WEST CHESTER TWP. — Five months after allegations arose that the closed Skinner Landfill might not have been properly capped, the township this week finalized a letter to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency outlining the concerns and asking for a response.

        The delay in the letter — necessary, EPA officials said, before they would address the accusations — has upset some residents and at least one township trustee.

        “It appears the administration dragged their feet,” Trustee Catherine Stoker said. “I don't think it would have gone out if I hadn't kept pressing for it. The issues need to be resolved because there are safety concerns for those who work and live in the area, not to mention complying with the law.”

        Ms. Stoker has been a watchdog of cleanup at the site, located off Cincinnati-Dayton Road across from Union Elementary School. She and some residents questioned in February whether the landfill has been properly capped. Neighbor Fred Carroll even snapped photographs of what appeared to be water leaking from the cap and other concerns and presented them to trustees and the EPA earlier this year.

        While EPA officials have rejected most of the allegations, they did agree to look into them and provide proof they are unfounded. However, they said they first wanted a letter from the township listing specific complaints, which the township agreed to do.

        Administrator Dave Gully said it took so long to craft the three-page letter with several attachments and pictures because township officials wanted to label all of Mr. Carroll's pictures and inspect the site.

        “It kept raining and was always muddy,” he said Wednesday.

        Ms. Stoker twice went to the landfill to look around herself — but was promptly warned not to return by an attorney representing officials cleaning up the landfill. If she did, she would face enforcement action for trespassing, the May 8 letter cautioned.

        “Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months,” Mr. Gully said. “Plus the contractor kept telling us they weren't finished and some of the questions we had pertained to unfinished work still in the process.

        “I was following Ms. Stoker's direction regarding the inspection of the site and if she has a complaint about her own administrator she should voice it to me or the board, not to the newspapers,” he said.

        But environmental activists say they have grown so disgusted over the “lack of accountability,” they are no longer going to monitor the landfill or any other Butler County environmental concerns.

        “This is ridiculous,” said Beth Hauer, vice president of the now-defunct Citizens Lobby for Environmental Action Now (CLEAN). “We just don't want to do it anymore. Why should we bang our heads against the wall when these people simply will not enforce the law? We have a leaking Superfund site here, for heaven's sake. That is a potential hazard to human health in this township, not to mention the environment. But nobody gives a damn.”

        For more than half a century, Skinner was a disposal site for companies and municipalities. The waste included toxic chemicals and construction debris. The EPA closed it in 1990. A federal consent decree calls for an impenetrable cover consisting of consistent clay, a thick flexible liner and 2 feet of topsoil.

River park project to begin
Robbery brings out the cop in him
The color purple attracting attention
Retail complex closer to deal
More large projects north of Cincinnati
Arsonist hits Colerain Twp. again
Boycotters take call for sanctions to air
Flynt trial judge Wm. Morrissey dies
House OKs limit on abortion
Kings Island knows where Scooby-Doo is
Tristate A.M. Report
HOWARD: Some Good News
PULFER: Library closings
RADEL: Tall Stacks 2003
Hamilton seeking fire, police levies
Letter lists landfill concerns
Obituary: Jack Quinn, lawyer, S. Lebanon solicitor
Ross turns to voters for classrooms
Two accused of coupon scheme
Coast Guard asks help watching out for terrorism on Great Lakes
Dayton's new schools chief pledges progress
Killer's low IQ could save his life
Ohio native plants rediscovered
OSU said to have chosen woman president
Civil-rights pioneer Porterfield honored
Fire at self-storage facility destroys memories
Judge seals records in lawsuit against church
Kentucky News Briefs
Motorists can use computer to renew