Agreement reached on Countywide dump
PIKE TWP - The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency today announced an agreement with Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility in Stark County on stringent orders to end an underground fire and odor problems there.
Republic Services of Ohio must develop and submit a plan for suppressing the underground fire at the Pike Township facility within 60 days.
The EPA must approve the company's plan, and the agency has hired two consultants to help it assess that plan.
The company also agreed to pay more than $1 million in fines for the fire and odors at the 258-acre landfill.
Of that, $250,000 will go into what is being called the Community Benefit Project Fund. The EPA will solicit suggestions from individuals and community groups in developing projects to aid communities affected by the odor and fire problems in southern Stark and northern Tuscarawas counties.
Under the 31-page findings and orders, Republic Services of Ohio must also revise its odor-control plan; determine the integrity of the landfill's liner, gas collection and ground-water monitoring wells; evaluate the possibility of expanding the gas system and perform weekly air sampling.
The original 88-acre area of the landfill must be permanently closed and the company must forfeit at least 15,500,000 cubic yards of currently permitted dumping space. To do that, the EPA intends to modify the landfill's 2003 expansion permit.
The company would be permitted to place additional material on the 88 acres after the fire is extinguished to bring the subsided area up to grade for final closure.
The agreement negates the EPA's earlier recommendation that Countywide not receive its 2007 operating permit, EPA Director Chris Korleski said in a letter to the Stark County Health Department, which would issue the permit.
That's because the landfill is under a legally enforceable schedule to attain compliance, he said.
The health department has not taken action on the landfill's 2007 permit.
View related articles:
Ohio EPA Orders Countywide Landfill to Take Tougher Actions to Control Odors
Director's Findings and Orders for Countywide Landfill
Director Korleski's Letter to the Stark County Health Department
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