A North Toledo landfill that came under investigation last spring when it caught fire, causing respiratory health worries for dozens of downwind residents, will be allowed to keep operating as long as it remains in compliance with its state environmental permit, officials said.

The future of Stickney Recycling, also known as Stickney West Construction & Demolition Debris LLC, also is tied to the outcome of a Chapter 11 reorganization filed Dec. 18 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Cleveland by Stickney Holdings LLC of 3 Hemisphere Way, Bedford, Ohio.

In its 32-page filing, the corporation’s authorized representative, attorney Todd Davis of Orange Village, Ohio, listed assets of $82,638.94 and liabilities of $245,830.53.

Most of the latter consists of a $230,000 state fine to settle violations cited by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, according to the filing, which lists Stansley Mineral Resources Inc. of 3739 Silica Rd., Sylvania, as a co-debtor.

Donna Bernhard, a North Toledo Block Watch leader coordinating efforts in opposition to the landfill’s continued operation, said she and others still encountered foul odors until a few weeks ago.

“We’ve had such smells back here,” she said. “We never know when it’s going to start up again.”

Mrs. Bernhard said she believes heavy snow this month suppressed odors, while the corporation’s bankruptcy filing “doesn’t surprise me.”

Christopher Jones, a former Ohio Environmental Protection Agency director who is now part of the landfill’s legal team, said the facility is in compliance with its state permit and intends to stay there.

“To date, Stickney West has complied fully with all regulatory obligations due under the consent order. Stickney West continues to cooperate with all regulatory authorities and is currently operating the landfill as a debtor-in-possession in accordance with the facility’s license, as the company works toward a successful reorganization,” Mr. Jones, now part of the Columbus law firm of Calfee, Halter, and Griswold LLP, said in a prepared statement emailed to The Blade.

The corporation’s attorneys and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office spent months hammering out a consent order — a compromise agreement — under the auspices of Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Linda Jennings after the landfill fire on the first weekend of May, which sent dramatic flames shooting high into the air and put neighbors on high alert.

State attorneys testified the fire likely began underground at least two weeks before flames became visible for miles around the site, and that it likely smoldered long after firefighters thought it was out.

Underground landfill fires are often difficult to extinguish. The blaze kept firefighters on scene for most of that early-May weekend.

Attorneys representing the corporation disagreed with the state’s assessment of the fire, including video presented in court of what state attorneys claimed as more smoldering days after firefighters left. The corporation also had one of the Toledo Fire Department’s top officials testify in court that he believed the fire was out when firefighters left the scene.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department tested for numerous air pollutants, including asbestos, a carcinogen the landfill is licensed to accept. Test results revealed no problems.

Betsy Nightingale, the U.S. EPA’s emergency response team coordinator at the fire, said last summer after writing a report about the incident she was “really happy to see ... that we didn’t have as much asbestos [picked up by air monitors] as we could have had.”

Dina Pierce, an Ohio EPA spokesman, said the landfill “had a very recent violation, which they quickly corrected.” She did not elaborate, except to say that a notice would be coming from the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department.

The site is adjacent to the city of Toledo’s Dura Avenue landfill.

Many residents complained of odors and stinging eyes during the fire’s peak between May 2 and May 5. One state inspector, Sue Handy, testified in court there was a lingering smell days after the fire department left that was “like a campfire with a putrid smell” and had “some chemical smell to it.”

Stickney West Construction & Demolition Debris, Stansley Mineral Resources, Hemisphere Ltd., and Stickney Holdings LLC are the four companies previously identified as the site’s partners.

Over a defense attorney’s objection, a state EPA witness identified Stickney West in court last May as the property owner and license holder, while Stansley Mineral Resources was identified as the landfill operator.

Stickney Recycling is the latest incarnation of a site that was used as a slaughterhouse, Home Packing Co., about a century ago.

By midcentury, it became known as the Royster site, home to a fertilizer plant owned by the Royster Guano Co.

The site’s previous owner, Ron Gorney, became mired in legal trouble after he uncovered a landfill cap the city had placed over the adjoining Tyler Street dump, which it operated from 1955 to 1968.

With the city’s blessing, Hemisphere purchased Stickney West in 1999 so the site could be converted to its present use as a construction and demolition-debris landfill. It began accepting waste Aug. 24, 2009.

Toledo acquired tons of soil from Hemisphere — material from the former Gorney operation — to offset its costs for capping the city’s Dura Avenue landfill, a dump known for leaking harsh chemicals into the Ottawa River.

The deal saved Toledo about $1.2 million in clay costs for that project, according to the Hemisphere fact sheet.

Contact Tom Henry at: thenry@theblade.com, 419-724-6079, or via Twitter @ecowriterohio.

First Published February 16, 2015, 5:00 a.m.