Dan Lyon, a long-time volunteer with Friends of Beaver Creek, awaits an answer to a question concerning the protection of Little Beaver Creek and the endangered Eastern Hellbender salamander that live there during an information session hosted by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. (Photo by Evan Houk)
WEST POINT — The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hosted an “unrecorded” public meeting at West Point Church of the Nazarene last Thursday concerning a draft solid waste permit for a municipal landfill proposed nearby.
Local residents voiced their concerns on everything from endangered species in the area to the health of their drinking water– but were assured by a panel of Ohio EPA officers that the draft permit complies with all of the state’s environmental laws and regulations, or siting criteria, that fall under the agency’s authority.
There are some concerns that do not fall under the EPA’s authority but may be addressed by “other local agencies,” Lisa Cochran, the public information officer for the Ohio EPA who hosted the meeting, said. Some examples she mentioned are local zoning, the popularity of the site, potential impact on property values, traffic, noise levels, and concerns about out-of-state waste.
“The siting criteria limit the location of new landfills to certain distances from property lines, homes, and natural resources such as parks, streams, and wetlands,” an Ohio EPA fact sheet concerning the landfill reads.
Cochran laid out the location restrictions, technical requirements involving collection and disposal of leachate (any liquid that touches trash or debris), and geologic characterizations dealing with gas and groundwater monitoring that West Point Renewables LLC, a subsidiary of Vogel Holding Inc., of Mars, Pa., has complied with through the draft permit.
The company is asking for three variances, or deviations from standard regulations, that can be approved because they are “as protective or more protective” than Ohio law, Cochran said.
Instead of the single-liner along the ground under the landfill that Ohio requires, West Point Renewables is proposing a double composite liner system that will include two layers of high density polyethylene (HDPE) geomembrane– a kind of heavy duty plastic– interspersed with two layers of geocomposite clay liner and a leachate collection and sump pump system to pump the contaminated liquid out and haul it off for treatment before it reaches the earth and groundwater.
West Point Renewables is also asking to reduce the 15-foot minimum separation distance from the nearest aquifer, well, or residential water supply to eight feet on about nine of the nearly 55 total acres of the landfill site. They are able to do this because of the double-layer liner system.
“This is a really belt-and-suspenders approach,” Brian Queen, manager for the eastern district office of the Ohio EPA, said. “We’ve put down multiple liner systems, we check them for holes, then we make sure that the right material is underneath the facility that takes decades for anything to flow through, and then we have a groundwater monitoring.”
Queen expressed his understanding that no one wants a landfill in their backyard, but landfills are “where we want the trash to go” and that is why they are required by the state to be designed with all the regulations and precautionary measures in place.
The solid waste permit is the final one of three that must be approved in order for West Point Renewables to move forward with its 54.94-acre landfill at the address of 13560 state Route 45, Lisbon–near West Point and Madison Township.
The other two permits needed– air and surface water– have already been approved by Ohio EPA Director Anne Vogel. The sole authority to approve the draft solid waste permit also rests with Vogel.
The landfill is technically proposed to be located at 13560 state Route 45 in Lisbon, but residents in West Point and Madison Township will be affected by its approval and they made their voices heard at Thursday’s meeting.
Karen Satterfield expressed concern about possible contamination of wells that are used by residents for drinking water.
Jeff Rizzo, a hydrogeologist with the Ohio EPA, explained that it is “impossible” for the wells to be contaminated because they are encased in bedrock and the source of the water is not downhill from the proposed landfill site.
“The regional flow of where you get your water from, the bedrock aquifer, are not downgradient of this landfill,” Rizzo said. “If there is a release, you don’t need to worry about the safety of your well or the water quality of your well or your family’s health because of that.”
Other residents raised concerns about threatened species like the bald eagle or endangered species like the Eastern Hellbender salamander that reside in the area around the west fork of Little Beaver Creek.
Little Beaver Creek is home to the largest population of the Eastern Hellbender salamander in Ohio, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
Yet, the DNR has not yet filed any official complaints or concerns with the Ohio EPA regarding these animal species and the landfill’s potential effect on them, according to Rizzo.
