Waste of time
BOLIVAR - Chris Korleski said all the right things last week during his visit with the board of the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Solid Waste Management District. The new director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency called the deepening troubles at the Countywide landfill in southern Stark County the agency's top priority. He pledged "to get to the bottom of this,'' the odor that has afflicted neighboring communities and the fire or chemical reaction smoldering in a portion of the landfill, described by Korleski as "significantly malfunctioning.''
The state has tapped the expertise of Todd Thalhamer. The Californian is a leading authority on landfill fires. On Friday, he joined Korleski in touring the landfill and meeting with the owners, Republic Waste Services. Thalhamer has been reviewing hundreds of documents and collecting new information.
The presence of Korleski and Thalhamer was reassuring to residents who have been coping with the landfill since last spring, when the miserable odor first filled their lives. The fair question is: What took so long? The question resonated in the reporting of Beacon Journal staff writers Bob Downing and Dennis Willard. On Sunday, they recounted the clash within the state EPA about what to do at the landfill.
At the Columbus headquarters, officials appeared more attuned to the urgency. They confronted more directly the likelihood of a fire. In an August memo, a staff member noted that data about the landfill's problems came almost exclusively from the owner. She added that Countywide had not yet been evaluated by someone experienced with landfill fires. The understandable concern was that the local Twinsburg office of the state EPA was prone to taking its cue from managers of the landfill.
The moment cried for an independent assessment in the late summer. Yet, Thalhamer has just arrived -- after a local pilot, frustrated with the agency's insufficient response, delivered alarming infrared photographs. Clearly, the state EPA (driven by the Twinsburg office) focused too narrowly on abating the odor, in effect, spraying air freshener to relieve the stench of a dead mouse. Now attention is where it should be -- on a fire or chemical reaction that could turn very dangerous.
All of it invites another question: Where are the procedures for handling a potential landfill fire, hardly a rare occurence? Steps for moving forward when an internal argument poses an obstacle to action?
Not surprisingly, Republic Waste Services faces heightened scrutiny. Bob Downing cited a memo from the previous owner cautioning to keep aluminum waste away from landfill liquids. Yet the mixing of aluminum and leachate is the explanation that Republic has provided for the unusual heat. Thus, the top priority for Chris Korleski and the Ohio EPA has two parts: fixing the problem at Countywide and holding accountable those responsible.
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