Local landfill closing on July 20

CELINA - Celina Sanitary Landfill in Franklin Township will close on or around July 20, according to a letter sent to Mercer County officials.

Civil & Environmental Consultants, on behalf of the the landfill, submitted a letter to the Ohio EPA and county officials regarding final closure of the landfill at 6141 Depweg Road owned by Republic Services. The letter serves as a 30-day notice that the landfill will cease to accept solid waste on or about July 20.

A similarly worded sign also was posted at the entrance of the landfill that opened in 1971 and stands at about 1,000 feet above sea level.
  When contacted by the newspaper, Republic Services Operations Supervisor Michael Krutsinger indicated the landfill had reached capacity. He directed the newspaper to submit additional questions via email.

Republican Services had stated the landfill's core business is typically 300 tons per weekday, according to a 2019 Ohio EPA document authorizing a temporary increase in authorized maximum daily waste receipt in response to tornado and storm damage resulting in increased tonnage of weight.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency on Aug. 14, 2018, issued a final solid waste permit to install to the landfill, authorizing a vertical expansion of about 145,557 cubic yards of airspace on the west and center cell area of the landfill, according to OEPA documents.

"The proposed expansion volume will provide disposal service for approximately 4.12 years at the average gate waste receipt of 52,000 tons/year or 1.65 years at the current (Authorized Maximum Daily Waste Receipt) of 499 tons/day," the 2018 permit states.

Mercer County Commissioner Jerry Laffin, who also serves as the county's solid-waste management district policy committee chairman, said he is unsure if the closure would affect garbage collection fees.

County municipalities each have contracts with different waste-disposal companies, Laffin pointed out. Some area haulers already haul waste to the Jay County Landfill in Portland, Indiana, county officials said.

The county solid waste district, which has an annual budget of about $100,000, carries out several duties, including a recycling program, hazardous-waste pickup, education and awareness and other special programs and events, according to county sanitary director Kent Hinton. It also provides financial assistance to the health board for solid-waste enforcement and collecting and analyzing samples from water wells adjacent to the landfill.

The district right now is primarily funded by tipping fees assessed to waste-disposal companies. Waste-disposal companies using the Celina Sanitary Landfill pay tipping fees to the Mercer County Solid Waste District at a rate of $2 per ton for Mercer County and out-of-state trash and $4 per ton for Ohio out-of-county trash. Interstate commerce laws and an Ohio Supreme Court ruling prohibit charging more for out-of-state waste.

The district eventually will have to change its funding method.

"We have enough money to run for awhile," Laffin said. "There's a carryover in that fund that we can get by at least one year, I think, before we would have to do anything."

A commitee meeting to discuss funding methods likely will be held in September or later in the year, he said.

Potential alternative funding options include rates-and-charges, according to the district plan. Under this option, a $4.50 assessment would be placed annually on each improved parcel in the county, which is considered land that has at least one permanent, portable or temporary building.

Another funding option would be contract fees through designation. The district would designate out-of-county facilities where waste can be transported and charge a fee at each facility. The district would need to get permission from landfill operators outside the county to use their facilities.