Dan Lyon, a long-time volunteer with Friends of Beaver Creek State Park, expressed concerns for the health of the water in Little Beaver Creek and the Eastern Hellbender salamander.
“I’m worried about the wild and scenic river, which is a pristine creek, it’s federally protected. It has Hellbender salamanders in it that are currently being helped to reproduce in the area,” Lyon said.
Residents’ only recourse is to submit public comments, the more specific the better, said Bill Zewiski, water quality group supervisor in the Ohio EPA’s division of surface water.
Lyon was advised to submit a comment suggesting adding a provision in the permit about regular monitoring of the endangered Eastern Hellbender salamander that lives near the Little Beaver Creek and the proposed site of the landfill.
“Like you, we do not want to see that compromised in any way,” Zewiski said of the Little Beaver Creek.
Zewiski also assured Lyon that the creek would be protected from any contamination from the landfill.
“If there is leachate entering surface water, and I’ve been doing this for 35 years now, we have yet to find those long-term quality impacts,” he said. “We do not see water quality impacts to those streams. That’s what the data tells us.”
The proposed landfill site will accept an anticipated 1,500 tons of waste per day with a maximum daily limit of 4,000 tons. The estimated life expectancy is 15.7 years until the landfill is full and has to close.
At that point, West Point Renewables is responsible for capping the landfill with clay and heavy-duty plastic and maintaining and monitoring the site for at least 30 years after its closure. The company must also ensure the methane gas is vented.
“They take care of it really, for 30 years,” John Hujar, Ohio EPA engineer in the division of materials and waste management for Columbiana County, said.
Some capped landfills can be repurposed as parks or installed with solar panels on top, Queen said.
“Most landfills in Ohio end up as a green hill,” he said. “Basically a grassy place.”
West Point Renewables LLC was formed by Youngstown-based Ohio Valley Waste Service, the company that provides recycling disposal services for the solid waste district (SWD) that serves Columbiana, Carroll and Harrison counties.
The landfill West Point Renewables is proposing is on the former Rosebud Mining Company property off of state Route 45, where a fly ash, or coal waste, facility previously operated about 25 years ago. Ohio Valley Waste Service, which is owned by Vogel Holding, has operated a transfer station on the site since 2022, which it is hoping now to expand to a landfill.
Rosebud sold 926 acres with buildings to West Point Renewables for $1.2 million in Oct. 2019.
Prior to the sale, in 2014, Rosebud began seeking Ohio EPA permission to develop and operate a solid waste (household garbage) landfill so it could accept drill cuttings from oil and natural gas operations in the area. The permit drew opposition from local residents and the county health department.
Those plans were abandoned and then Rosebud sold the property to Vogel Holding, which is now reviving plans for a solid waste landfill.
In response to a question if Anne Vogel has any relation to Vogel Holding Inc., which owns Ohio Valley Waste Service and West Point Renewables, Cochran said “we confirmed that they are not related.”
The meeting was considered “unrecorded” by the EPA because the state agency did not have a court reporter present and the results were not recorded into its official record.
“This meeting will not be documented. This is what we call an information session,” Cochran said. “This is an opportunity for Ohio EPA to provide information about the draft permit and an opportunity for the attendees to ask questions, but we will not document. We will not write it down. We do not have a court reporter.”
Cochran stressed that in order for public comments to be recorded, they should be submitted by mail or email to Ohio EPA at epa.dmwmcomments@epa.ohio.com by the deadline of April 11.
Comments will also be heard in person at the public hearing at the West Point Church of the Nazarene, 13334 West Point Road, Lisbon, at 6 p.m. April 4.
The comments will then be considered in the final recommendation submitted to Director Vogel.
“All comments will be considered equally,” Cochran said.
Ohio EPA officials answered questions at last week’s meeting but will not do so at the public hearing on April 4.
“At the public hearing, our role will be to sit and listen,” Cochran said. “There will not be a question-and-answer session.”
ehouk@mojonews.com
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