Senator Bill Reineke sent the letter, attached below, to Governor Mike DeWine, Lt. Governor Jon Husted, and Ohio EPA Director Anne Vogel regarding his concerns about the proposed WIN Waste Innovations expansion permit. Included in the letter is a list of elected officials and community leaders in Seneca County who support the letter.
February 14, 2024
The Honorable Mike DeWine
Governor, State of Ohio 77 S. High Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Dear Governor DeWine,
For months, elected officials, community leaders, and citizens of Seneca County have been voicing great concern over the proposed WIN Waste expansion permit to allow for significant additional trash to come to Seneca County. This is in addition to the fact that the company is already facing multiple issues currently.
Attached to this letter is a list of elected officials from Seneca County who oppose the permit for WIN Waste in Fostoria, Ohio to expand their landfill operations in our community. The application would raise the daily volume of trash from 7,500 tons to 12,000 tons Shockingly, 95% of this trash would be coming from out-of-state.
Many issues have been raised by the citizens of Fostoria and Seneca County and the surrounding constituents living in Hancock County less than 2 miles away. We are concerned over water quality, train operations, public safety, significant foul odors coming from the facility, and other related issues.
Over the past seven years, there have been multiple owners of the Sunny Farms facility. While we believe that the current owners of Sunny Farms have improved the operation of the landfill, we are still extremely concerned about the landfill’s ongoing compliance problems and the near doubling of the size of this landfill, and how that will impact our communities.
As chairman of the Senate Rail Safety Committee, I have learned more about and am deeply concerned about the interstate transfer of debris coming across state lines. I am extremely concerned about overall water and soil contamination issues that could impact residents throughout the region, as this facility continues to bring in out-of-state debris. It is imperative that we look at the potential health issues that could be caused by this near doubling ofwaste, as well as how this will impact local real estate values. Public input is critical in this type of decision. And the public interest, convenience, and necessity are paramount in the conversation.
Collectively, I and the accompanying list of elected officials and community leaders respectfully request your full and fair consideration of this permit and our expressed opposition thereto, as evidence of why this permit is not in the interest of Ohio’s citizenswho we are elected to represent. While we oppose the project in its entirety, we believe that, at the very least, the project should not be allowed to increase the allowance for daily receipts since the landfill has not demonstrated the ability to operate the landfill at its current daily allowance.
We also ask that the Ohio EPA and the Governor’s Office to consider and engage in the discussion around Senate Bill 119, which is currently pending in the Ohio House Energy Natural Resources Committee, having passed the Senate 30 to 0.
SB 1 19 allows a county to enact a permissive tax, already in statute, on construction and debris material and allows for an easy exit for a county that isn’t a solid waste district on its own, where it has more than 75% of the solid waste management district’s revenue. This provides a means to supply necessary oversight to the local health department and also addresses the solid waste district issue that Seneca County faces.
Every attempt our local communities have made to fix this ongoing problem has been met with legal roadblocks. Our constituents are convinced that big government is permitting a large company with its many resources to force our community to live with the impacts of these landfill issues for hundreds of years without truly considering the public input.
We ask for your full and fair consideration of our request. We would also be available to meet with you or your team at any time to discuss this critical issue to our region.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Bill Reineke
State Senator, District 26
cc: Anne Vogel, Director of the Environmental Protection Agency
Lt. Governor Jon Husted
Elected Officials & Community Leaders
Seneca County
– Seneca County Commissioner Anthony Paradiso
-Seneca County Commissioner Bill Frankart
-Seneca County Commissioner Tyler Shuff
-Seneca County Sheriff Fred Stevens
-Seneca County Auditor Julie Adkins
City of Tiffin
-Mayor Lee Wilkinson
-Council member Dennis Snay
Loudon Township
-Township Trustee Roger Holman
-Township Trustee Jason Painter
-Township Trustee Kevin Reinhart
Big Spring Township
-Township Trustee Steve Wagner
-Township Trustee Gary Schalk
-Township Trustee Steve Schalk
-Fiscal Officer Matt Clouse
Liberty Township
-Township Trustee Timothy Lynch
-Township Trustee Dennis Brickner
-Township Trustee Jeff Lynch
Clinton Township
-Township Trustee Randy Kuhn
-Township Trustee Daniel Schmitz
-Township Trustee Jim Distel
-Fiscal Office Steve Welter
Adams Township
-Township Trustee Gary Hoepf
-Township Trustee David Carrothers
Thompson Township
-Township Trustee Kevin Oney
-Township Trustee Bill Daniel
-Township Trustee David Ziegler
City of Fostoria
-Mayor Don Mennel
-Council member Sue Lehmann
-Council member Amy Mendoza
Village of Bettsville
-Mayor Scott Harrison
Jackson Township
-Township Trustee Steve Naderer
-Township Trustee Tim Reinhart
-Township Trustee Richard Findley
Reed Township
-Township Trustee David Wright
-Township Trustee Charles Miller
-Township Trustee Brian Miller
Scipio Township
– Township Trustee Brad Bowerrnan
Bloom Township
-Township Trustee Troy Kagy
-Township Trustee Adam Lutz
-Township Trustee Gregory Smith
Eden Township
-Township Trustee Kenneth Bish
Venice Township
-Fiscal Officer Lisa Heiser
-Township Trustee Matthew Heise
-Township Trustee Randy Aichholz
New Riegel
-Mayor Larry Bouillon
Ohio House District 88
-Representative Gary Click