Residents not happy with landfill proposal

Max Moore of the EPA’s Public Interest Center served as the mediator for the Jan. 10 meeting. The meeting had three primary points. First was to review the scope of the proposed project. Next, it was to discuss the draft PTI issued for Tunnel Hill LLC. The final phase of the meeting was dedicated to gathering public comments regarding the draft permit.

Craig Walkenspaw, EPA District Engineer for the Division of Materials and Waste Management Southeast Ohio District detailed the proposed expansion for the landfill. In his step-by-step presentation, Walkenspaw described how a landfill is constructed and what it must do to meet EPA standards. He also covered what the EPA considers when reviewing a PTI proposal, as well as what factors do not fall under the EPA’s umbrella of considerations.

Factors considered include what waste is to be put into a landfill, and whether the proposed permit meets applicable rules. These rules include siting criteria, landfill design and operations, and the final closure and post-closure care. Factors not considered by the EPA when a permit proposal is under consideration include local land use, property value impacts, out-of-state waste, road traffic/noise, and the need or popularity of the proposal.

For the Perry County residents attending the meeting, however, those unconsidered factors were at the top of their list of concerns. When Moore opened the public question portion of the meeting, Perry County resident Allan Dennis opened with a loudly expressed complaint about the landfill’s current operation. When asked if he had a question, Dennis asked why he would bother asking a question, “because you’re going to let them do whatever they want!”

Other residents asked questions pertaining to trash that lies along the railroad tracks as well as the odor emanating from the landfill. Another question concerned the annoyance of “fugitive” dust that covers Tunnel Hill Road. According to the EPA, the dust problem is a township issue.

That answer led to a response from three township trustees attending the meeting. Richard Fankhauser and Mike Boley, representing Pike Township, and Judd Baker from Clayton Township, responded by saying that THR was not in compliance with the Ohio Revised Code as far as making a financial restitution to the townships. They explained that a Perry County township that does not have acreage bordering the landfill was receiving the bulk of the funding.

WIN Waste Innovations representative Ben Nutter replied that “we are paying the fees, it’s how the fees are being distributed that’s the problem.” He added that “we will get it figured out.” Two WIN officials, Ben Nutter and Brian Ezyk, were seen discussing the situation with the three township trustees once the meeting had been adjourned.

Another Perry County resident, Debra Hooper, raised several concerns about the proposed landfill expansion. She opened her questions with “Would you want a landfill within 1,000 feet of your home?” That is the required distance a landfill must maintain from the nearest residence. Hooper questioned the EPA representatives about the potential of diseased waste materials being dumped in Perry County and how that would affect the future of “our kids, air, and soil.”

Barbara Nash asked why the EPA is not responsible for odors from the landfill. She commented that expanding the landfill would also increase the foul odors. Annie Sullivan, a Melon Hill Road resident for 20 years, took issue with the comment that THR had improved the location, which had been an abandoned strip mine. She commented that “our property values have gone down, but our property taxes have gone up.”

While frustrations with the operation and proposed expansion of the landfill were running high, the expansion plan by WIN Waste Innovations for the THR landfill was a fact-based proposal that checked every box on the EPA’s criteria for such an installation. The proposal looks to be headed to the desk of Ohio EPA Director Anne M. Vogel for the final authorization or denial of the permit-to-install the THR landfill expansion proposal.