County, landfill settle case
BY Kelli Young
The Canton Repository
SANDY TWP - Owners of a Sandy Township landfill that is higher and steeper than its approved limits have agreed to a settlement with the county health department that ensures the violations don’t happen again.
Minerva Enterprises also must pay a $48,264 civil penalty.
Kirk Norris, director of environmental health for the Stark County Health Department, said sections of the landfill at 8955 Minerva Rd. SE are “15 to 30 feet over the maximum elevation that was approved.” About 25 acres of the 110-acre landfill are being used.
Attorney Michael A. Cyphert, representing Minerva Enterprises, said one disposal area exceeded its approved limit only by as much as 10 feet. But he said company officials have “acknowledged the mistake and have been working with the health department.”
The county Board of Health approved the consent agreement Wednesday. It requires Minerva Enterprises, which collects construction and demolition debris from homes and work sites, to cap one disposal mound, reconfigure future disposal areas and more frequently submit surveys that show the facility’s elevations.If Minerva Enterprises fails to comply, the health department could revoke its license.
VIOLATIONS DETECTED
Cyphert said the company didn’t intend to overstep the design plans approved in 1991. He said when Minerva Enterprises took over the landfill in 1998, it didn’t conduct a survey to measure elevations.
“They made some assumptions from the design plans and what the operators were telling them and they proceeded,” he said. “It’s hard to measure when you are in the field with bulldozers and heavy equipment exactly where you stand (in terms of elevation).”
Steve Chandler, vice president of Minerva Enterprises, said the landfill’s original design allowed for the disposal mound’s slopes to be steeper. The company has asked the health department to allow for the steeper slopes, which have been used in other sites in Ohio.
“We’re not trying to hide anything. We just want to have a proper design,” he said.
Norris said the health department could allow the steeper slopes if the company proves they would be stable.
OTHER LANDFILLS
In other business Wednesday, the county Board of Health again rescheduled a hearing to review Stark C&D Disposal’s request to quadruple the size of its 20-acre Osnaburg Township landfill. The hearing is set for Oct. 10.
But attorney Cyphert, who also represents Stark C&D, believes the board should wait until the lawsuit he filed against the department and others is resolved.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, asks a judge to determine whether the rule the health department cites as a reason to deny Stark C&D’s expansion is constitutional.
Health officials says Stark C&D’s expansion would violate Ohio Department of Health regulations that say private water wells cannot be within 1,000 feet of potential sources of contamination.
“We’re claiming the rule is unconstitutional because the Ohio Department of Health doesn’t have any rule over construction and demolition debris sites. That’s the Ohio EPA,” Cyphert said.
He said the state rule is designed to protect a person who installs a water well, not to interfere with a landfill’s license.
“You usually don’t test your well to determine if it’s potable after the first time you sink it and do the initial test. ... It would be reasonable for the Ohio Department of Health to tell a residential well user to not put your well close to industrial operations,” Cyphert said.
A landfill’s license requires the company to test its ground water so it would “know if there has been a release into the groundwater,” he said.
Health Commissioner William Franks said Wednesday he hasn’t received formal notice of the lawsuit.
SETTLEMENT WITH LANDFILL
The Stark County Board of Health on Wednesday approved a settlement agreement with Minerva Enterprises after the department found the Sandy Township landfill exceeded approved height limits, its slopes were too steep and the material it used to cap a disposal area was substandard.
Included in the settlement, Minerva Enterprises agrees to:
- Cap the disposal areas now being used by Dec. 31, 2008.
- Pay $48,264 as a civil penalty by July 31.
- Reconfigure future disposal areas and submit a new facility design plan that conforms to the original design plans. Health officials may approve the steeper slopes once the landfill provides documentation that the slopes would be stable.
- Install a vegetative cover over an already capped disposal area within two years.
- Monitor and record weekly drainage levels and submit monthly reports to the health department.
- Hold public hearings when the company asks to modify the landfill design.
- Have the facility professionally surveyed annually to ensure the landfill follows its approved design plan.
