BY JANET C. WETZEL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
UNION TOWNSHIP -- Less than a week after Browning-Ferris Industries Inc. (BFI) withdrew an application for a zoning change to expand Bigfoot Run landfill, the company has applied for a state permit to use the site. The "permit to install" application was filed Monday with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA).
BFI's public hearing on the issue will be 6 p.m. Aug. 6 at Lebanon High School.
Ruth MacKenzie, board president of the anti-landfill group Morrow Environmental Preservation Association (MEPA), called the action "another big battle to be fought."
"This is the first step with Ohio EPA toward a new landfill, and its something we don't want to happen because of the detriment to the community," Mrs. MacKenzie said.
Rob Dolder, BFI district vice president, countered that the application is "just one more step in the process."
BFI is "just trying to follow the policies, procedures and rules -- both county and state," he said.
In late June, the Warren County Regional Planning Commission's executive committee voted 6-4 to reject BFI's request to change zoning from residential - agricultural to solid waste district on a 139-acre site next to Bigfoot Run on Mason-Morrow-Millgrove Road.
BFI officials have said they need the space to build a separate facility adjacent to Bigfoot Run, which is to reach capacity in May.
On Thursday, Mr. Dolder said BFI withdrew the zone change application so the company could reconsider the commission's concerns.
The landfill will not happen without the zoning change and the OEPA permit.
MEPA fears BFI wants to get the state permit and then "badger the county for five or six years to get a zone change -- wear them down," Mrs. MacKenzie said. "And maybe people will quit fighting and they end up winning."
Lynne Barst, media coordinator for OEPA's Southwest District, said the permit process requires a minimum of 180 days, but it typically can last about two years.
"Once they get the permit, the construction must start within a year," Ms. Barst said. "There is no time limit on how long they can hold the permit as long as there are no violations."
In a recent letter, William J. Rumpke, president of Rumpke Consolidated Cos. Inc., told the zoning commission his company could handle the 2,000 tons of trash a day Bigfoot Run takes in.
BFI also is suing the village of Morrow for the right to build a landfill on the former Alpine ski resort at Morrow-Blackhawk and Morrow-Woodville roads. Morrow leaders refuse to allow the project.
