BY MICHAEL D. CLARK
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON -- Warren County residents fighting a proposed landfill hope to bury the idea a little deeper tonight by persuading zoning officials to reject the plan.
Flush from victory last week in helping to persuade Warren County regional planning officials to reject the Bigfoot II landfill proposal, opposition leaders say nearly 100 supporters are expected at tonight's county zoning board meeting.
"I feel confident we'll win," said Warren Reed, president of the Morrow Environmental Preservation Association (MEPA). "This issue will be decided in the court of public opinion."
The group is fighting Browning-Ferris Industries of Ohio Inc. (BFI), which is proposing to build another landfill next to the Bigfoot Run waste site in Warren County's Union Township.
The Bigfoot Run landfill will reach capacity and be closed in May, and BFI contends that sending solid waste out of Warren County will be too costly to residents and leave them open to price-gouging by other waste disposal companies.
BFI officials also are confident that their proposal, which includes a request for a zoning variance on 132 acres east of Bigfoot Run landfill, is supported by the larger number of Warren County residents who are not MEPA members.
"If the zoning commission goes with the most people in this county, they will be going with the majority," said Robert Dolder, district vice president of BFI. "I hope they recognize they have an obligation to the whole county's population."
The five-member zoning commission will hold a public meeting at 7:30 p.m. at the Warren County Courthouse. The commission will then vote on whether to issue a recommendation to the county commissioners. The zoning commission's recommendation is not binding on the county commissioners, who will cast the deciding vote on the landfill proposal within 60 days.
