BY MICHAEL D. CLARK
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON -- After three weeks of public meetings, Warren County zoning officials Wednesday voted against recommending a new landfill.
The five-member Warren County Zoning Commission voted 3-2 against recommending a zoning variance for a new landfill proposed to be built next to the Bigfoot Run waste site in Union Township. "Why put another dump close to an aquifer or the Little Miami River?" zoning commission member Robert Curran asked fellow members minutes before the vote.
Board member Al Schwarzwalder sided with Mr. Curran against the landfill, saying to vote otherwise "would be unconscionable for future generations."
The issue now goes before Warren County commissioners.
It was the third consecutive defeat for Browning-Ferris Industries of Ohio Inc. (BFI), which operates the Bigfoot Run landfill.
The waste disposal company is proposing expanding to a new, adjacent waste site that it has dubbed Bigfoot II. It would replace Bigfoot Run, which is the only operating landfill in Warren County and is to reach capacity and close in May.
County commissioners have the final say locally as to whether the Bigfoot II proposal will progress to state environmental officials for review and perhaps final approval.
Neither the zoning commission's negative vote, nor the two previous non-recommendation votes from the Warren County Regional Planning Commission, are binding on the three county commissioners. In July, the county's regional planning commission voted against a similar plan for a Bigfoot II.
County commissioners are to vote on the Bigfoot II proposal in about 60 days.
After the zoning commission's vote, Rob Dolder, district vice president of BFI, said he was disappointed but that he remains optimistic county commissioners will see the merits of replacing Warren County's only landfill.
"We're not changing our strategy," Mr. Dolder said of the lengthy presentations and detailed documentation from BFI officials.
Mr. Dolder has consistently warned Warren County residents that if BFI is not allowed to build another landfill, then residents will likely have only one trash hauler for 90 percent of the county and will have to pay substantially more for trash removal.
Warren Reed, president of the Morrow Environmental Preservation Association (MEPA), said the three consecutive victories are helping his group "win in the court of public opinion."
Mr. Reed said county commissioners are unlikely to ignore the outpouring of public sentiment against a new landfill.
