Residents who live in the West Point area gathered at the local Nazarene church Tuesday night to talk about a landfill proposed by the Rosebud Mining Company.  The company wants to build a landfill along state Route 45 that would receive solid municipal waste and waste from the oil and gas industry.


People believe that drilling waste contains radioactive material that could eventually find its way into nearby streams like Little Beaver Creek.
Doug Sanford, of West Point, said, "We don't want to stop the drilling, we just don't want the mud to be trucked here from all these wells. The mud, they drill down a mile, they go through uranium."

The landfill would take up 117 acres and have several layers of clay and plastic liners, but residents fear that's not enough.

"O.K. it's going to last for 30-50 years, so who's going to pay for it after 50 years when it starts to leak? According to the state of Ohio their bond only has to cover it for 30 and then they get their money back," said Sanford.

Residents want water samples of ponds in the area now to see if drilling is already causing harm to the local environment. They are worried that safeguards put in place now won't be there years from now.

Lisbon resident, Lisa McKee, said, "What about the legacy we're going to leave our children and grandchildren? We want to leave them clean air, clean water and clean land. We don't want to leave them toxic waste that's going in our rivers and creeks."

Two more public meetings will be held by the EPA on the requested permit for the landfill before that agency makes a decision.