EPA looking to punish A&L

By CASEY BARTO
LISBON — After spending the last year trying to reach a settlement over the numerous violations and issues plaguing A&L Salvage, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) announced late Thursday that the state and A&L Salvage cannot reach an agreement on continued operations.

A&L Salvage has received 23 notice-of-violation letters during its six years of operation and was issued findings and orders proposing the denial of its 2007 operating license in October.

Due to lack of an agreement and the OEPA’s concern for the health, comfort and safety of residents near the facility, OEPA Director Chris Korleski has requested that the attorney general proceed with the license denial proceeding and pursue enforcement action in County Common Pleas Court that would include a preliminary injunction prohibiting the facility from accepting any asbestos-containing material.

The pursuit of action stems from videos submitted to the OEPA staff allegedly showing A&L employees driving heavy equipment and pushing what looks like bags of asbestos-containing materials into disposal areas. The videos also allegedly show heavy equipment running over the bags, popping them and releasing the material into the air, and on a later date, a video reportedly shows nuisance dust conditions.

“These heavy emissions were continuous over an extended period of time and are simply unacceptable,” Korleski wrote in a letter submitted May 8 to A&L CEO Jeff Kendall.

Also reportedly documented in the videos are solid waste violations, according to the letter, which states that there is a failure to attempt to remove all solid waste from incoming loads of construction and demolition debris.

“I fail to understand how A&L could operate in such a manner notwithstanding the close scrutiny you have been under from us and a number of your neighbors,” Korleski wrote. “It is difficult to comprehend how a facility facing enforcement and license revocation proceedings could operate in this way.”

Stephen Callahan, director of operations for A&L, says the letter contains some significant factual errors.

“I’ve had the chance to watch the videos, and their (OEPA) interpretation of what’s happening in the video is incorrect,” said Callahan, adding that he thinks the videos were taken by neighbors of the facility, and that A&L officials have not had the chance to view the videos with OEPA officials.

“We work extremely hard at doing a good job. We’re not perfect, no one is. We look forward to working with the Ohio EPA to resolve this,” he said.

Over the past year, residents near the facility have complained of a noxious gas smell and voiced concerns over the disposal of asbestos, drinking water safety and after-hours dumping.

Most recently, according to Korleski, the OEPA has received a complaint from a resident reporting their backyard to be full of dust, prohibiting them from going outside.

“Since becoming aware of conditions at A&L over a year ago, Ohio EPA and the Attorney General’s Office have met with and attempted to work with A&L or its representatives in order to get to the point where A&L was operating in compliance with the law. To say that the State has been patient, would, in my judgment, be a considerable understatement,” Korleski wrote, adding that he has been concerned with the facility’s regulatory noncompliance and also the nuisance to and growing dissent within the community.

A&L has since appealed the proposed license denial, and according to Callahan, has done some of what the OEPA has asked.

“We’ve incorporated a lot of what they asked for into our daily operations without signing an order,” Callahan said, adding that some things have not been done because A&L is without a license.

A hearing has not been scheduled regarding the proposed license denial, according to OEPA spokesman Mike Settles. A&L may remain operational during the appeals process.

“We’ve been working extremely hard,” said Callahan. “We want to get the situation resolved. We want to be a good neighbor.”

cbarto@mojonews.com