Landfill chief at EPA has new job
The Times-Reporter
COLUMBUS - The chief of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency division that oversees landfills has been moved to a different position and replaced with another long-term employee of the agency.
Daniel J. Harris, who served as chief of the Division of Solid and Infectious Waste Management since 2001, will oversee “technical aspects of solid waste regulation,” according to Chris Korleski, director of the Ohio EPA.
Harris, a graduate of the University of Toledo, joined the EPA in 1984 in the Division of Water Pollution Control. He was assistant chief in the Division of Solid and Infectious Waste from 1997 to 2001.
He will be replaced as administrator of the division by Pam Allen, who has been a manager in the Division of Hazardous Waste Management since 1990.
A graduate of John Carroll University, Allen will take over on May 29.
Melissa Fazekas, a spokeswoman for Korleski, said the director felt changes were needed within the agency, but the move had nothing to do with problems at Countywide Landfill and Recycling in Pike Township in Stark County. She said the change was not a demotion for Harris.
“I emphasize that he will continue to play an integral role in the operation of the program,” Korleski said Wednesday.
Korleski recently issued findings and orders against Countywide after becoming personally involved in trying to find a solution to odors coming from the landfill as a result of two underground fires. He visited the facility on his second day on the job earlier this year.
