BY MARIE McCAIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Many people have asked Diane Mushaben and her husband, Robert, why they continue to live near a 40-acre landfill, especially now that low levels of potentially combustible methane gas have been detected at the site.
Mrs. Mushaben's response is simple, but defiant.
"We stay because this is our home," she said. "Our house is not for sale so somebody else can push us off and make a profit. We stay here because our family is here, our church is here, and our friends are here. We shouldn't have to leave because the landfill is running an operation that has some problems."
In April, Cincinnati Health Department workers, testing for a variety of environmental waste by-products, detected low explosive levels of methane gas at the site in the 5100 block of Gray Road in Winton Place.
Both the city and Gray Road Fill Inc., the owner of the landfill, say residents shouldn't worry and that tests are being conducted to determine the extent and volatility of the emissions.
But residents like the Mushabens and Chris and Amy Burkey say any level of potentially explosive gas is dangerous.
Unhappy with laws regulating the amount of time given to determine the presence of such a gas, they want the tests and any necessary clean-up expedited.
And along with other members of a group called the Winton Place Environment Committee, the Mushabens and Burkeys filed a petition with the health department to this effect last week.
The group points to an April 16 health department notice to Gray Road Fill President Roy Schweitzer Sr. outlining testing and -- if anything is found -- elimination procedures that could take more than five months to complete.
"I'd like to see the problems characterized and remediated by June 1," Mrs. Mushaben said.
The group also points to a 1988 fire at the then-10-acre landfill that burned for at least three days. Fire officials at the time identified the cause as accidental spontaneous combustion.
City Health Commissioner Malcolm Adcock said he understands the concerns, but considers it all speculation until the results of Gray Road Fill's tests are final.
The company is supposed to file a survey report with the city this month.
"We don't believe it is a problem that puts people in danger at this point," Mr. Adcock said. "What we are trying to do is quickly characterize the problem. We're doing the best job we can. There is a due process that has to be followed."
Mr. Schweitzer expects the tests will show the gas has dissipated. But if methane is found, he said the company will work to remedy the problem.
Mrs. Mushaben and Chris Burkey also accuse the company of violating its license restrictions because methane gas, a natural remnant of decomposition, signals the presence of organic material. The landfill is a designated dump site for man-made materials, they said.
However, according to Mr. Adcock, cardboard, an organic material, is not excluded from the landfill. It is commonly found at construction and demolition sites and no law bans its inclusion in such landfills, he said.
Mr. Schweitzer speculated that the problem may have been caused by decomposed yard waste buried long before mixing organic and inorganic materials was prohibited.
"Our point is not to argue or expend our energy monitoring the landfill," Mr. Burkey said. "We (are) concerned about our safety . . . and specifically concerned about a timeline that seems exorbitant -- especially with the warm weather coming."
