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THE GREEN HISTORY DETECTIVES
Episode 31

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Episode 31

Who can tell us what is in the area of the aerial photograph(s) below?
The year that each aerial photo was taken is given in the upper left corner of the photo.
The clues will consist of adding another aerial photo of a later year to the set.


CLUE:

There are no more clues.




CAUTION!!!

WARNING!!!

ALERT!!!

The solution is given below.

DO NOT scroll down further

UNLESS you would like to see the solution.




SOLUTION


It's where Greentown Auto Parts (a.k.a. Miller's Generator Service) and salvage is located.

However, a persistent investigation, presented below utilizing the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA)
law, discovered that the site is officially identified by the United States (U.S.) Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) as:

GREENTOWN DUMP
(a.k.a. Miller Landfill)
Greentown, Stark County
U.S. EPA ID: OH002342509
Note too that the GREENTOWN DUMP is also identified in EPA documentation as the following:
Paul Miller Sanitary Landfill
Hoover Co. Disposal Site
The aerial photo below includes a white rectangle to identify the area in the aerial photos above
and a red polygon to identify the GREENTOWN DUMP as identified in recently released EPA
documentation:

NOTE: The red polygons northwest of the area above identify the following sites that the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) believes and has documented as being "responsible for
negatively impacting the surrounding groundwater with the potential of presenting a significant
human health concern
":
   Industrial Excess Landfill (IEL), Superfund Site, Uniontown, Ohio, U.S. EPA ID: OHD000377911
   WISE ROAD DISPOSAL SITE, Green Township, Summit County, Ohio, U.S. EPA ID: OH0001328350
Those sites are investigated, explained, and explored in The Green History Detectives SOLUTIONs for
Episode 5 and Episode 23 respectively.
And to the far northwest is Boettler Auto Salvage and Jonesy's Auto Salvage as explored in
The Green History Detectives SOLUTIONs for Episode 24 and Episode 27 respectively.

FOIA Request For Greentown, Ohio Landfill Information

Notice what appears to be a large amount of excavation in the area in the aerial photos from 1942
to 1965. Others who have been familiar with Greentown for many years have said that a landfill was
in the area many years ago and accepted large amounts of septic tank waste.

Is it possible that the excavated area in the aerial photos above is that landfill?

The Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) law, which gives citizens the right to access information
from the federal government, was utilized in an effort to verify and clarify the information above.
However, additional information over and above that described above was discovered.

After writing to and conversing with individuals with the United States Environmental Protection
Agency (U.S. EPA), the Ohio EPA (OEPA), the Ohio Department of Health (ODH), and the Stark County
Health Department, the email message below was sent to all four (4) of those governmental agencies
and departments. Note that the Zoom and Pan feature were not included in that message but are
provided for visitors of this web page.


Subject: Fwd: 2014-006364 Landfill In Greentown, Ohio
Date: 5/29/2014 1:39:51 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time
From: Tdbconsulting@aol.com
To: hq.foia@epa.gov, r5foia@epa.gov, travis.sharon@epa.gov,
Joshua.Adams@epa.ohio.gov, Karen.Naples@epa.ohio.gov, chris.moody@epa.ohio.gov,
Andrew.Thomas@odh.ohio.gov, Rebecca.Fugitt@odh.ohio.gov, BEH@odh.ohio.gov,
ruszkowskir@starkhealth.org, depasqualep@starkhealth.org, paulust@starkhealth.org

U.S. EPA, Ohio EPA, Ohio Department of Health, and Stark County Health Department:

The U.S. EPA response to Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) Request Number EPA-R5-2014-006364
regarding a landfill located approximately 1 mile east of the square in Greentown, Ohio includes
the following:

This letter is the response of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, Land and
Chemicals Division (LCD) to your FOIA request received on May 12, 2014. You requested any
information available about the landfill located just under a mile east of the square in
Greentown, Ohio.

We have searched our records and have no records responsive to your request.

However, Joshua Adams of the Division of Materials and Waste Management of the Ohio Environmental
Protection Agency (OEPA), Northeast District Office wrote the following about the landfill, which
the U.S. EPA apparently has no information about:
I looked into our archive file and found that in the ~2200 (or so) block of State Street
in Lake Twp. there was former limestone quarry of about 155 acres in size. It then became
a commercial landfill (known as Paul Miller Sanitary Landfill) and operated from before
1964 and closed around 1969. It is also listed as “Hoover Co. Disposal Site.” I don’t
have any information about septic tank waste disposed on that site.
If I remember correctly during a telephone conversation with the U.S. EPA, a Mr. Miller told the
U.S. EPA that there was never a landfill there, but the information above from OEPA indicates
otherwise.

