Ohio landfill proposal subject of state EPA public meeting

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) has scheduled a public information session Feb. 29 and a public hearing April 4 regarding a municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill in eastern Ohio proposed by West Point Renewables LLC.

“The public is encouraged to weigh in on a draft permit-to-install-and-operate that, if issued, would allow West Point Renewables LLC to construct and operate [the MSW] landfill," the OEPA says.

Public comments on the proposed landfill will be accepted through April 11.

Local media reports, including one on the website of the parent company of West Point Renewables, indicate the proposed landfill would be located on a 926-acre site between East Liverpool, Ohio, and Lisbon, Ohio, formerly owned by the Rosebud Mining Co.

That coal mining firm sold the land to West Point Renewables in 2019. West Point Renewables was created by Youngstown, Ohio-based Ohio Valley Waste Services Inc., which itself is a portfolio company of Mars, Pennsylvania-based Vogel Holding Inc.

A 2019 report by the The Review of East Liverpool portrayed the sizable land purchase as being made to host a transfer station that would boost the region’s recycling efforts.

In 2022, however, West Point Renewables began filing permitting paperwork with OEPA to propose a landfill on the site.

According to OEPA, “West Point Renewables LLC is seeking a permit-to-install-and-operate for a MSW landfill and associated paved and unpaved roadways. If approved, the landfill would have more than 10 million cubic yards of waste design capacity, a 4,000-ton-per-day maximum waste acceptance rate, and a 1,500-ton-per-day waste average acceptance rate."

Both the February and April OEPA meetings will take place at the West Point Church of the Nazarene in Lisbon.