Health board won’t put its foot down
The Tribune Chronicle
WARREN - The city of Warren has had years to find an alternative to taking its garbage to a transfer station tied to a controversial, polluted landfill on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Now that the city again finds itself between a rock and hard place, it appears the Warren Health Department will continue to allow the public nuisance.
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office filed contempt charges for the second time against Warren Recycling Inc. and Warren Hills LLC, the remnants of the closed construction and demolition debris landfill. Also, the state Environmental Protection Agency ruled Environmental Transfer Systems Inc., located at the same site, did not pass its background check, which is required annually for solid waste facilities looking to renew an operating license.
Attorney General Marc Dann charges that Warren Recycling and Warren Hills LLC: failed to properly manage and control leachate; failed to submit an adequate closure plan; failed to submit a post-closure plan; failed to implement groundwater monitoring; and failed to pay $325,000 each in stipulated penalties ordered by Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
The Ohio EPA said its background check into Environmental Transfer showed Warren Recycling owns it and that Warren Recycling has a miserable track record of failing to comply with health standards.
But according to the Ohio EPA, the Warren Board of Health ultimately decides whether to close Environmental Transfer. The city health board will not.
For years, the city failed to protect the health of innocent people who live and work near the landfill. The city allowed, even lobbied for, owners to open the landfill. The city even permitted the landfill to open under the auspices of being a recycling center. And the health board has never put its foot down even after the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has called it an urgent public health hazard that resulted in many people falling ill.
Here is why: Warren takes its garbage to the transfer station. Warren purchased garbage trucks that are not meant for longer drives to nearby landfills. Warren’s garbage collection is so inefficient it would have to raise rates if it took its trash to even the closest landfill. The city already accepts fewer materials when collecting garbage yet charges its residents twice as much as other towns like Niles. And for years city leaders have refused to seek an alternative.
That is why the Warren Health Department will not enforce the law. That is why it will not protect people’s health.
WARREN - The city of Warren has had years to find an alternative to taking its garbage to a transfer station tied to a controversial, polluted landfill on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Now that the city again finds itself between a rock and hard place, it appears the Warren Health Department will continue to allow the public nuisance.
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office filed contempt charges for the second time against Warren Recycling Inc. and Warren Hills LLC, the remnants of the closed construction and demolition debris landfill. Also, the state Environmental Protection Agency ruled Environmental Transfer Systems Inc., located at the same site, did not pass its background check, which is required annually for solid waste facilities looking to renew an operating license.
Attorney General Marc Dann charges that Warren Recycling and Warren Hills LLC: failed to properly manage and control leachate; failed to submit an adequate closure plan; failed to submit a post-closure plan; failed to implement groundwater monitoring; and failed to pay $325,000 each in stipulated penalties ordered by Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
The Ohio EPA said its background check into Environmental Transfer showed Warren Recycling owns it and that Warren Recycling has a miserable track record of failing to comply with health standards.
But according to the Ohio EPA, the Warren Board of Health ultimately decides whether to close Environmental Transfer. The city health board will not.
For years, the city failed to protect the health of innocent people who live and work near the landfill. The city allowed, even lobbied for, owners to open the landfill. The city even permitted the landfill to open under the auspices of being a recycling center. And the health board has never put its foot down even after the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has called it an urgent public health hazard that resulted in many people falling ill.
Here is why: Warren takes its garbage to the transfer station. Warren purchased garbage trucks that are not meant for longer drives to nearby landfills. Warren’s garbage collection is so inefficient it would have to raise rates if it took its trash to even the closest landfill. The city already accepts fewer materials when collecting garbage yet charges its residents twice as much as other towns like Niles. And for years city leaders have refused to seek an alternative.
That is why the Warren Health Department will not enforce the law. That is why it will not protect people’s health.
