Seneca County Board of Health Votes to Appeal EPA Decision

The Seneca County Board of Health voted Thursday to appeal Ohio EPA’s recent approval of a landfill expansion at WIN Waste Innovations of Seneca County.

The motion, which passed unanimously by the Board, authorizes and directs the Board’s legal counsel to appeal any and all permits issued on Sept. 11, 2024 by the Ohio EPA. Fostoria City Council and Seneca County Commissioners also passed resolutions this week supporting an appeal on behalf of the Seneca County Board of Health.

The expansion, which required separate permits from the divisions of Materials and Waste Management, Air Pollution Control, and Surface Water, allow WIN Waste Innovations of Seneca County to proceed with construction for 94 of its requested 218-acre expansion.

Dr. Clay Wolph, president of the Seneca County Board of Health, said the Board will not be using taxpayer funds to pursue the appeal, but rather funding from fees generated by the landfill.

“Taxpayer money is not being used to pay for attorney and other legal costs for this appeal or any other case related to the landfill,” Wolph said. “These costs are funded by the waste disposal fees that state law requires WIN Waste to pay. These funds can be used only to address waste disposal issues in the county, including the environmental problems caused by WIN Waste’s landfill.”

Wolph said most of the legal costs paid by the health district have resulted from frivolous cases filed by WIN Waste Innovations of Seneca County designed to prevent the Board from placing reasonable license conditions on the landfill for the health of this community.

“The community would be better served if WIN Waste spent its own money on improving the landfill’s operations for the safety of the community instead of filing lawsuits to fight the Board’s efforts to improve the landfill’s environmental record,” Wolph said.

“The health district has no intention of giving up on our mission to provide oversight and necessary conditions on the landfill’s permit if the Ohio EPA refuses to address public concerns,” he added. “We will continue to apply local control to do everything in our power to ensure public safety.”