Stark landfill investigation begins
The Akron Beacon Journal
PLAIN TWP - The Stark County Health Department today is beginning its internal investigation into whether the Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility in southern Stark County should get a 2007 operating permit.
The closed-door hearing, expected to last most of the day, involves Health Department staff members and representatives from Republic Services of Ohio, the owner and operator of the landfill in Pike Township.
But representatives from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency won't be permitted to testify before the health board until late April, Stark County Health Commissioner William Franks said, because a negotiated settlement could be reached between the EPA and the company on dealing with problems at the landfill.
Under Ohio law, any negotiated settlement can be appealed for 30 days to a state board, Franks said, and the EPA will not make its staffers available until after that deadline passes.
That will likely require a second Stark hearing on the permit in late April, he said.
Franks said he had hoped to make a recommendation on Countywide's permit at the Stark County Board of Health's April 11 meeting, but that's now impossible.
Instead, he's aiming to make the recommendation at the board's May 9 meeting.
The EPA has recommended that the health board, which oversees the Health Department's operations, deny the company its required operating permit because of problems at Countywide.
Today's hearing, closed to the public, is designed to let Franks hear evidence before making his recommendation to the health board.
This is the process the Health Department follows when deciding on a possible license non-renewal or revocation for a restaurant or landfill.
EPA spokesman Mike Settles said Wednesday that no negotiated settlement has been reached between the agency and the landfill, although talks are continuing.
On Feb. 27, the EPA proposed a series of steps it wants Republic Services to take to eliminate the underground fire and odor problems at the 258-acre landfill next to Interstate 77 at the Stark-Tuscarawas county line.
EPA representatives declined to discuss specific proposals contained in the 27-page preliminary document.
The agency had hoped to reach a negotiated settlement within 30 days.
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