Lawmakers should watch landfill suit
CANTON - The Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Joint Solid Waste Management District needs to ensure that landfills are good neighbors. If a court or a state agency finds that the district has exceeded its authority by approving rules for landfill operations, state law needs to give the district that authority.
In November, the district board approved regulations designed to reduce noise, odor and dust, dictate operating hours and restrict garbage truck traffic near residential areas. Because such regulations come at a cost for landfills, it’s not surprising that a landfill trade organization, the National Solid Wastes Management Association, is taking the district to court.
In a lawsuit filed this week in Stark County Common Pleas Court, the association maintained that the district has exceeded its authority under state law to create such rules.
It’s also not surprising that neighboring Summit County is fighting the rules, one of which would prohibit counties that recycle less than Stark County from dumping their trash here, as Summit does. The Summit-Akron Solid Waste Management Authority this week decided to appeal to the Ohio Environmental Review Appeals Commission to overturn the rules.
Since the trade association argues that the district has exceeded the authority given to it under state law, state legislators should keep tabs on the lawsuit. State Rep. John Hagan of Marlboro Township should be particularly interested, having said during his re-election campaign that he would devote much of his next term to tightening landfill regulations.
If the court or the appeals commission determines that the law contains a loophole that favors landfills, we hope to see Hagan lead the charge to close it.
