EPA makes headway with area landfill
The Canton Repository
PIKE TWP - The Ohio EPA may have made Stark County Health Commissioner William Franks’ job easier. Franks must soon recommend that his board either renew the operating permit for the Countywide landfill or shut the Pike Township facility down. Both options have drawbacks, but the Environmental Protection Agency’s agreement with Countywide’s owners, announced Wednesday, makes the idea of keeping the landfill open more palatable.
According to the EPA, Countywide has agreed to do more to prevent the problem that has plagued a large portion of the landfill for more than a year — a stinky combination of water and aluminum waste that has resulted in what an EPA consultant says is an underground fire.
Under the agreement, Countywide will close the landfill’s original 88 acres, much of which is involved in the fire, and would remain responsible for extinguishing the fire. The agreement also calls for more monitoring of air quality.
Countywide will pay more than $1 million to EPA, including $250,000 to be spent in the area around the landfill, after residents have an opportunity to suggest how the money should be used.
The EPA under its new director, Chris Korleski, has been admirably aggressive in tackling the problems at Countywide. Korleski went so far as to say in February, on his second day on the job, that Countywide was his top priority. We very much doubt the landfill will fly below EPA’s radar from now on.
PIKE TWP - The Ohio EPA may have made Stark County Health Commissioner William Franks’ job easier. Franks must soon recommend that his board either renew the operating permit for the Countywide landfill or shut the Pike Township facility down. Both options have drawbacks, but the Environmental Protection Agency’s agreement with Countywide’s owners, announced Wednesday, makes the idea of keeping the landfill open more palatable.
According to the EPA, Countywide has agreed to do more to prevent the problem that has plagued a large portion of the landfill for more than a year — a stinky combination of water and aluminum waste that has resulted in what an EPA consultant says is an underground fire.
Under the agreement, Countywide will close the landfill’s original 88 acres, much of which is involved in the fire, and would remain responsible for extinguishing the fire. The agreement also calls for more monitoring of air quality.
Countywide will pay more than $1 million to EPA, including $250,000 to be spent in the area around the landfill, after residents have an opportunity to suggest how the money should be used.
The EPA under its new director, Chris Korleski, has been admirably aggressive in tackling the problems at Countywide. Korleski went so far as to say in February, on his second day on the job, that Countywide was his top priority. We very much doubt the landfill will fly below EPA’s radar from now on.
