Public meeting discusses proposed landfill with Ohio EPA - WKBN.com

Ohio EPA holds public meeting on proposed landfill in West Point, Ohio

MADISON TWP., Ohio(WKBN) — A geologist with the Ohio EPA on Thursday guaranteed the people in a small Columbiana County community that their water wells will be safe if a landfill is allowed to open.

The statement came during a public meeting about the proposed landfill in West Point, located in southeast Columbiana County off state Route 11, between Lisbon and East Liverpool.

Karen Satterfield was the first person to ask a question at the meeting hosted by the Ohio EPA. She was concerned about runoff from the landfill getting into her water.

“What happens when that monitoring system goes off, there’s a detection that it’s going into our ground water — what happens then?” Satterfield said.

EPA geologist Jeff Rizzo was there to answer quetions.

“You’re concerned about your water quality, but you don’t need to worry about it because it’s impossible,” Rizzo said. “If there’s a contamination release to the aquifer, it cannot reach your wells.”

The landfill would go on 55 acres along state Route 45, where a company called West Point Renewables is operating a waste transfer station. The company filed a permit with the EPA to move forward with the installation earlier this month.

To prove that all water wells will be safe, Rizzo used graphics that showed how the water would flow away from the wells.

“Everybody’s well is in bedrock,” Rizzo said. “If everything flows into the mine spoil and everything in the bedrock is flowing into the mine spoil in that valley, your wells can’t get impacted from this.”

Dan Lyon was concerned about the water of nearby Little Beaver Creek.

“I’m worried about the wild and scenic river that is a pristine creek. It’s federally protected. It has hellbenders, salamanders in it,” Lyon said.

Lyon was told that should water from that landfill make to Little Beaver Creek, it would likely be dissolved before ever causing a problem.

The proposed landfill has three variances.

The landfill’s owner wants 9 of the 55 acres to be 8 feet from the aquifer, instead of the 15 feet required by law. To protect the aquifer, the owner will add material to make it harder for water to flow through, as well as thicken the liner system.

“They have proposed to install a double composite liner. So, two liners … heavy plastic material,” Lisa Cochran, with the Ohio EPA, said.

The meeting Thursday evening was informational. The Ohio EPA will host a second meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 4 for public comment on whether the landfill should allowed. It will be held at West Point Church of the Nazarene.