Lowellville resident files petition against Poland Police Chief, Mahoning County Sheriff
LOWELLVILLE, Ohio - A Lowellville resident has filed a petition for writ of mandamus against the Poland Township Police Chief Greg Wilson and the Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene, according to court records.
Gary Deperro of Lowellville filed the petition on Friday, November 14, according to court records.
Within the petition, Deperro claims that both the Poland Township Police Chief and the Mahoning County Sheriff are not doing the jobs that they swore to do under the Ohio Revised Code: Enforce the law.
According to the petition documentation, Deperro claims that both law enforcement organizations have allowed waste management trucks to dump garbage at a landfill nearby to his home, and the inaction to enforce a weight limit on the road the trucks travel on has "resulted in harm."
It is listed in the petition that the Mahoning County Engineer's Office and the Mahoning County Prosecutor's Office have confirmed that State Line Road in Poland Township, the road that is at the center of the petition, is classified as a "Class Two" weight limit road, meaning it is rated to handle 17-ton vehicles at a maximum.
The petition goes on to claim that there have been over 100,000 violations of this weight restriction, and by extension, the law enforcement organizations' instances of "inaction" to enforce this restriction for over 30 years.
Additionally, the petition mentions the pile of solid waste at the landfill nearby, where the trucks dump the waste they are hauling down this road.
Deperro claims that the "sups leachate" that runs down his road has the possibility to explode or pollute the air, which could cause an area-wide evacuation.
"Leachate" is defined as the liquid that drains from a landfill or through waste materials that have extracted some components of the materials that it has passed through.
Deperro says in the petition that he has reached out to several organizations to help enforce the weight restriction in place along that road, including:
- Poland Township Trustees
- Poland Township Police Chief Greg Wilson
- Mahoning County Sheriff's Office
- Mahoning County Prosecutor's Office
- Ohio State Highway Patrol Canfield Post Commander
- Ohio Attorney General's Office via the Bureau of Criminal Investigations
- Pennsylvania State Police
- Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
21 News has reached out to Deperro, Poland Township Police Chief Wilson and Mahoning County Sheriff Greene for comment, but has not heard back as of the publishing of this story.
