Evans Landscaping wins court battle on waste cleanup in Ohio

Evans Landscaping owner Doug Evans won his court battle with state prosecutors over how to clean up buried waste at what health officials say is an illegal landfill in Anderson Township.

Visiting Judge Jonathan Hein issued an order siding with Evans on Dec. 1, after a two-day hearing in Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, and a visit to the site at 8361 Broadwell Road, where thousands of truckloads of construction waste are believed to be buried.

“From the court’s perspective, it appears that the defendants’ consideration of cost factors and economic principles crashed into the plaintiff’s idealistic goal that zero pollutants would again leach into the aquifer. These philosophical principles are juxtaposed in this case,” Hein wrote.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost sued Evans in 2021 after more than 20 years of environmental violations. Evans agreed to pay a $550,000 fine and clean up three sites on two tracts of land near Newtown as part of a settlement.

This story originally appeared on WCPO's website in Cincinnati. For the full story, click here.