Club 3000 - Ohio Landfills

While the state has overseen the effort to control a serious aluminum dross waste reaction at the Countywide landfill, the Feds appear to be stepping up their involvement.

01/18/2008 - Around 500 people attended the public meeting on January 17 regarding possible civil litigation against Countywide. Lawyers from the New York firm of Weitz Luxenberg along with attorney Steven Bell outlined the steps that residents would have to take to be involved in a class-action lawsuit against the landfill. Club 3000 will continue to update this as new developments continue to arise. See article in the Times-Reporter. Links to Weitz Luxenberg & Steven Bell’s websites are on the left side of this page. Also see Weitz Luxenberg’s press release about the meeting.

State environmental officials say they found garbage and liquid outside the allowed boundaries for waste at Countywide Recycling and Disposal Facility in December, and they released a notice Monday that the East Sparta landfill is violating landfill regulations and an agreement with the state. Click here for the Times Reporter Story.

01/10/2008 - Liquid waste from Countywide has leaked onto an “unauthorized area”, contaminating an area roughly half the size of a football field on the landfill’s south slope. Republic Waste spokesman Will Flower said that landfill staff suspected this might happen but they were “too busy dealing with the odor problems” to deal with the situation. Also of note: the EPA ordered gas probes installed due to concerns that excess methane may be escaping through a breach in the landfill liner. See article in the Times-Reporter.

12/28/2007 - Four US EPA staffers made a site visit to Countywide and requested information on aluminum dross, leachate, slope stability, and other collected data regarding the history of the situation. Tuscarawas County Commissioner Kerry Metzger expressed hope that this was a response to the letter the Joint Solid Waste District sent to the US EPA. See article in the Times-Reporter.

12/18/2007 - Republic Waste Services has put up a website to keep the community and customers updated on the situation at Countywide Landfill. See article in the Times-Reporter.

12/20/2007 - US Representative Zack Space spoke with EPA Region 5 Administrator Mary Gade and her staff in Chicago via teleconference. He was assured that the US EPA is aware of the situation at Countywide and is keeping an eye on things. See article in the Times-Reporter.

12/6/2007 - OEPA Director Chris Korleski’s plan to dewater Countywide Landfill has hit a snag. Liquid is pooling in the gas wells faster than expected, and deadlines have been pushed back to explore other methods of pumping the liquid out. See articles in the Times-Reporter. Article 1 - Article 2

11/29/2007 - Stark County Common Pleas Judge Richard Reinbold ruled in favor of Republic Waste Services, blocking the Stark County Health Department from suspending Countywide’s license until he can look at all the paperwork. He stated “I can’t say the immediacy of harm to residents around the landfill takes precedence over harm to Republic Services of Ohio.” It is not yet known what effect this will have if the Health Department denies Countywide a 2008 operating permit. See article in the Times-Reporter.

11/21/2007 - Stark County Health Commissioner William Franks has decided to recommend that Countywide’s license be suspended. He told Countywide officials that failure to contain or extinguish the underground fire is one of the main reasons for his decision. Republic Services has filed a lawsuit to block the Board of Health from suspending the license, and the first hearing is on November 28. IF the license is successfully suspended, Countywide will have to close. See article in the Times-Reporter.