Benton Township residents fighting spent lime deposits in local quarry

BENTON TOWNSHIP — Residents of Benton Township who worry that deposits of spent lime at a local quarry will pollute local water are fighting a two-front battle.They are trying to halt current deposits being made on the land of the former Stoneco Quarry, now the Rocky Ridge Quarry, located at 14591 W. Toussaint, Graytown, northwest of Oak Harbor. The Ottawa County prosecutor has filed a legal action in Ottawa County Municipal Court to try to halt the deposits of lime from a water treatment plant in Toledo.In addition, the quarry's owners, Rocky Ridge Development LLC, have applied to the Ohio EPA for permission to deposit spent lime into the quarry itself. That application is pending.Residents who worry that deposits at the quarry will pollute the local aquifer and their well water have formed a Benton Township Quarry Dumping Opposition group on Facebook. As of Friday, the group had 507 members.Ottawa County's new prosecutor, James VanEerten, is prosecuting two misdemeanor charges filed by his predecessor, Mark Mulligan. The charges allege that Rocky Ridge Development is violating zoning regulations by dumping lime sludge.The quarry sits on two parcels of land, one zoned for commercial uses and one for agricultural uses, VanEerten said. Prosecutors allege that the dumping is not an agricultural use, he said. If prosecutors win, they could get the court to levy fines, he said.A pretrial hearing was held Monday. It's hard to say when the case, being heard before Judge Frederick "Fritz" C. Hany II, might be resolved, VanEerten said.The Ottawa County Municipal Court works hard to follow Ohio Supreme Court guidelines to resolve misdemeanor cases in six months. But the quarry charges, filed in October, are more complicated than the usual misdemeanor case, VanEerten said.The charges were brought at the request of Mike Rife, Benton Township's zoning supervisor, who said the deposits are being placed on land that's zoned agricultural, on the south side of the quarry."They are not supposed to be doing that. It's a zoning violation," Rife said.Rich Loth, a member of the opposition group, said Rocky Ridge Development is digging cells in the ground, in the bedrock, and filling them with lime. They are also building up huge stacks of spent lime outside the quarry, he said.Loth said residents have legitimate reasons for worrying about the effects of what Rocky Ridge is doing."They are operating a landfill without the safeguards of liners and regulatory oversight," he wrote in a document that he prepared to explain his stance on the project. "There are no liners in this porous rock structure to prevent seepage of the heavy metals into the ground water."Loth said that the Ohio Department of Natural Resources carried out a study of Ottawa County in 1994 that identified the quarry as a sensitive area that should be protected from pollution."We have shared this study with the Ohio EPA and they claimed they were not aware of the study," Loth wrote."Removing heavy-metal laden spent lime from clay-lined lagoons and placing in a porous rock quarry that filters an aquifer that feeds thousands of wells in rural Ottawa County and extends to Lucas and Sandusky counties is not a recipe for responsible environmental stewardship," Loth wrote.The Register contacted Brian P. Barger, an attorney with the Eastman & Smith law firm in Columbus, to ask for comment about the case. Barger is one of the attorneys representing Rocky Ridge Development."We really don't have any comment, given the fact that the case is pending in court," Barger said.So does Rocky Ridge dispute that it's violating local zoning rules?"We just really will address this in court," Barger said.But Rocky Ridge officials may intend to argue that what they are doing is covered by the Ohio EPA's current authorization allowing the company to apply drinking water treatment material mixed with soil to fill in low-lying areas and to enhance drainage. The state agency issued the authorization in 2014, said Dina Pierce, a spokeswoman for Ohio EPA.In addition to the zoning fight in court, residents hope to convince Ohio EPA to turn down Rocky Ridge's application to put spent lime inside the quarry itself. The authorization issued in 2014 doesn't allow material to be placed into the quarry, so the EPA has to approve that, Pierce said."Ohio EPA is reviewing the application and has not made a decision on whether to approve or deny," Pierce wrote in an email to the Register.Residents near the quarry have complained that the state EPA ought not to make a decision before first holding a public hearing, where residents would be able to ask questions and make statements.State Rep. Steve Arndt, R-Port Clinton, told the Register he has raised that issue with EPA officials.Arndt said that while the EPA has not promised a formal public hearing, EPA officials have said that they will have a way for residents to ask questions and make comments.An aerial photo of the former Stoneco Quarry in Benton Township.