The Canton Repository
SANDY TWP - Owners of a Sandy Township landfill that is higher and steeper than its approved limits have agreed to a settlement with the county health department that ensures the violations don’t happen again.
Minerva Enterprises also must pay a $48,264 civil penalty.
Kirk Norris, director of environmental health for the Stark County Health Department, said sections of the landfill at 8955 Minerva Rd. SE are “15 to 30 feet over the maximum elevation that was approved.” About 25 acres of the 110-acre landfill are being used.
Attorney Michael A. Cyphert, representing Minerva Enterprises, said one disposal area exceeded its approved limit only by as much as 10 feet. But he said company officials have “acknowledged the mistake and have been working with the health department.”
The county Board of Health approved the consent agreement Wednesday. It requires Minerva Enterprises, which collects construction and demolition debris from homes and work sites, to cap one disposal mound, reconfigure future disposal areas and more frequently submit surveys that show the facility’s elevations.If Minerva Enterprises fails to comply, the health department could revoke its license.
VIOLATIONS DETECTED
Cyphert said the company didn’t intend to overstep the design plans approved in 1991. He said when Minerva Enterprises took over the landfill in 1998, it didn’t conduct a survey to measure elevations.
“They made some assumptions from the design plans and what the operators were telling them and they proceeded,” he said. “It’s hard to measure when you are in the field with bulldozers and heavy equipment exactly where you stand (in terms of elevation).”
Steve Chandler, vice president of Minerva Enterprises, said the landfill’s original design allowed for the disposal mound’s slopes to be steeper. The company has asked the health department to allow for the steeper slopes, which have been used in other sites in Ohio.
“We’re not trying to hide anything. We just want to have a proper design,” he said.
Norris said the health department could allow the steeper slopes if the company proves they would be stable.
OTHER LANDFILLS
In other business Wednesday, the county Board of Health again rescheduled a hearing to review Stark C&D Disposal’s request to quadruple the size of its 20-acre Osnaburg Township landfill. The hearing is set for Oct. 10.
But attorney Cyphert, who also represents Stark C&D, believes the board should wait until the lawsuit he filed against the department and others is resolved.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, asks a judge to determine whether the rule the health department cites as a reason to deny Stark C&D’s expansion is constitutional.
Health officials says Stark C&D’s expansion would violate Ohio Department of Health regulations that say private water wells cannot be within 1,000 feet of potential sources of contamination.
“We’re claiming the rule is unconstitutional because the Ohio Department of Health doesn’t have any rule over construction and demolition debris sites. That’s the Ohio EPA,” Cyphert said.
He said the state rule is designed to protect a person who installs a water well, not to interfere with a landfill’s license.
“You usually don’t test your well to determine if it’s potable after the first time you sink it and do the initial test. ... It would be reasonable for the Ohio Department of Health to tell a residential well user to not put your well close to industrial operations,” Cyphert said.
A landfill’s license requires the company to test its ground water so it would “know if there has been a release into the groundwater,” he said.
Health Commissioner William Franks said Wednesday he hasn’t received formal notice of the lawsuit.
SETTLEMENT WITH LANDFILL
The Stark County Board of Health on Wednesday approved a settlement agreement with Minerva Enterprises after the department found the Sandy Township landfill exceeded approved height limits, its slopes were too steep and the material it used to cap a disposal area was substandard.
Included in the settlement, Minerva Enterprises agrees to:
- Cap the disposal areas now being used by Dec. 31, 2008.
- Pay $48,264 as a civil penalty by July 31.
- Reconfigure future disposal areas and submit a new facility design plan that conforms to the original design plans. Health officials may approve the steeper slopes once the landfill provides documentation that the slopes would be stable.
- Install a vegetative cover over an already capped disposal area within two years.
- Monitor and record weekly drainage levels and submit monthly reports to the health department.
- Hold public hearings when the company asks to modify the landfill design.
- Have the facility professionally surveyed annually to ensure the landfill follows its approved design plan.
