 Gracemont Street S.W., East Sparta) is not in substantial compliance with Ohio's environmental laws. Specifically, the facility continues to emit nuisance odors; has failed to immediately extinguish or control a subsurface fire; and has experienced landfill temperatures that exceed performance standards....Read more.

Solutions offered if landfill burns

BY Robert Wang
The Canton Repository

PIKE TWP - If two underground fires are burning in Countywide landfill, what should the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency do to make sure the blazes don’t threaten the environment?

California landfill-fire expert Todd Thalhamer, who was brought here by the EPA to evaluate the Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility, told the agency Friday he believes an aluminum waste reaction sometime before December 2005 sparked two fires in the landfill. He recommended the EPA encourage Countywide to:...Read more.

Landfill fire expert Todd Thalhamer's report to the EPA

The Canton Repository

Director Chris Korleski (Chris),

As you and your staff requested, I would like to take this opportunity to provide you with my preliminary opinions and recommendations for the incident at Countywide RDF (CRDF). I understand you have a decision to formulate concerning the site issues by February 21, 2007. Should you desire a report of my findings and opinions I request you contact my agency in writing so I may account for the work time to develop the report.

During the past two weeks I have attempted to collect data to examine the “heating event” at CRDF. Your staff and Countywide RDF staff have gone beyond my expectations is assisting. Countywide RDF was able to sample and collect carbon monoxide and temperatures within seven days of the initial request. An immense effort both in time and money has been put forth to understand the complexity of this reaction. While more data collection is necessary to indicate a trend for the reaction occurring at the landfill, verify my conclusions, clarify a few data anomalies, and adequately characterize the landfill gas composition, I have been able to develop my opinion on this incident....Read more.

Countywide landfill’s liquid waste affects Alliance sewage plant

BY Robert Wang
The Canton Repository

LEXINGTON TWP - Countywide landfill trucked nearly 20 million gallons of liquid waste last year to the Alliance wastewater treatment plant, overwhelming the plant’s ability to treat it.

As a result, Alliance discharged ammonia, organic waste and fecal bacteria into Beech Creek — and thus the Mahoning River and Berlin Reservoir — at levels that reached as much as three times state limits. And a million gallons of the liquid waste continues to be stored on the plant’s property.

Though the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency ordered Alliance to stop taking the waste in December, the agency does not believe environmental damage was done to the creek, river or reservoir....Read more.

Expert: 2 fires at landfill

By ZACH LINT
The Times-Reporter

EAST SPARTA - Two fires are burning beneath Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility according to Todd Thalhamer, the landfill-fire expert called in by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

“Countywide is experiencing a classic metal fire and a smoldering fire,” Thalhamer stated in an e-mail of his findings sent to Ohio EPA Director Chris Korleski Friday.

Thalhamer’s e-mail was made public shortly after it was received by Korleski as the result of a public records request made by Copley Ohio Newspapers....Read more.

Calif. EPA consultant says Countywide fuels 2 fires

BY Paul E. Kostyu
The Canton Repository

COLUMBUS - The Countywide landfill in southern Stark County is on fire, according to a consultant’s preliminary report.

Todd Thalhamer, a landfill-fire expert for the California Environmental Protection Agency, said in a report released late Friday that the Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility in Pike Township “is experiencing a classic metal fire and smoldering fire.”

He said neither fire “is the characteristic underground fire documented in the literature or seen in the field,” but he does not “anticipate a catastrophic event occurring.”...Read more.

Ohio EPA should continue to take landfill issues seriously

The Canton Repository

PLAIN TOWNSHIP - I commend our new Ohio EPA director, Chris Korleski, for consulting with the more progressive California EPA regarding the potential underground fire at Countywide landfill (“EPA chief inspects ‘unique circumstance’ at landfill,” Feb. 3). It has been years since we have seen anything proactive done by this agency.

I hope this desire to obtain the best available science will continue at OEPA. However, I am concerned by what appear to be false assurances being given to the area residents regarding the groundwater contamination if the liner becomes damaged and toxins are able to leak from the site....Read more.

OEPA director nears decision on Countywide - Meeting to help determine if landfill gets license renewed

By ZACH LINT
The Times-Reporter

EAST SPARTA - A meeting and teleconference today among Ohio Environmental Protection Agency officials in Columbus and entities involved with monitoring ongoing issues at Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility at East Sparta may help to shape Ohio EPA Director Chris Korleski’s recommendation on whether to allow a 2007 operating license for the facility.

The Stark County Board of Health is awaiting Korleski’s decision, expected Wednesday.

On Thursday, EPA spokesman Mike Settles said Korleski remains focused on Countywide but gave no hint as to what his recommendation might be....Read more.