Submitted photo / Steven Rubin for Public Herald Lynn Anderson stands in the hauled waste at Republic Services Carbon Limestone Sanitary Landfill at 8100 S. Stateline Road in Lowellville.

Lynn Anderson spent her teen years exploring land on the border between Ohio and Pennsylvania.

She rode her horse through the winding trails, swam in the quarry and watched critters congregate around the lakes.

“We used to swim in the quarry lake. I would ride my horse down there. There were nice switchback trails, trees, all kinds of waterfowl and critters,” said Anderson, remembering 1972. “You could ride your horse for miles down inside the quarry.”

Since 1894, that land had been owned and operated by Carbon Limestone Co., which became one of the largest limestone producers in Ohio. But by 1972, when Anderson was 15, all the limestone had been extracted and she roamed the uneven land freely.

Anderson returned to her old stomping grounds 25 years later. But the land had been transformed.

“There was flat land as far as you could see. It was totally filled,” said Anderson. “I could not believe we had that much (trash) that we filled up that much area hauling in crap.”

No one was allowed onto the property, which was guarded. The quarry land was purchased by Browning Ferris Industries in 1995, then eventually sold to Allied Waste which then merged with Republic Services. It’s known today as the Republic Services Carbon Limestone Landfill. In 2019, the landfill received more than 1.3 million tons of waste — including radioactive fracking waste, according to Public Herald.

Republic Services Carbon Limestone Landfill is one of the eight landfills in Ohio currently receiving waste from unconventional oil and gas operations, according to information acquired by Public Herald from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

The company is the second-largest provider of nonhazardous solid waste collection, transfer, disposal, recycling, and energy services in the United States, as measured by revenue, according to its website.

“The company is active in recycling, reducing carbon emissions by replacing diesel trucks with compressed natural gas powered trucks, supporting composting and other community projects which relate to environmental conservation, sustainability and education,” it states.

It also notes: “Landfill is the most common waste disposal method. It’s not the same as just dumping trash in a hole. Even fairly basic landfill sites use membranes to prevent leaching.”

THE RULES

In Ohio, TENORM (technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material) disposal at landfills falls under the Ohio Revised Code, which states that a solid waste facility cannot accept or transfer TENORM if it contains radium-226, radium-228, or any combination of the two at more than 5 picocuries per gram (pCi/g) over the natural background.

Not much testing has been done on TENORM waste in Ohio, but much of the TENORM waste arriving at Ohio landfills is from the Marcellus Shale — the same shale waste that has been tested in a 2016 Pennsylvania TENORM study. In that study, radium levels from fracking waste in the Marcellus were detected as high as 13 pCi/g, more than 2.5 times greater than the Ohio code permits.

The average load for combined radium reported in the study from 18 samples was 5.847 pCi/g, again exceeding the Ohio code of 5 pCi/g.

But even though Ohio’s TENORM code places a strict standard on radioactive waste disposal, the state hasn’t produced documentation to Public Herald of measurement and enforcement for radium at landfills.

“It is an extremely, overwhelmingly strong bet that the waste and disposal practices in Ohio are seeing a great deal of material that exceeds the limits,” said Ohio attorney Terry Lodge.

When Ohio EPA responded to Public Herald’s request for comment about the problems with TENORM, it sent the following statement:

“No landfill in Ohio has authorization to accept TENORM above five picocuries per gram above natural background. As such, Ohio regulations are set to manage TENORM at the source. We believe this is an effective approach for protecting public health and the environment.”

Ohio EPA also asserted that TENORM regulation is the Ohio Department of Health’s responsibility. ODH has published a briefing document on TENORM regulations in Ohio that states:

“Solid waste landfills can only accept TENORM wastes for disposal at concentrations less than 5 picocuries per gram above natural background.” However, “If a solid waste landfill or other facility wants to dilute TENORM wastes with concentrations greater than or equal to 5 picocuries per gram above natural background prior to disposal, this activity requires authorization from the Ohio Department of Health.”

In the event that “solid wastes cannot be managed at a solid waste landfill because of elevated levels of TENORM, the waste must be sent to a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility,” according to the DOH.

SLUDGE

In Ohio, wastewater treatment plants are required to annually report the weight of sludge transferred to other facilities for final disposal. In 2019, eight WWTPs that receive fracking waste from landfills took more than 7,000 tons of sludge to disposal facilities around Ohio, according to information from the Ohio EPA.

WWTPs in Ohio are required to submit reports to the state that include the volume of the leachate they receive, but they are not required to report the makeup of that leachate.

Alliance wastewater treatment plant in Stark County received the most leachate of any WWTP in Ohio in 2019, totaling 59,057,529 gallons. This leachate arrived from four different landfills across the state and was released, in accordance with a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit from the Ohio EPA into Beech Creek (at Berlin Reservoir), continuing downstream into the Ohio River.

“We have a paper trail like you wouldn’t believe,” Anderson said. “But nothing is being done, and nothing is ever done.”

Pennsylvania, in coordination with Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, announced July 26 that it would begin to require quarterly testing of leachate for radium at all Pennsylvania landfills.

The DeWine administration in Ohio, however, has yet to make a similar regulatory move.