Sunday, December 17, 2006

 

Waste-industry spokesman explains position

BY Bob Wang
The Canton Repository

CANTON - A day after a waste industry association filed a lawsuit to invalidate new local waste district rules, the association’s spokesman said Thursday that many of the concerns those rules seek to address have already been dealt with in voluntary agreements.

David Biderman, the general counsel for the National Solid Wastes Management Association, said many of the rules are vague and interfere with interstate commerce, which can be regulated only by Congress, not local governments.

The rules passed last month by the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Joint Solid Waste Management District require landfills in the three counties to:

  • Minimize odors, noise, dust and vibration by proper use of berms, walls, natural planting screens and soundproofing and minimize mud and dust by proper paving and use of gravel.

  • Have a Fire and Emergency Management Plan, a litter collection plan, an odor control plan, an overweight truck deterrence plan, a wheel washing unit, hours of operation of 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and groundwater monitoring.

The association is asking a Stark County Common Pleas judge to throw out the rules. The case has been assigned to Judge Richard Reinbold.

“We’re not saying it’s too unreasonable to have a plan,” said Biderman. “But we think they don’t have the authority (under state law) to require a plan, and there’s nothing in here that explains what’s to be in a plan.”

Biderman said local landfills have been willing to address residents’ concerns by negotiating voluntary agreements with the district, rather than have requirements imposed upon them.

He also wouldn’t be surprised if Summit and Cuyahoga counties sued the district for one rule that starting in 2008 prohibits district landfills from accepting waste from other waste districts with lower recycling rates.

Although that rule only affects trash from within Ohio, the lawsuit papers said it affects interstate commerce because if Cuyahoga and Summit counties can’t dump their waste in Stark County, they may be forced to send their waste out of state.

Tuscarawas County Commissioner Kerry Metzger, a former state legislator and longtime opponent of landfill expansion, who played a key role in drafting the rules, and the district’s attorneys couldn’t be reached for comment.