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Athens County Considering Breaking Out Of Solid Waste District
< < Back toAthens County wants to go out on its own when it comes to the issue of solid waste management.
The Athens-Hocking Solid Waste District is a joint district that has produced three solid waste management plans recently and all have been rejected.
Last week, Logan City Counci vetoed the latest management plan for the district.
Logan City Council rejected previous proposals which, like this latest one, were supported by other government entities in the two county district.
The waste plan was for operations of the district for the next five years.
It's now expected the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency will prepare a new plan and force the district to comply.
Athens County is considering a waiver that would separate the joint district and allow the county to create its own plan.
County Commissioner Lenny Eliason is trying to get the waiver approved in an effort to stop the EPA from creating a plan for the county.
"So what happens now is if we don't get a plan that's locally designed and locally approved, which happened, the Logan County City Council voted it down, the EPA will write a plan for us and take away that local control that we've been fighting for," says Eliason.
Eliason says EPA plans are typically more expensive than a locally designed plan, but it would still be up to the county to fund the project.
Eliason appeared on WOUB television's Newswatch last night.