Additional evidence of a landfill is provided in the aerial photographs below of the area at or
near 2365 State Street Northwest in Greentown (Uniontown mailing), Ohio, zip code 44685. The year
that each aerial photograph was taken is provided in the upper left corner of the photo:

The 1997 aerial photo below shows the large Auto Salvage Yard currently located there:

I would like to know when the “Hoover Co. Disposal Site” (a.k.a. “Paul Miller Sanitary Landfill”)
was opened and closed, what type of material was deposited there, if it is true that the site was
used for disposing septic tank waste, and if there are any health concerns for those living in
surrounding areas.

Thank you all for your time and efforts,
Tim Ball



EPA GREENTOWN DUMP documents, that were released as a result of FOIA Request EPA-R5-2014-006364
and the follow up email message above, are now available in the files provided at:
FOIA Online (Tracking Number: EPA-R5-2014-006364).

GREENTOWN DUMP Documentation Information

Information for the GREENTOWN DUMP (a.k.a. Miller Landfill, a.k.a. Paul Miller Sanitary Landfill,
a.k.a. Hoover Co. Disposal Site) is provided in the EPA document EXPANDED SITE INSPECTION
FOR GREENTOWN DUMP (a.k.a. Miller Landfill)
, dated September 29, 1999. Sections 1 through 4 (of 6)
are included in the file EPA-R5-2014-006364.pdf. Important portions from that document follow:

Section 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:


1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) personnel conducted an Expanded Site
Inspection (ESI) at the former Greentown Dump Site, Stark County, Ohio. The Expanded Site
Inspection was performed under the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA)
site investigation protocol. The purpose of this Expanded Site Inspection was to determine if the
disposal practices at the Greentown Dump released contaminants into the environment, specifically
to ground water, surface water/sediment and/or soil.


Section 3.1 Site Description:


3.1 Site Description

The Greentown Dump site is located in Stark County, Ohio approximately one mile east of the city
of Greentown at 2365 State Street NW (Figure 1). The site consists of a 155 acre parcel sloping
from an elevation of 1250 ft. above mean sea level (AMSL) on the western portion of the site
to an elevation of 1130 ft. AMSL along the eastern portion of the site. The area surrounding the site
is zoned residential/agricultural. A large pond, which is used for fishing, is located in the southwest
portion of the site and a small pond is located in the northeast portion of the site. Greentown Auto
Parts, a retail store selling rebuilt auto parts and supplies, operates on the site just off State Street
in the southwest portion of the site. The property owner currently lives on the site directly off of
State Street just east of Greentown Auto Parts.

The southwest quadrant of the site is currently used as a junk/salvage yard and contains two large
warehouse/barn structures, the auto parts store, the owners residence, several hundred discarded
vehicles, several dozen 55-gallon drums of unknown origin, demolition debris, discarded building
materials and a multitude of auto parts. This area is easily traversed as it contains many dirt roads
weaving in and out of the vehicles and debris. The northern portion of the site is fairly heavily
wooded with the exception of the central portion which contains a cleared area, access road and
small farm field. The southeast and eastern edge of the property is made up of farm field. The
central strip of land on the site contains the area with the greatest slope and is also the location of
a former strip mine and landfill.

The site is bordered to the north and east by farm fields and to the west by residential property and
to the south by State Street. Directly across State Street are residential properties and farm fields.
The areas to the west and northwest of the Greentown Dump have a relatively high elevation and
relief than the adjacent areas to the east, south, and the north. Based on these slopes, surface water
in the Greentown Dump site area is expected to flow toward the Nimishillen Creek to the east and
its two tributaries to the north of the site area. An unnamed tributary to the West Branch of the
Nimishillen Creek flows northeast from the northeast portion of the site and drains an unnamed pond
on the site as well as surface water run-off. The West Branch of Nimishillen Creek borders the site to
the east and flows in a southern direction. Several other features of the surrounding area include
Lake O'Pines to the east, several gas wells, strip mines and Greentown Park to the west. There are
residential areas with many drinking water wells to the south, southwest, west, and northwest of the
site.

Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) personnel conducted and Expanded Site
Inspection (ESI) at the former Greentown Dump Site, Stark County, Ohio. The Expanded Site
Inspection was performed under the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA)
site investigation protocol. The purpose of this Expanded Site Inspection was to determine if the
disposal practices at the Greentown Dump released contaminants into the environment, specifically
to ground water, surface water/sediment and/or soil.


Section 3.2 Site History (note the bolded text):


3.2 Site History

The Greentown Dump / Miller Landfill was originally operated by Mr. Paul Miller and is now run
by Mr. Jim Miller, his son. Before obtaining a permit to accept landfill material, the site was a strip
mine and mined to an unknown depth. After receiving a permit, the landfill was in operation during
the span 1965-1969. The operations at the landfill site included acceptance of solid waste such as
household, commercial, and industrial rubber waste. In 1966, the landfill was prohibited from
accepting industrial rubber waste by the Stark County Health Department.
While in operation the
landfill serviced Canton, North Canton, Hartville, Uniontown, Greensburg as well as South Akron
residents. The dump is presently used as a junk yard for discarded vehicles.

