(CLERMONT COUNTY, Ohio) — A Clermont County couple has been banned from operating in the waste industry after a judge found them liable on Ohio Attorney General Yost’s eight-count complaint to stop him from dumping acres of waste on his property and endangering the public.
Yost filed an injunctive action against Donald and Anita Combs, dba Ace Dumpsters and Combs Trucking and Land Improvements, after inspectors from the Ohio EPA Division of Solid Waste and Material Management and Clermont County Public Health found he was using his property to dump waste from his demolition and waste hauling business in order to avoid paying proper fees.
Donald Combs
“Your trash doesn’t magically go away because it is in the back of a garbage truck,” Yost said. “We all want to do what we can to save money but this guy was dumping waste meant for a landfill on his own property in order to make a buck.”
Donald Combs, 55, of rural Milford, has a history of illegally dumping debris. A Clermont County Common Pleas Court judge had already banned Combs, from dumping waste at one of the sites in 2016. After that site had been barricaded, Combs began dumping waste at his personal residence.
Donald Combs would advertise waste hauling and answer similar solicitations on Craigslist.
He often offered consumers a much lower rate than waste haulers that paid the proper fees to dump waste legally (photos here) and within environmental standards at landfills. Combs hauled everything from household trash to environmentally hazardous materials such as oil and paint.
As a result of the repeated violations and defiance of court orders, Yost asked the court to permanently ban Donald and Anita Combs from operating any waste businesses.
Combs is required to immediately begin removing waste from his residential property and clean up both sites. The court entry provided that if Combs brings any waste to either property, he will be barred from accessing that site so that he may not worsen an already egregious situation.
Yost also urges consumers to use professional waste haulers that handle waste properly in order to prevent environmental disasters. Consumers can research businesses and any complaints against them here.
