Landfill response plan criticized
BY Paul Kostyu
The Canton Repository
COLUMBUS - Do you know whom to call in case of an emergency?
Apparently, the operators of the Countywide landfill in Pike Township don't. They put a wrong number in the emergency response plan they submitted to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
Not only was the number wrong for the Stark County Emergency Management Agency, but the EPA found other problems with the 32-page plan submitted in late May.
The state released its analysis of the plan last week. Countywide Recycling and Disposal Facility has until Tuesday to revise the document. The plan is a requirement under orders issued in March in the aftermath of two underground fires and severe odor problems at the landfill.
Tim Vandersall, Countywide's general manager, said the company will meet the deadline even though it considers the EPA's changes "way above and beyond" what is needed.
"We're used to providing extensive information over the past two years," he said. "It's quite a bit of work."
The EPA analysis also found these shortcomings:
-- "Countywide needs to plan for a catastrophic event and identify necessary resources to respond quickly and effectively." The EPA analysis said the plan is too general and lacks an assessment of what to do if surface fires, explosions, slope failure, significant air emissions or failed engineering occur.
-- The potential health, safety and environmental impact for each emergency type are not identified, nor is Countywide's response to each from a short- and long-term perspective.
-- Two local fire departments are listed as responders in case of an emergency, but local resources may not have the personnel, training or equipment to respond adequately. The EPA wants the plan to identify and evaluate additional resources, including industrial contractors "capable of responding to large-scale events."
-- Not including how interruption of normal business operations would be handled in the case of a catastrophic event. For example, the plan does not say where waste haulers would be sent.
-- The lines of communication with the media and the public need to be more detailed.
-- The emergency response plan is a supplement of the landfill's Emergency Action Plan, which wasn't submitted but needs to be.
-- The plan doesn't say who would contact emergency responders.
-- While the plan discusses evacuation procedures and accounting for employees, it doesn't address procedures for others such as contractors and visitors.
-- There are systems, such as pumps, leachate collection, gas flares and extraction, that may need to continue to operate in an emergency. The plan doesn't say how they will be maintained.
-- The plan spells out who will meet to assess an emergency situation, but doesn't say where that meeting will take place.
Ohio EPA and Countywide documents dealing with the landfill can be found at: www.epa.state.oh.us/pic/countywide.html.
The Canton Repository
COLUMBUS - Do you know whom to call in case of an emergency?
Apparently, the operators of the Countywide landfill in Pike Township don't. They put a wrong number in the emergency response plan they submitted to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
Not only was the number wrong for the Stark County Emergency Management Agency, but the EPA found other problems with the 32-page plan submitted in late May.
The state released its analysis of the plan last week. Countywide Recycling and Disposal Facility has until Tuesday to revise the document. The plan is a requirement under orders issued in March in the aftermath of two underground fires and severe odor problems at the landfill.
Tim Vandersall, Countywide's general manager, said the company will meet the deadline even though it considers the EPA's changes "way above and beyond" what is needed.
"We're used to providing extensive information over the past two years," he said. "It's quite a bit of work."
The EPA analysis also found these shortcomings:
-- "Countywide needs to plan for a catastrophic event and identify necessary resources to respond quickly and effectively." The EPA analysis said the plan is too general and lacks an assessment of what to do if surface fires, explosions, slope failure, significant air emissions or failed engineering occur.
-- The potential health, safety and environmental impact for each emergency type are not identified, nor is Countywide's response to each from a short- and long-term perspective.
-- Two local fire departments are listed as responders in case of an emergency, but local resources may not have the personnel, training or equipment to respond adequately. The EPA wants the plan to identify and evaluate additional resources, including industrial contractors "capable of responding to large-scale events."
-- Not including how interruption of normal business operations would be handled in the case of a catastrophic event. For example, the plan does not say where waste haulers would be sent.
-- The lines of communication with the media and the public need to be more detailed.
-- The emergency response plan is a supplement of the landfill's Emergency Action Plan, which wasn't submitted but needs to be.
-- The plan doesn't say who would contact emergency responders.
-- While the plan discusses evacuation procedures and accounting for employees, it doesn't address procedures for others such as contractors and visitors.
-- There are systems, such as pumps, leachate collection, gas flares and extraction, that may need to continue to operate in an emergency. The plan doesn't say how they will be maintained.
-- The plan spells out who will meet to assess an emergency situation, but doesn't say where that meeting will take place.
Ohio EPA and Countywide documents dealing with the landfill can be found at: www.epa.state.oh.us/pic/countywide.html.
