Summit fights dumping rules
The Akron Beacon Journal
AKRON - Summit County is fighting a plan that could ban its trash from landfills in other counties.
The Summit-Akron Solid Waste Management Authority on Tuesday voted to fight the new rules approved Nov. 3 by the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Solid Waste Management District.
The Summit agency agreed to file an appeal with the Ohio Environmental Review Appeals Commission, although state officials were unsure if that was the correct procedure.
The commission usually hears appeals of decisions by the EPA, not rules imposed by a county garbage district.
Summit County's trash -- about 453,000 tons a year -- could, starting in 2008, be banned from landfills in Stark, Wayne and Tuscarawas counties, if Summit County recycles less than the three counties.
Most trash in Summit County goes to two landfills in Stark County: American Landfill in Sandy Township and the Countywide Recycling and Disposal Facility in Pike Township.
Waste haulers and the National Solid Wastes Management Association, a national trade group, are also looking into the possibility of fighting the ban.
Summit's action came after Executive Director Yolanda Walker suggested that her agency file a lawsuit to block the rules. A lawsuit is backed by the cities of Akron, Cuyahoga Falls, Barberton and Stow, she said.
The governing board of the Summit agency then huddled with attorneys for 45 minutes and emerged to instead approve the appeal to the three-member ERAC board.
Summit decided to take that action because of an approaching state deadline. A lawsuit is still a possibility in the future, said Fairlawn Mayor William Roth, who chaired the meeting.
Stark, Wayne and Tuscarawas counties adopted the new rule because officials are tired of being a dumping ground for 13 percent of Ohio's trash.
The three-county district took in about 3.5 million tons of trash in 2005: 900,000 tons from the three counties, 520,000 tons from out of state and 2 million tons from other Ohio counties.
Under the rule, Ohio counties would be permitted to ship waste to the three landfills in Stark, Wayne and Tuscarawas counties only if they equal or surpass what the three counties are doing to recycle.
The rules would require that other counties comply in one of two ways:
• By recycling more residential-commercial and more industrial waste than Stark, Wayne and Tuscarawas counties.
• Or by providing recycling access to more residents than the three counties do.
The Ohio EPA says the three counties in 2005 recycled 11 percent of their residential-commercial trash and 71 percent of their industrial waste.
Summit County recently has recycled about 17 percent of residential-commercial garbage and 83 percent of industrial waste.
The state requirement is that 25 percent of residential-commercial trash and 50 percent of industrial waste be recycled.
Alternately, counties could provide proof that they provide recycling to more of their residents. The EPA goal is to make recycling available to 90 percent of residents.
In 2003, 100 percent of Tuscarawas County had access to drop-off centers or curbside recycling. In Wayne County, the figure was 98 percent. In Stark County, it was 59 percent.
Plans for curbside recycling in Canton and other improvements would boost the Stark County figure to 90 percent by 2008, the EPA said.
Summit County's access is 90 percent.
David Held, director of the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne district, said the Summit action comes as no surprise.
He said officials expected such action and perhaps a similar move by Cuyahoga County that also relies heavily on the landfills, as well as the waste haulers.
