Warren, Ohio-State environmental regulators and Warren city officials have worked out their disagreement over whether the plant producing Nature’s Blend biosolids fertilizer is leaching sewage into a nearby river and is guilty of other infractions. Amid threats of $60,000 a day fines against the city and claims that Ohio EPA was needlessly endangering a highly successful recycling program, both sides met for two hours Sept. 15 and agreed to an action plan to improve site runoff and resolve objections over storing biosolids and other “housekeeping” matters. A statement provided to Green Markets by Ohio EPA spokesman Mike Settles reported that “the city will provide weekly updates until all elements of the action plan are completed (and that) the agency is satisfied with what is being proposed by the city.” Settles declined to discuss the specifics of the agreement, saying that there are still a lot of details that need to be worked out. Warren’s Wastewater Plant Director Tom Angelo earlier said the city was not polluting the Mahoning River and accused the state of creating “an alarm condition” that resulted in the cancellation of a 500-to-1,000-ton order of fertilizer to a regular farming customer and another cancellation of a 3,840-bag order of potting soil to a customer of nine years. “Ohio EPA has placed the future of a successful beneficial reuse program of 11 years in jeopardy,” Angelo charged, adding that “all tests indicate that the water was typical storm water.”
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain