Cleveland To Cite Concrete Crusher After Food Distributors Complain

QCity of Cleveland inspectors are cracking down on a concrete-recycling site that has drawn complaints from nearby businesses in Greater Cleveland's food-distribution hub.

The city's building and air-quality officials say the rubble-crushing yard will have to stop operating until it complies with zoning and permit restrictions.

City inspectors have been at the dusty site twice in the last six days.

Robert Vilkas, deputy director of the city's Building and Housing division, said the site does not have permits for storage of dusty materials or for crushing rubble.

He said his department will issue violation notices requiring the operators to cease the dusty work and apply for the permits, which could take weeks to procure. The operators will have 30 days to comply with the orders, Vilkas said.

The city's air-quality division will also hit the recycling yard with a notice of violation, said Matt Carroll, acting director of the Department of Public Health.

The site was operating long before the air-quality division gave its approval, which came only this week. The operators will have 14 days to explain how they will correct the violation, Carroll said.

"We would want them to cease operation until we receive their corrective action plan," Carroll said.

He said his division had received no complaints about the recycling yard.

Dave DiBiasio of Great Lakes Management says the site is dirtying the air-intake and condensing system used to refrigerate the 100,000-square-foot warehouse that Great Lakes manages on East 40th Street.

"They seem to be really good people," DiBiasio said of the operators. "But this type of business doesn't fit around here. . . . There's a dozen produce and warehouse companies dealing with the food industry." Cleveland Plain Dealer