Ohio City Mayor Opposes State EPA on Issuing Permit

When the Warren, Ohio, Board of Health approved a construction and demolition debris license for Warren Recycling, it was not what the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency wanted.

The Ohio EPA, which argues that Warren Recycling is not in “substantial compliance” with its licensing requirements, had recommended that the board deny the license renewal for 2003.

Since the Warren health board voted four-to-one to renew the license, an Ohio EPA spokesperson told reporter Kellie Young of the Warren Tribune Chronicle that the state might revoke the local board’s power to issue landfill licenses.

In an article in Tribune Chronicle, Warren Mayor Henry J. Angelo said that would be fine.

He said the city gets approximately $1,500 in fees for each license renewal, a figure that does not begin to cover the city’s related expenses.

Health department officials made more than 100 trips to Warren Recycling during the review process.

Warren Recycling got in trouble with the Ohio EPA in 1998 for accepting wood for disposal that did not come from a demolition site. An agency official said they are also investigating whether toxic fumes are currently emitting from the landfill.

An attorney for Warren Recycling said the wood disposal issue was settled in court, and he noted that the Ohio EPA has not sited the facility for any environmental hazards at the landfill.

Debra Roth, leader of the citizen group Our Lives Count, said she would also be pleased if the state took over landfill licensing in Warren because she believes local leaders are “protecting” Warren Recycling.

The lone dissenter on the board, Lillie Brooks, said she did not want to grant the license yet because it could have provided leverage in ongoing discussions with Warren Recycling about outstanding license violations at the site.

“Now they don’t have to sit down with us because we gave them the license,” she said.