Ohio Company Ordered To Remove Tires

Sherman Recycling, (Newark, Ohio) whose owner is in prison for illegally burying solid waste, now faces a health department order to clean up 3,000 scrap tires at its East Main Street site.

Newark Health Commissioner Judith Carr said the business agreed to a plan for removal of the tires before the board of health’s July 13 meeting, just in time to avoid the filing of charges.

According to the health department, the business is in violation of state laws covering open dumping and general storage and handling of scrap tires, all unrelated to the violations that landed the owner in prison. If found guilty, the owners could face a fine of $10,000 to $25,000 or a two-year prison sentence, or both.

Richard Sherman, 61, was sentenced in June to four years in prison, and the business was fined $96,099 for burying solid waste on the site instead of transporting materials to a landfill. The waste buried at the Sherman Recycling site was business waste, consisting primarily of cardboard, plastic and paper.

Neighbors have complained for years about waste stored at the company’s East Main Street and Hollar Lane sites.

Judy Sherman, wife of Richard Sherman, agreed to a plan to clean up the tires, but no deadline has been set for removal. A message left for Judy Sherman was not returned Friday (July 21).

"They’re not a scrap tire facility, so they have to show they’re taking in and removing tires on an appropriate basis," Carr said. "We’ll be keeping a close eye for enforcement on it. It may come up to the board again if the plan is not maintained."

Mohammad Kahn, sanitarian at the health department, said the department received a complaint about the tires Jan. 17, then notified Sherman of the violations in a Jan. 19 letter. On Feb. 2, Sherman was given 60 days to remove the tires.

After an inspection that showed no action had been taken, Kahn sent another letter April 21, giving the business 30 days to remove the tires. Kahn spoke to Sherman again May 31 and June 5.

"He said he’d take care of it by June 19 or June 20," Kahn said. "And on June 20, he went to jail."

The four-year prison sentence was the result of an investigation by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which revealed trash buried at the site on three occasions in late June and early July 2004.

A June 20 inspection again showed no change in the status of the tires, and

Sherman was ordered to appear for an administrative hearing. Judy Sherman then agreed to the clean-up plan.

"There is no set time frame, but it has to be taken care of as soon as possible," Kahn said. "We need it to be addressed."

He said the company had a similar number of tires in need of removal back in 1994.

On July 7, Newark police responded to a complaint about Richard Sherman Jr. dumping trash illegally at Sherman Recycling’s other site. The report stated six bags of trash were placed in a trash container at the plant.

Sherman removed the bags and hauled them to another location, the report said. Advocate Reporter