County hires law firm to appeal EPA orders on landfill problems
By NOAH BLUNDO
The Times-Reporter
BOLIVAR - Tuscarawas County commissioners Thursday officially retained the Canton law firm of Black, McCuskey, Souers & Arbaugh for their appeal of orders from the Ohio EPA regarding odor and heat problems at Countywide Recycling and Disposal Facility.
Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Director Chris Korleski’s orders detail measures the East Sparta landfill must take, including paying more than $1 million in fines, working to suppress odors and submitting a plan to put out a fire the EPA believes is burning under the landfill. Countywide officials have said they will comply with the orders, though they dispute the presence of a fire.
Commissioners announced their plan to appeal Tuesday, saying they will challenge the orders with or without help from the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Joint Solid Waste District because they believe the fire poses a danger to the integrity of the landfill’s liner and thus to the groundwater below the landfill. The appeal was filed with the Environmental Review Appeals Commission.
Countywide General Manager Tim Vandersall said the landfill has been monitoring the groundwater and the integrity of the liner, which he described as a “redundant system” consisting of plastic, three feet of clay and a layer of bentonite, a compacted, fabric-wrapped layer of blended clay from different states.
“From my viewpoint, everything they’re concerned about is addressed in the orders,” Vandersall said.
“I really don’t see the need to spend taxpayer money to appeal, if not the most, then one of the most extensive set of orders to come out of the Ohio EPA,” he added.
The county prosecutor’s office recommended commissioners use outside counsel because the landfill matter is beyond the expertise of the attorneys in the office, and commissioners picked the Canton firm because they have a working knowledge of the situation through past work with ethe waste district.
Lead counsel Thomas W. Connors will bill at a rate of $200 per hour. Additional work by the office will be billed at the following rates: $160-$235 for work by partners; $115-$160 for associates; and $85-$95 for legal assistants. The firm also will bill for expenses incurred during the case.
Also Thursday, commissioners approved a $15,000 supplemental appropriate for emergency bridge repairs through County Engineer Joe Bachman’s office.
Engineer’s employees recently discovered a hole in the Cross St. bridge in Newcomerstown and have reduced traffic to one lane. Bachman’s office said the bridge is on a list of federally funded replacement projects, but the repairs must be made for the short term until the federal money is secured.
In other business, commissioners:
– APPROVED allowing Clerk of Courts Rockne Clarke and two of his employees travel to Charlotte, N.C., July 15-21 for the International Assn. of Clerks, Recorders, Election Officials and Treasurer’s conference at a cost of $3,200.
– APPROVED a supplemental appropriation for $10,000 through a U.S. Department of Justice Grant for bullet-proof vests for the Sheriff Department.
The Times-Reporter
BOLIVAR - Tuscarawas County commissioners Thursday officially retained the Canton law firm of Black, McCuskey, Souers & Arbaugh for their appeal of orders from the Ohio EPA regarding odor and heat problems at Countywide Recycling and Disposal Facility.
Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Director Chris Korleski’s orders detail measures the East Sparta landfill must take, including paying more than $1 million in fines, working to suppress odors and submitting a plan to put out a fire the EPA believes is burning under the landfill. Countywide officials have said they will comply with the orders, though they dispute the presence of a fire.
Commissioners announced their plan to appeal Tuesday, saying they will challenge the orders with or without help from the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Joint Solid Waste District because they believe the fire poses a danger to the integrity of the landfill’s liner and thus to the groundwater below the landfill. The appeal was filed with the Environmental Review Appeals Commission.
Countywide General Manager Tim Vandersall said the landfill has been monitoring the groundwater and the integrity of the liner, which he described as a “redundant system” consisting of plastic, three feet of clay and a layer of bentonite, a compacted, fabric-wrapped layer of blended clay from different states.
“From my viewpoint, everything they’re concerned about is addressed in the orders,” Vandersall said.
“I really don’t see the need to spend taxpayer money to appeal, if not the most, then one of the most extensive set of orders to come out of the Ohio EPA,” he added.
The county prosecutor’s office recommended commissioners use outside counsel because the landfill matter is beyond the expertise of the attorneys in the office, and commissioners picked the Canton firm because they have a working knowledge of the situation through past work with ethe waste district.
Lead counsel Thomas W. Connors will bill at a rate of $200 per hour. Additional work by the office will be billed at the following rates: $160-$235 for work by partners; $115-$160 for associates; and $85-$95 for legal assistants. The firm also will bill for expenses incurred during the case.
Also Thursday, commissioners approved a $15,000 supplemental appropriate for emergency bridge repairs through County Engineer Joe Bachman’s office.
Engineer’s employees recently discovered a hole in the Cross St. bridge in Newcomerstown and have reduced traffic to one lane. Bachman’s office said the bridge is on a list of federally funded replacement projects, but the repairs must be made for the short term until the federal money is secured.
In other business, commissioners:
– APPROVED allowing Clerk of Courts Rockne Clarke and two of his employees travel to Charlotte, N.C., July 15-21 for the International Assn. of Clerks, Recorders, Election Officials and Treasurer’s conference at a cost of $3,200.
– APPROVED a supplemental appropriation for $10,000 through a U.S. Department of Justice Grant for bullet-proof vests for the Sheriff Department.
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