PIKE TWP. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has formally accused the Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facilities of violating eight environmental regulations, some of which are related to the discovery last month that solid waste has migrated out of the permitted waste area.

The agency also said that an underground fire at the landfill, as of December, “is neither controlled nor extinguished,” according to a notice of violation sent to the landfill Monday, which was accompanied by pictures of the waste.

State environmental officials say they found garbage and liquid outside the allowed boundaries for waste at Countywide Recycling and Disposal Facility in December, and they released a notice Monday that the East Sparta landfill is violating landfill regulations and an agreement with the state. The landfill’s manager, however, said the conditions that sparked the notice are nothing new, and he questioned some of the state’s findings.

State environmental officials say they found garbage and liquid outside the allowed boundaries for waste at Countywide Recycling and Disposal Facility in December, and they released a notice Monday that the East Sparta landfill is violating landfill regulations and an agreement with the state.

The landfill’s manager, however, said the conditions that sparked the notice are nothing new, and he questioned some of the state’s findings.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is citing a Stark County landfill for having buried trash where it's not supposed to be.

The agency today released eight violations against the Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility in Pike Township.

On Dec. 7, three EPA staffers and a state consultant were present at Countywide when drilling uncovered evidence of buried trash about 10 feet outside of Cell 6A on the south side of the 258-acre landfill, the EPA said.

The drilling of a soil gas probe also turned up evidence of leachate or liquid runoff and landfill gases in that area, the agency said.

CANTON “I loved my time there and have recommended the Computers Again organization to several of my friends,” said Patty Stephens of Canton. “I learned a lot from the class. I can’t wait to go through this program again.”

Computers Again, formerly known as the Northeast Ohio Computer Exchange, is a nonprofit agency which accepts corporate and individual donations of computers, refurbishes them using volunteers, and sells them for $75 each to nonprofit agencies, schools, and low-income families. It serves Stark, Summit, and Tuscarawas counties.

ZOARVILLE Three lawyers, two from New York City, met with about 200 residents of Stark and Tuscarawas counties Thursday night and offered to represent them in a lawsuit against the Countywide landfill.

Anyone who has been affected by the Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility’s odors was invited to apply to be a plaintiff in the suit to seek damages.

If the lawyers lose against the Pike Township landfill, it will cost the residents nothing. If they win, the lawyers will collect up to 45 percent of any settlement or judgment.

ZOARVILLE – About 500 packed the Tuscarawas Valley High gymnasium Thursday night for a public meeting with a group of attorneys who may represent area residents in a lawsuit against Countywide Recycling and Disposal facility, located just north of Bolivar in Pike Township, Stark County.

Through the efforts of Dwayne Flickinger of Bolivar, Steven Bell, an attorney from Brecksville who was an assistant U.S. attorney for the northern district of Ohio, and Robin Greenwald and Hadley Matarazzo, attorneys with Weitz and Luxenberg of New York, N.Y., who have experience in environmental law, were recruited to prepare the lawsuit if it continues.

Stark dump's neighbors contact lawyers, might claim emotional damage, nuisance

By Bob Downing
Beacon Journal staff writer

Published on Friday, Jan 18, 2008

ZOAR: Neighbors of a Stark County landfill on Thursday supported filing a lawsuit seeking damages from the dump.

Many in the crowd from southern Stark and northern Tuscarawas counties signed up to participate in the proposed suit seeking as-yet-unspecified damages from Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility, the source of odors and underground fires for two years.

Attorneys Steven D. Bell, of Brecksville, and Robin Greenwald, of Weitz & Luxenberg PC in New York City, addressed the crowd of about 280 in the gymnasium at Tuscarawas Valley High School and answered questions about legal action.

Packets of seedlings are available through the Tuscarawas Soil and Water Conservation District. Available are conifer packets: 25 blue spruce seedlings, 25 white pine seedlings and 25 Norway spruce seedlings, each for $10 per packet; 10 Fraser fir seedlings for $12.

Deciduous packets: 10 white oak seedlings; 10 red oak seedlings; 10 red maple seedlings; or 10 tuliptree seedlings, each for $12 per packet.

CADIZ – Harrison County commissioners heard from Ohio Sen. Jason Wilson, who is seeking re-election to the 30th District in the March 4 Democratic primary, at their recent meeting.

Wilson said that Gov. Ted Strickland understands places like Cadiz and discussed plans to obtain a $7 million loan for the Harrison Ethanol Plant.