Like the temperature in the Jefferson Twp. High School gym Monday night, residents attending a meeting about a proposed controversial composting facility were hot.
They were hot over the fact that Steve Rauch, owner of a demolition and excavation company named SRI, Inc., at 1550 Soldiers Home-West Carrollton Road, and his business partner, Dan Wampler of Mason, want to put a composting business on Rauch's property at 7750 Dayton Farmersville Road.
Hundreds attended the meeting hosted by the Dayton Unit NAACP. Derrick Foward, NAACP president and meeting facilitator, said Wampler and Rauch asked him to host. He noted that the unit has not taken a position on the issue.
All the people in the audience who spoke were against the project, which was repeatedly referred to as a "dump." At one point, someone shouted "No more trash!"
"He already has a dump that he dumps in. And the trucks come every day, every night," said Adonna Mobley, who lives less than a mile from the proposed site. "The neighbors have complained, but nothing has been done."
About the critical comments, Rauch said, "That's their opinion." Despite the opposition, he said he intends to pursue the project.
Several residents voiced concerns about waste going into Bear Creek, which is near the proposed site. Wampler told the audience that he and Rauch would take the proper precautions to make sure the creek is protected. That comment did not satisfy many.
The next step is for Wampler to make a formal presentation to the township's Board of Zoning Appeals in July.
In May, Rauch and Wampler submitted a conditional use request to the Jefferson Twp. trustees for the composting facility and two greenhouses.
If approved, the business would be called KOTE (Keepers of the Earth) Organic Farms and take in waste, including fruit and vegetable cut-outs and tea leaves from food processing companies, according to Wampler. Compost created at the facility would be sold.
If the zoning board denies the request, Wampler said, "at some point Steve and I will have to get back together and decide what we want to do."
When a resident asked why the NAACP hosted the meeting and whether it had received any money from Rauch, Foward responded, "Rauch has never given us any money for anything."
Dina Pierce, an Ohio EPA media coordinator, said the Ohio EPA has the authority to shut down a composting facility where the owners are found to be committing violations, "This rarely happens, however. Our intention is never to shut down a business," she said. She noted that the EPA focuses on bringing businesses into compliance with environmental regulations.
Pierce said if Rauch decides to build a Class II compost facility, then Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County will be the licensing authority, will perform the inspections and can cite violations.