COLUMBUS, Ohio — On Christmas Eve in 2022, John and Carol Doubikin woke up to a mess.
“You think, ‘What do you do? Who do you call?’” said Carol.
150,000 gallons of liquid waste flooded their yard.
“Nothing but a mess mainly because of an episode which happened next door at Renergy,” said Carol.
When asked if it could happen again, John replied, “Oh, it’s definitely going to happen.”
Carol added, “It will happen again.”
Renergy is located across the street from the Doubikins’ home in Morrow County. The farm collects animal and food waste used to feed a digester as a means to help generate electricity.
Even before this spill, neighbors have complained about foul odors, truck traffic and noise for years.
“As soon as they put up that dome and started this stuff, we all got concerned. We could smell it. You could smell it every night, it’s terrible,” said Georgetta Crump, another neighbor.
In August 2022, four months before the spill, U.S. EPA Region 5 issued a “Notice of Violation” to Renergy, “alleging excess air pollution emissions, and improper operation of air pollution control equipment.”
In January, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost asked a Morrow County judge for a preliminary injunction on the facility. The state alleges it’s a threat to public safety and the environment – for air and water violations.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is actively investigating.
So did the repair work ever happen? And is Renergy still running?
“I haven’t seen anything, at all,” said Crump.
In March, 10 Investigates requested email exchanges between the owner of Renergy and the Ohio EPA.
Those emails, recently obtained, reveal a target date for repair work was set for the end of February “depending on weather and equipment.”
Ohio EPA advised Renergy to notify the state, EPA and residents when the dome was going to be removed.
In its final procedure draft, Renergy indicated it would notify the state and EPA – but not residents.
“It just says to us that they don't care. And we're on our own,” said Vickie High, another neighbor.
Earlier this month, Renergy’s owner Alex Ringler told 10 investigates by phone to reach out to a PR firm. That PR firm did not respond.
According to the Ohio EPA, repair work has been done to the biodigester. However, repair work for Carol and John's home took six months.
“Basically you feel helpless,” said Carol. “You want everyone to make a living, but why is it at our expense? That’s the problem.”
According to the Ohio EPA, the biodigester is still operating but no longer accepts sewage sludge or biosolids from publicly owned wastewater treatment plants – only food waste and manure.
While the Morrow County Renergy location has yet to be fully shut down, a release from Yost on Wednesday announced the shutdown of their Greene County facility.
The release states that Renergy agreed to permanently close down the facility after facing continuing complaints about raunchy odors stemming from environmental violations.
"Renergy’s shutdown will eliminate both the environmental problems in this case and the olfactory nuisance that the site has become," Yost said. "I am asking the court to approve our proposed order so Renergy can move swiftly and properly with a safe cleanup.”
With the Greene County facility closing, this leaves the Morrow County location as the sole digester facility still in operation by Renergy.