By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com

County residents aired their concerns over a proposed expansion to the Crawford County Landfill at a meeting with the Ohio EPA Tuesday evening.

Santek Environmental of Northern Ohio, Inc., which has operated the county-owned landfill since 2004, submitted a draft expansion permit on Jan. 29, 2014 and a public meeting was held on March 12 of that same year. Three years’ worth of studies and information collection was completed since that time.

The landfill is currently approved for 46.8 acres. The draft permit would allow it to be expanded by an additional 35 acres horizontally and 5 feet vertically on the west side of the landfill. The resulting expansion would add 29 years of operation based on the 2016 average receipts – without the expansion, the landfill would be filled and closed in just over 12 years.

The expansion will be added to the west side of the landfill. Susan Hardy, a representative with the Division of Materials and Waste Management, said the northern part of the landfill was not built with the best available technology and does not have a proper liner

“We don’t want more on top of that that isn’t protected by the liners and everything else,” Hardy added.

The design components would involve a liner consisting of a recompacted clay liner, a plastic liner, and a leachate collection system, and a cap with a recompacted clay barrier, a plastic liner, a drainage layer, a passive gas extraction design, and erosion and sediment control structures. Other components of the expansion would be a ground water monitoring network and an explosive gas monitoring network.

The landfill will be sited within 200 feet of wetlands south of the limits of waste, a common exemption for landfills according to the Ohio EPA representatives.

Though there was not any outright opposition to the expansion, a few residents expressed some concerns over the environmental impacts and future use.

Autumn Cramer asked Ohio EPA representatives if there had been any water quality problems identified in the area surrounding the landfill.

Pete Sokoloski, with the Division of Drinking and Ground Waters, said ground water requires monitoring and if a sampling is statistically significant, the facility would go into a ground water assessment. Santek is required to test twice a year, which are typically done six months apart.

Though the life of the landfill will be extended by nearly three decades if the expansion is approved, once it is closed it will have to remain intact for another 30 years before the Ohio EPA could approve releasing it. Funds are already in place to care for the landfill during that time, including maintenance and monitoring the ground water and gas system.

Ralph Perla had an issue with that, asking why the acres couldn’t be used for the public after it was closed.

“After 30 years the younger generation are still going to be saddled with unproductive land,” Perla argued.

“Yes,” said Hardy. “It cannot be used for any kind of building or you cannot go into the landfill. You cannot drill into the landfill. You cannot do anything like that.”

“I would like to thank the City of Bucyrus and the EPA officials for being here tonight to give us the opportunity as we are all concerned about the citizens who live within the area of the landfill,” Cramer said during the hearing portion of the meeting. “I do hope everyone takes their due diligence into monitoring these wells that are presently there and seriously take into consideration this expansion that would provide the safety and best benefit of the citizens that live in the area and of Crawford County.”

Ohio EPA will accept public comments through the close of business on Aug. 30. Written comments can be sent to:

Ohio EPA
Division of Materials and Waste Management
Processing and Records Management Unit
P.O. Box 1049
Columbus, OH 43216-1049

Emailed comments can be sent to: epa.dmwmcomments@epa.state.oh.us.

After comments are received, responses will be sent out. Ohio EPA staff members will make a recommendation before the Ohio EPA Director makes a final decision on the matter.