Abbuhl stands behind inspection request
The Times-Reporter
BOLIVAR - Tuscarawas County commissioners stood firm Thursday in reaction to a letter Stark County Health Commissioner William Franks drafted earlier this week and mailed to directors of the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Joint Solid Waste District.
Franks’ letter took issue with Tuscarawas County Commissioner Chris Abbuhl’s request that the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency look into how health departments, including those in Stark and Tuscarawas counties, perform their weekly landfill inspections. Abbuhl’s request cited the discrepancy between the number of “notice of violations” issued to landfills by Stark (five) in comparison to Tuscarawas County (more than 80) in 2005 and 2006.
“I do not intend to allow any member of the board of directors to use my board, staff and department in a public forum designed to what is being contrived by Mr. Kimble and/or Mr. Abbuhl,” Franks wrote. “Therefore we will not engage in any public discussions at the district meeting with regard to this issue. It has always been my policy to entertain anyone in a private face-to-face meeting to discuss their public health concerns with me.”
The Kimble that Franks referred to is Keith Kimble, president of Kimble Landfill, who wrote a letter about the weekly landfill inspection process that was published in The T-R last week.
“What Commissioner Abbuhl has done is no different than what Stark County Commissioner Jane Vignos did when she requested all of Kimble’s violations,” Commissioner Kerry Metzger said Thursday. “All Chris was doing was looking at the violations and making an observation.”
Abbuhl said Thursday that he stands behind the letter he wrote to OEPA Director Chris Korleski, noting that members of the Solid Waste District have been getting letters from the Stark County Health Department knocking him for his actions since he first mailed the request.
“From what I’ve read I’m not supposed to have an opinion or I’m not allowed to evaluate anything at all if I’m on the Solid Waste Board,” Abbuhl said of Stark’s letters. “If that’s the case, then I guess I’m not allowed to ask about Countywide (Recycling & Disposal Facility’s) subsidence or its fire or stability issues. If that’s not the role of the Solid Waste District, then I don’t know what is. I’ve spoken with Mr. Korleski, and he said he would have his people in Columbus look into the matter further.”
