|
BURNSIDE |
$250,000 restitution sought
A Logan County man admitted he illegally transported and stored more than 100,000 scrap tires on a property near Huntsville and agreed to repay $250,000 in restitution for the cleanup that was recently completed using a special fund.
Rodney L. Burnside II, 42, of 5372 County Road 49, Huntsville, appeared Monday in Logan County Common Pleas Court and entered into a plea agreement in which he entered no contest pleas to illegal transportation of scrap tires, failure to maintain scrap tire hauler registration in a vehicle and illegal open dumping. He also pleaded guilty to an unrelated charge of receiving stolen property.
The three charges related to the tire dump are unclassified felonies and carry potential prison sentences of up to four years each and $25,000 in fines, while the receiving stolen property charge is a fifth-degree felony punishable by up to a year in prison.
Mr. Burnside was charged for operating an illegal tire dump at 4971 County Road 130, Huntsville. Environmental health officials with the Logan County Health District began ordering the cleanup of the property when scrap tire accumulation was first noticed about two years ago, but the orders went unheeded.
Logan County Prosecutor William T. Goslee became involved in early 2015 and was able to get state officials, including the Ohio Attorney General’s Office — which prosecuted the criminal case — and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency involved.
After issuing required notices over the latter part of 2015 to both Mr. Burnside and the property owner, Randall Middaugh, the Ohio EPA used the state’s scrap tire fund, which is financed through a $1 fee on new tire purchases, to remove more than 100,000 tires from the site — work that was completed in May.
Ohio EPA officials reported a $506,708 contract for the work was awarded May 2 to Liberty Tire Recycling of Grove City.
Robert Cheugh, the lead prosecutor for the Attorney General’s Office, reported the cleanup cost as $299,000 on Monday and said the state is seeking a $250,000 restitution order.
Mr. Burnside has maintained that he was planning to recycle the tires, but that a cancer diagnosis and treatment prevented him from undertaking the task.
During the hearing Monday, Mr. Burnside also entered a guilty plea to a receiving stolen property charge that was prosecuted by the Logan County Prosecutor’s Office. He admitted to selling a trailer owned by W.R. Dixon in May 2015 to Sims Brothers Recycling, where it was located.
Prosecutors are seeking an additional $2,800 restitution in that case.
Mr. Burnside remains free on bond pending his Aug. 1 sentencing hearing.