Countywide landfill data mistrusted
BY Robert Wang
The Canton Repository
BOLIVAR - Should the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency rely on data submitted by Countywide landfill?
At a meeting Friday of the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Joint Solid Waste Management District, Tuscarawas County Commissioner Kerry Metzger cited the recent settlement proposal by the Ohio EPA.
Under that proposed agreement, the agency would determine whether Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility was complying with environmental regulations, based in large part on data collected by the landfill.
Metzger told Bill Skowronski, who heads the Ohio EPA's Northeast District office in Twinsburg, that the public does not believe Countywide is providing accurate numbers.
"I don't understand why the EPA can't have independent firms ... to gather the data," Metzger said.
Wayne County Commissioner Cheryl Noah said the EPA could then send a bill for that testing to Countywide.
The landfill is facing closure, after the EPA said Countywide has failed to resolve its odor problem and address underground fires.
Under the EPA's proposal, Countywide would have to submit data on several items. Those include: aerial thermal imaging; temperature readings; observations on smoke, steam and residue from combustion; readings on carbon monoxide and other dangerous gases; chemical analysis of liquid waste; air tests; and slope stability.
After the meeting, Skowronski said that his inspectors have done regular odor monitoring near the landfill and that groundwater samples have been collected jointly by Countywide and the EPA.
But Skowronski said environmental regulators typically require waste facilities to do their own testing and submit results to government agencies. With so many facilities to regulate, it would cost the EPA a lot more to do independent testing, he said. It would be like the IRS trying to audit every tax return or the police's trying to monitor every motorist's speed.
EPA spokesman Mike Settles said EPA staff check the numbers provided by waste facilities. Anyone submitting falsified data would face criminal charges. EPA inspectors also checked samples of waste from Countywide, as the landfill's contractors dug them up, for signs of smoke, flame or soot and found none.
"We have no reason to believe that Countywide has been submitting false data," Settles said.
Countywide's general manager, Tim Vandersall, said, "All the data collected at Countywide landfill is done by qualified third-party consultants whose reputations are on the line day in and day out."
The issue of whether the EPA was relying too much on Countywide's information was apparently debated within the agency as early as August, according to EPA records.
EPA enforcement unit staffer Gina Gerbasi, who's based in Columbus, wrote a memo that advocated the agency further investigate whether a fire was burning at Countywide. She expressed concern that conclusions by EPA staffers in Twinsburg that the landfill had no fire were premature. That's because those conclusions were based only on data provided by Countywide, she wrote.
The agency later reversed its position and brought in a landfill fire expert from California, who found that Countywide has two fires.
But Settles said the expert also looked at data provided by Countywide.
"It's not a matter of bad data. It's how you interpret it," he said.
MORE ODOR COMPLAINTS
Skowronski also reported that his inspectors found odors around Countywide on Sunday that rated 3 in intensity on a scale of 1 to 4. Some residents, who live near the landfill, reported that the odor was at a strong level Thursday.
"It was bad," said Bethlehem Township resident Matt Engle, who believes warmer temperatures contributed to the problem. "You walk outside, and you want to turn around and walk back in. ... the results stink."
Vandersall, who believes his landfill has no fire, said air sampling by the landfill's consultant shows a dramatic decrease in the odors. But he said there were more odors during the past week, apparently because settlement in the landfill had torn a small part of the plastic cap that helps contain the stench. He said his people are almost done repairing the cap.
The Canton Repository
BOLIVAR - Should the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency rely on data submitted by Countywide landfill?
At a meeting Friday of the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Joint Solid Waste Management District, Tuscarawas County Commissioner Kerry Metzger cited the recent settlement proposal by the Ohio EPA.
Under that proposed agreement, the agency would determine whether Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility was complying with environmental regulations, based in large part on data collected by the landfill.
Metzger told Bill Skowronski, who heads the Ohio EPA's Northeast District office in Twinsburg, that the public does not believe Countywide is providing accurate numbers.
"I don't understand why the EPA can't have independent firms ... to gather the data," Metzger said.
Wayne County Commissioner Cheryl Noah said the EPA could then send a bill for that testing to Countywide.
The landfill is facing closure, after the EPA said Countywide has failed to resolve its odor problem and address underground fires.
Under the EPA's proposal, Countywide would have to submit data on several items. Those include: aerial thermal imaging; temperature readings; observations on smoke, steam and residue from combustion; readings on carbon monoxide and other dangerous gases; chemical analysis of liquid waste; air tests; and slope stability.
After the meeting, Skowronski said that his inspectors have done regular odor monitoring near the landfill and that groundwater samples have been collected jointly by Countywide and the EPA.
But Skowronski said environmental regulators typically require waste facilities to do their own testing and submit results to government agencies. With so many facilities to regulate, it would cost the EPA a lot more to do independent testing, he said. It would be like the IRS trying to audit every tax return or the police's trying to monitor every motorist's speed.
EPA spokesman Mike Settles said EPA staff check the numbers provided by waste facilities. Anyone submitting falsified data would face criminal charges. EPA inspectors also checked samples of waste from Countywide, as the landfill's contractors dug them up, for signs of smoke, flame or soot and found none.
"We have no reason to believe that Countywide has been submitting false data," Settles said.
Countywide's general manager, Tim Vandersall, said, "All the data collected at Countywide landfill is done by qualified third-party consultants whose reputations are on the line day in and day out."
The issue of whether the EPA was relying too much on Countywide's information was apparently debated within the agency as early as August, according to EPA records.
EPA enforcement unit staffer Gina Gerbasi, who's based in Columbus, wrote a memo that advocated the agency further investigate whether a fire was burning at Countywide. She expressed concern that conclusions by EPA staffers in Twinsburg that the landfill had no fire were premature. That's because those conclusions were based only on data provided by Countywide, she wrote.
The agency later reversed its position and brought in a landfill fire expert from California, who found that Countywide has two fires.
But Settles said the expert also looked at data provided by Countywide.
"It's not a matter of bad data. It's how you interpret it," he said.
MORE ODOR COMPLAINTS
Skowronski also reported that his inspectors found odors around Countywide on Sunday that rated 3 in intensity on a scale of 1 to 4. Some residents, who live near the landfill, reported that the odor was at a strong level Thursday.
"It was bad," said Bethlehem Township resident Matt Engle, who believes warmer temperatures contributed to the problem. "You walk outside, and you want to turn around and walk back in. ... the results stink."
Vandersall, who believes his landfill has no fire, said air sampling by the landfill's consultant shows a dramatic decrease in the odors. But he said there were more odors during the past week, apparently because settlement in the landfill had torn a small part of the plastic cap that helps contain the stench. He said his people are almost done repairing the cap.
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