Sunny Farms Landfill secures Ohio EPA permit for improvements

FOSTORIA — One of northwest Ohio's more controversial landfills is continuing to make improvements. Sunny Farms Landfill, about four miles south of Fostoria along County Road 18 in Seneca County's Loudon Township, was granted an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency permit this week to install devices aimed at reducing sulfur dioxide emissions from the landfill flare and control more of the hydrogen sulfide emissions emanating from the landfill. The latter was largely responsible for the sulfur-based, rotten egg smell which area residents complained about for years. The pollution-capture system being built by the site's latest owner, WIN Waste Innovations, is to reduce hydrogen sulfide emissions by 98 percent, the Ohio EPA said in a news release. "This will continue odor reduction and ensure the area meets national air quality standards," the agency said. While skeptics include some people who are continuing to post messages on a Facebook page called Sunny Farm Landfill complaint group, the frequency of complaints on a 24-hour hotline has gone way down, according to Dina Pierce, Ohio EPA spokesman. The state agency is still maintaining that hotline for now, though, even though the landfill is getting fewer than five complaints a month. Compare that to March of 2019, when it had more than 500 complaints, she said. The state EPA was getting 100 or more calls a week in the fall of 2018. Complaints about foul odors were made for years, but especially since 2015, according to information from a previous hearing. Ben Nutter, a former Seneca County commissioner now working for WIN Waste Innovations as Sunny Farm Landfill's community engagement manager, said the company should be recognized for what it's done so far to turn things around and what it plans to do to make things better. The new pollution-control devices will be installed over the next 18 months, he said. The goal is to capture methane and other gases so they can be reused for industrial purposes, Nutter said. "They've invested the time, the money, and the effort to make sure that place is an environmentally safe place for the future," he said. Plans for the latest improvements are a result of a consent order Sunny Farms signed with the Ohio EPA in July, 2019. Land is being prepped for installing the scrubbers. Construction is expected to begin this month, Nutter said. The company is in compliance with the state's consent order, and its Title V federal air pollution-control operating permit. It must submit an application to modify that permit to account for the new installations within 12 months. The federal operating permits must be renewed every five years, Pierce said. The landfill also is subject to an annual operating permit issued by the local health department. WIN Waste Innovations is a collaboration of 10 former waste industry businesses, including Sunny Farms' former owner, Tunnel Hill Partners. ___ (c)2021 The Blade (Toledo, Ohio) Visit The Blade (Toledo, Ohio) at www.toledoblade.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.