Letters, located in Ohio EPA files, from anonymous citizens, indicate that due to operation hours
of the Industrial Excess Landfill (IEL), Uniontown, Ohio waste originally designated for disposal
at IEL may have been disposed of at the Greentown Dump Site. IEL is currently an active Superfund
site located approximately 3 miles north of Greentown.

Stark County Health Department files were reviewed for information detailing compliance with their
standards. These files contained reports on quarterly inspections conducted by the department and
showed no violations were present on the site. These inspections included a visual survey of the
property in order to detect possible seepage from the cap or landfill itself.


Section 3.3 Previous Site Work (note the bolded text):


3.3 Previous Site Work

Previous site work includes a one-time residential well sampling effort for volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. This sampling event took place
on October 11, 1995 and consisted of nine area wells being sampled. There were no VOCs detected
in the water samples for the time and date of this event.

Previous site work includes an Integrated Assessment completed by the Ohio EPA on September 28,
1998. Upon completion of this report, Ohio EPA recommended an additional investigation be
conducted at the site in the form of an Expanded Site Inspection (ESI). This recommendation was
based on multiple hits of various contaminants including barium, lead, PCB's, multiple VOCs and
SVOCs. The main area of concern centered around the ground water pathway along with the surface
water pathway.


For additional information, refer to EPA-R5-2014-006364.pdf.

Please be sure to refer to the Industrial Excess Landfill (IEL), Uniontown, Ohio, as mentioned above,
which has been called the third worst Superfund Site in the entire nation.

Notice the difference between the definitions for "industrial" and "commercial" below as acquired
from the web site DifferenceBetween.net:

Industrial vs Commercial

“Industrial” and “commercial” are two different methods of business. “Industrial” and “commercial”
include many different businesses and many different fields like commercial and industrial land,
industrial and commercial buildings, Industrial and commercial music, industrial and commercial
zoning, products, and the list goes on. No matter how long the list is, there is a core difference
between “industrial” and “commercial.” “Industrial” refers to any venture or business which deals
with the manufacturing of goods. It does not include transportation, financial companies, and
utilities. “Commercial” refers to any business or venture done with the sole motive of gaining
profit.

Wikipedia defines "Industrial waste" and "Commercial waste" as:
Industrial waste is the waste produced by industrial activity which includes any material that is
rendered useless during a manufacturing process such as that of factories, mills and mines.

Commercial waste consists of waste from premises used wholly or mainly for the purposes of a trade
or business or for the purpose of sport, recreation, education or entertainment but not including
household; agricultural or industrial waste.

The OEPA official wrote the following about the commercial landfill, Paul Miller Sanitary Landfill
(a.k.a. Hoover Co. Disposal Site, a.k.a. GREENTOWN DUMP, a.k.a. Miller Landfill):
It then became a commercial landfill (known as Paul Miller Sanitary Landfill) and operated from
before 1964 and closed around 1969. It is also listed as “Hoover Co. Disposal Site.”
Figure 2 of the GREENTOWN (commercial) DUMP EPA documentation shows the location of the
ALLEGED INDUSTRIAL DISPOSAL/BURN AREA.
Section 3.2 Site History of that documentation includes the following:
The operations at the landfill site included acceptance of solid waste such as household, commercial,
and industrial rubber waste. In 1966, the landfill was prohibited from accepting industrial rubber
waste by the Stark County Health Department.
and that:
Letters, located in Ohio EPA files, from anonymous citizens, indicate that due to operation hours
of the Industrial Excess Landfill (IEL), Uniontown, Ohio waste originally designated for disposal
at IEL may have been disposed of at the Greentown Dump Site. IEL is currently an active Superfund
site located approximately 3 miles north of Greentown.
Apparently, the GREENTOWN DUMP was prohibited from accepting industrial rubber
waste in 1966 (only a year or two after opening) because it was a Commercial Landfill
and not an Industrial Landfill.

The set of images below include the area in Figure 2 above. Select BACK or NEXT to change between
the images to identify the location of the items in Figure 2 to the recent aerial photo. Evidently,
Figure 2 is not to proper scale:

Still to be determined is what the Hoover (industrial) Company dumped at the GREENTOWN (commercial) DUMP,
which was also known as the Hoover Co. Disposal Site.

Any information about the Hoover Co. Disposal Site may be emailed to Tim at TDBConsulting@aol.com.
Important information will be provided to the U.S. EPA, Ohio EPA, Ohio Department of Health, and
Stark County Health Department. Anonymity will be preserved for those who wish to remain anonymous.



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