They Want to Dig for Benzene and Cyanide — and the Landfill Company Won’t Let Them In
TOLEDO, Ohio — The Seneca County General Health District says WIN Waste Innovations is refusing to let its crews collect soil samples at the county landfill — and is threatening to sue if they try.
The county wants to test dirt in the area being dug up for a landfill expansion for benzene, cyanide and heavy metals from hazardous waste dumped there in the 1980s. The Seneca County landfill dispute centers on whether contamination from that earlier dumping remains in the soil now being disturbed.
Right now, the Ohio EPA only requires visual inspections at the site, not lab testing of the soil, according to the county. Health officials say a visual check cannot show whether benzene, cyanide or heavy metals are present in the dirt.
The county is calling on the agency and WIN Waste to give its crews access to collect samples. County officials say the public has a right to know if contamination remains in the soil at the Seneca County landfill before expansion work moves forward.
WIN Waste Innovations operates the landfill. The health district says the company has refused access for sampling and has warned of legal action if county crews attempt to collect soil there.
The dispute comes as work continues in the area slated for expansion. The county wants laboratory results from the soil being excavated, rather than relying on visual inspection alone, to determine whether hazardous materials from the 1980s dumping are still present.
Health officials have asked the Ohio EPA to require testing and to help secure access for the county’s sampling crews. The county says testing would provide a clear, scientific answer about the soil — and about any risk to people living and working near the landfill.
For now, the standoff continues: the county wants to dig and test, and WIN Waste is blocking access.
File photo (illustrative only): A landfill operation in August 1973. This archival image is NOT the Seneca County site. Photo: Wil Blanche / U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (EPA DOCUMERICA, Aug 1973), public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Source: 13abc (WTVG), “Seneca Co. and WIN Waste battle over landfill soil testing,” published Nov 10, 2026
