Environmental Conflict:
Waste Management of Ohio, a private company, wanted to build a private solid-waste transfer station in Winton Hills. This would mean that 200 garbage trucks would come and go transferring 1500 tons of waste every day at a station operating 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
The conflict arises when the residents of Winton Hills don’t want the transfer station in their neighborhood. They called the proposed transfer station an economic and environmental injustice at a public hearing in 1999, saying it was a discriminatory action against the poor. Residents also cited traffic, environmental and health concerns from the pollution in an effort to convince the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to deny Waste Management of Ohio a finalized permit to build the transfer station.
How is it settled and among what parties?
Ultimately, once Waste Management completes paperwork, the Cincinnati Board of Health will vote to pass the transfer station or not; however, it is also understood that they too may not be allowed to use environmental justice (calling upon federal civil rights laws to fight environmentally harmful projects located in or near minority neighborhoods) in their vote.
It is up to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to approve or block Waste Management from building the station in Winton Hill. While the Cincinnati Environmental Advisory Council cited environmental justice to deny Waste Management of a permit to build the transfer station, the OEPA so far has not allowed environmental justice to be allowed as an argument to block a private business.
The concerns of the residents of Winton Hills were heard at a public hearing.
On February 27, 2002, the Cincinnati Board of Health voted against the waste-transfer station in Winton Hills citing that Waste Management did not meet certain reliability standards. Waste management has come out to say they will appeal the decision to the state’s Environmental Review Appeals Commission.
On April 21, 2004, the Ohio Environmental Appeals Review Commission decided in favor of Waste Management to operate the transfer station citing that the Cincinnati Board of Health denied Waste Management without adequately justifying its decision. The Board of Health could not use arguments from testimonies since an environmental justice law in Ohio does not exist.
The city came out to say they will appeal the decision to the Ohio 10th District Court of Appeals in Columbus. Waste Management, with the closing of a landfill in 2000, lost its only local landfill and therefore has to send garbage to Colerain or Kentucky and Montgomery County; a waste transfer station would cut the costs of trucking for Waste Management since they would be able to move the garbage from collection truckts to larger tractor-trailers.
What does this mean for cost duration?
These can lead to lawsuits as apparently the residents of Winton had already reached a two million dollar settlement of a 10-year-old dump-related lawsuit with Waste Management to close the ELDA landfill prior to the proposed waste transfer station.
http://enquirer.com/editions/1999/06/18/loc_garbage_transfer.html
http://enquirer.com/editions/2001/10/24/loc_waste_station_back.html
http://enquirer.com/editions/2002/02/27/loc_we_have_our_victory.html
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/04/21/loc_wastetransfer21.html