BATH TWP., Greene County — Following years of odor complaints from people living in Greene County, the Ohio Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against the operators of a controversial biodigester claiming the companies have been operating without necessary permits.
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Court records show Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed the lawsuit in Greene County Common Pleas Court claiming the biodigester operators are in violation of Ohio law and the biodigester required a permit and monitoring from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
Named in the lawsuit are Renergy and Dovetail, the companies that operate the biodigester on Herr Road in Bath Twp., Greene County. Yost and the Ohio AG’s Office accuses the companies of not obtaining air pollution permits for an open storage tank that sits on the property.
The lawsuit also claims that the tank emits ammonia at levels that require a permit so it can be regulated by the Ohio EPA.
The lawsuit seeks the companies to become compliant with Ohio law and also seeks the companies to pay a large fine for each day they were allegedly out of compliance. Court records claim the companies can be fined up to $25,000 a day, per day of being out of compliance, plus each day after the filing of the lawsuit where the biodigester operated without the permits.
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The lawsuit claims the violations would have started in Feb. 2018, which would put the possible maximum fine at over $36.5 million.
In February, Bath Twp. and Fairborn officials filed an intention to sue the two companies, as well as the U.S. EPA and Ohio EPA over violations of the Clean Air Act.
Previously, Kassie Lester, a Bath Twp. Trustee, told News Center 7 that there have been over 43-hundred odor complaints over the last three years.