Ohio EPA is on the dump case
The Akron Beacon Journal
BOLIVAR - Dealing with the problems at Countywide Disposal & Recycling Facility in southern Stark County is the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency's No. 1 priority.
That's what Chris Korleski, the EPA's new director, told the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Solid Waste Management District board, describing the landfill as "significantly malfunctioning.''
The 258-acre site in Pike Township has been producing foul-smelling odors for months and has either a smoldering underground fire or a severe chemical reaction in buried wastes, he said.
Korleski told the standing-room-only crowd at the board meeting that the EPA is continuing its investigation.
"We don't know yet,'' he said to the question of whether there's a fire or chemical reaction at the landfill.
But the agency intends "to get to the bottom of this'' and to eliminate odors that have drifted across southern Stark and northern Tuscarawas counties for months, he said.
"This can't continue anymore,'' he said. "We need to get this resolved... and you definitely have my agency's attention.''
Korleski, who was in his second day on the job, said he hopes to make a recommendation by Feb. 21 to the Stark County Health Department on whether the landfill, which is owned by Republic Waste Services of Ohio, should get a 2007 operating license.
Todd Thalhamer, a California-based expert on landfill fires who accompanied Korleski, said he is still collecting information about Countywide.
He flew over the landfill on Wednesday, reviewed 700 pages of data and reports on Thursday and toured the landfill and spoke with officials of Republic Waste Services on Friday.
He was unable to say when his review on the fire/chemical reaction question might be complete. Additional data and tests may be required, he said.
The problems at Countywide are "unique... and very complex,'' said Thalhamer, a staffer at the California Integrated Waste Management Board who was hired as a consultant to help the Ohio EPA.
Korleski and Thalhamer also met briefly on Friday with representatives from Club 3000, a grass-roots group that has been fighting Countywide.
Club 3000 head Dick Harvey, who lives outside of Bolivar, said he was "very pleased... and very grateful'' that Korleski has made Countywide a top priority.
The county commissioners from Stark, Wayne and Tuscarawas who comprise the garbage district's governing board praised Korleski for making the trip to Bolivar and for listening to their concerns.
During a brief press conference, Korleski tried to reassure residents living near the landfill that he takes the odor problems to be a serious problem.
Tim Vandersall, general manager of the landfill, said he is confident that there is no fire, just a chemical reaction involving aluminum waste and water, and that the landfill's license will be renewed.
He guided Korleski and Thalhamer on a Friday tour of the landfill, one of the largest in Ohio. It takes much of Summit County's trash.
In a related development, William Franks, director of the Stark Health Department, presented a May 4, 1993, memo to the solid waste board.
The memo, found this week in health department files, is from Waste Management of Ohio, former owner of the landfill, and it advises that special care be taken in dealing with aluminum wastes from a foundry in southern Tuscarawas County.
The memo by landfill manager Greg Terwilliger advises that aluminum wastes from the former Barmet Aluminum Corp. in Uhrichsville be kept away from liquids because of the risk of triggering a chemical reaction.
The landfill took in as much as 1 million tons of waste from the company in the 1990s, EPA records show.
Waste Management owned the landfill until 1999, when it was purchased by Republic.
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