Bradley Martin, a Fairborn resident and organizer of the protest, said the protest will start on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., before the Bath Twp. Trustee meeting.
“We thought it was resolved back in March and we’re shocked its still going on,” Martin said. “We’re concerned that this is still going on.”
The protest will be in the parking lot at the Bath Twp. administration building, located at 1006 Yellow Springs-Fairfield Road.
“It kind of seems like they’ve forgotten we’re concerned,” Martin said.
The Renergy operation sits on Bath Twp. Trustee Tom Pitstick’s farm. Pitstick’s attorney also filed an appeal of the BZA’s decision. The two cases have been merged.
Newly elected Bath Twp. Trustee Kassie Lester has held a different opinion on the issue than trustees Pitstick and Steve Ross.
“We want to be seen and heard by the two trustees who don’t want to see or hear us,” Martin said of the protest.
In September 2019, a Fayette County prosecutor issued a cease and desist order to Dovetail on behalf of Bath Twp. Fayette County Prosecutor Jess C. Weade was brought in to advise Bath Twp. by the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office. Weade said the facility is in violation of the current zoning code.
Renergy has said the operation is agricultural.
The company turns sewage and biowaste from municipalities and other sources into methane energy, the byproduct of which is then turned into fertilizer for crops used to feed livestock. Ohio Revised Code states that a pond, like the one that stores the waste Renergy collects, must contain half agricultural waste to be zoned agricultural. At the March hearing, the company said about 20% of the waste in that pond is agricultural.
Renergy has also stated that they are a public utility. When the zoning board ruled against Renergy, the company said it was disappointed the board didn’t “consider evidence showing that Dovetail is a public utility under Ohio law.”
A spokesperson for Renergy could not be reached for further comment.
The Bath Twp. BZA held two lengthy meetings earlier this year to hear arguments from Renergy and the prosecutor’s office, which led to the March zoning ruling.
Martin said he lives about half a mile from the Renergy operation. Fairborn and Bath Twp. residents have been pushing to have the operation shut down for years. Martin said residents continue to be upset by the smell, the potential health hazards of living near the bio-energy farm, the potential environmental impact and the lack of transparency of the township trustees.
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