The Curtain Calls for Quasar

Madison TWP Wins Victory Over Biosolid Goliath

This Article was originally published on The Heartland Beat.

It’s been several long years for the residents of Perry County in Madison Township, as they fought what seemed like an uphill battle to protect their livelihoods and water supply against the looming biosolid lagoon construction from Quasar. Today that battle was dealt a decisive victory as Quasar finally ended their poisonous pursuit, returning sovereignty back into the hands of the rural residents.

Three years ago The Heartland Beat covered the struggle of the agricultural community in Mount Perry , Madison Township, as they fought every way they could to prevent the construction of a ‘biosolid lagoon’, an articulate way of stating a pond of human waste, right in their backyard. One of the major concerns regarding the construction of these ‘lagoons’ comes from the high risk of contamination for the surrounding area. In the case of Mount Perry, the construction of the lagoon was dug so close to the aquifer, that contamination of the drinking water for most of the community was nearly certain.

For some time prior, farmers in the area had regularly been added to the registry of fertilization from Quasar, allowing the company to deposit the human waste over crop fields, closing the circle of life for human waste from sewer system to treatment silo to bio lagoon and finally to the food you eat.

“Farmers in the area were applying biosolids in their area with signage stating ‘do not come onto the property for 30 days’, Wilson said. “All these years they have been applying this stuff and we didn’t know what it was, we just knew it stunk way more than any cow or pig manure, this stuff is rancid.”

Studies surrounding vegetable nutrient absorption have long since indicated that heavy metals, PFAS and even medical waste located in human waste all find its way into produce grown using the material, making it incredibly toxic. According to Wilson, most in the area have lived for years not knowing the contents of the material being spread over their crops, focusing instead on the fact that it was a free fertilizer program sanctioned by the Ohio EPA. Likewise the FDA and USDA currently have no rule or regulations on the book governing notification of or studies on produce grown with human waste making it a literal crapshoot on what the nutritional content of your lettuce may be at the grocery. The material has been linked to chronic wasting disease in deer and other prion related illnesses.

Community members like local water expert Bill Wilson, often referred to as “Cowboy,” almost immediately sounded the alarm once Quasar began stepping into the area. Doing copious research into the industry resulting in community organizations being formed, petition signatures gathered and outreach to local leaders was attempted. But for years it seemed like nothing was working.

“Most politicians did little more than write a letter stating they supported the community in not wanting the lagoon there,” Wilson said.

Outside of minor lip service for the community, only one representative actually took some level of action. Rep. Kevin Miller introduced a bill which would potentially allow community members to be made aware of oncoming construction of such lagoons, something seemingly missing from the EPA’s current blanket allowance without community cooperation. Outside of this minimal action, the political system had effectively failed communities like Mount Perry. Quasar had dug the lagoon and outside of the EPA mandating they install a pool liner in the pit before dumping the human excrement, little more was being done to protect the farming community whose livelihoods hung in the balance.

However, the pool liner was never installed. In the winter of 2023 it was delivered to the location where it sat for months in the snow, rain and ice.

“They never got the liner installed,” Wilson said. “They got it delivered out to the lagoon and could never get the sub grading.”

Cowboy and his band of renegades watched the location like a hawk, paying attention to every detail, including the brand and type of liner which was purchased. As it turns out, leaving liners in the elements for months actually violates the proper handling instructions for the material, making it near useless. Wilson’s group, now working with Case Western Reserve University, who provided legal assistance, filed a case with the Environmental Review Appeals Committee, or ERAC for short.

“The liner has to be stored indoor and dry and was not to be in any ice, snow or rain so we filed a complaint about the liner being misused,” Wilson said. “So when they did, we opened up the ERAC case and we were allowed to add other points of reference.”

The ERAC case was the first of many stones slingshot by a town of Davids. The Ohio EPA began asking more questions of Quasar, who was quick to request the liner not be used as they were now arguing the soil was clay enough to prevent any leaching into the groundwater. However the OEPA would not permit this. The next stone would come after Wilson’s group formed a picket line at the Quasar refinery plant in Zanesville, Ohio, where it was learned the plant was no longer operating with a functioning generator needed to heat the sludge and, arguably, kill off many of the harmful materials which could prove deadly.

“More questions formed that the refinery in Zanesville had not been functioning as a treatment facility,” Wilson said. “Saying they were treating all this sludge but the generator system was not functioning, so how were they treating the sludge? So they went ahead and shut the facility down to keep us from picking on them.”

The Zanesville facility was sold off to a soda manufacturer, signaling a collapse of the company's influence in the area. Other items were soon added to the ERAC filings, totaling six different cases against Quasar all together.

“We watched it like a hawk, it wasn’t hard for us to find things wrong,” Wilson said. “They were not keeping the still ponds clean, allowing it to overflow and run into the creek and everything.”

Cowboy’s crew also met with nearly every farmer in the area and educated them on the contents of the ‘fertilizer’ they had been using, resulting on 14 farmers deauthorized from the program, totaling in thousands of acres.

Without a means to dispose of the human waste by dumping it over crops, Quasar would have limited means of dealing with the material in the lagoon they planned to construct. With no treatment refinery on record and no means of handling overflow by dumping, the beast had effectively been starved, leading Quasar to rescind its permit application for the lagoon with the Ohio EPA.

“I have 3 children and I have land here and our water is the best water in the world, and when I heard about this stuff and studied about what this stuff was, but if it has the potential to contaminate someone else’s livelihood in terms of their water and livelihood we have issues there,” Wilson said. “I am very relieved especially for my children, but I think Mount Perry will have a better future now without that crap going on.”

Officially, Quasar has admitted the cause of the rescinding lies with the massive public pressure being put on them, even if they are not officially stating they have done anything wrong. Ultimately, the successful tide turning in this long battle did not come from any action through our current system of regulations or political action (or lack thereof), though the ERAC cases were important in applying system pressure. It was the perseverance of the community which won the day in Mount Perry. The rural people of Madison Township did not give up, even when things felt hopeless, though certainly the power that shouldn’t be most likely wanted them to.

While many had argued that proper zoning would aid the community in stopping or preventing such construction, the OEPA agricultural zoning rules ultimately superseded any local ordinances. In short, working through the system only provided minor support.

As of now, Quasar will be filling the pit dug out and converting the area into a tree farm. With the battle now over, Wilson is offering his advice on how communities around the state can start to pick up their own battles against the odds. The fight always starts with information.

“First thing people should do is educate yourself and others on what they are trying to put in, you have to have the education to know what it can contaminate and go door-to-door,” Wilson said. Some people don't get on Facebook and keep to themselves. Keep it public, let everyone know, we went everywhere we could.”

Communities across the state are facing threats not much different from Quasar. Whether it is contamination of the water supply, cultural degradation in schools or mass replacement, people in Ohio find themselves more often than not staring down the face of a massive juggernaut that seems invincible. If the people of Mount Perry can teach you anything, keep throwing stones. As long as you’re still standing, victory is possible. It may take months or even years, but if it’s important enough to fight for, then it’s worth standing up until the end. Don’t give up, victory may just be around the corner. All it takes is the right rock to hit.