Here is a brief chronological history of the River Road Landfill, according to information in one of nine U.S. Environmental Protection Agency binders at the Shenango Valley Community Library in Sharon, which are available for public viewing:

   » EARLY YEARS: From mine to landfill -- The property was originally used for oil and gas production, test wells and agricultural purposes.

In the late 1950s it operated as a sand and gravel mine before eventually being transformed into a landfill in late 1962 over the vocal protests of many residents and public officials. The landfill accepted municipal, residential and industrial wastes.

As excavation was under way for the landfill in 1962, groups picketed to stop trucks entering the landfill, repeatedly called the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources (now the Department of Environmental Protection), and wrote numerous letters to state legislators, the governor and the EPA objecting to the operation of the landfill.

   » WASTE MANAGEMENT TAKES OVER: Protests increase -- Waste Management of Pennsylvania Inc. bought the site in 1980 and originally considered using the landfill for the disposal of hazardous wastes.

However, in the wake of significant protests only non-hazardous industrial wastes were disposed.

The Mercer County Regional Planning Commission and a large number of residents presented testimony to the Pennsylvania State Conservation Commission in early 1984 to recommend the DER deny the hazardous waste permit.

Community leaders and officials from Hermitage, Sharon, Sharpsville and South Pymatuning Township also opposed the issuance of the permit.

To organize the opposition, the Shenango Valley Landfill Committee was formed, comprising elected officials from the four communities, as well as an environmental group called Evergreen.

In August 1984, an environmental town meeting was held under the sponsorship of then-Congressmen Tom Ridge.

   » INVESTIGATION AND SHUTDOWN: Cancer-causing chemicals discovered -- In 1983 and '84, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources fined Waste Management for violations including the unpermitted use of a waste disposal area and discharging of leachate into surface water and into a diversion ditch.

Leachate is the liquid that results when water percolates or trickles through waste materials and collects components of those wastes.

In 1985, the EPA conducted an investigation at the site, finding what it said were volatile organic chemicals such as oils, pesticides and solvents, as well as lead and arsenic, in the ground water.

Polychlorinated biphenyl's (PCBs), which had been linked to causing cancer in laboratory animals, and other similar compounds were also found in diversion ditch sediments.

Waste Management ceased landfilling in 1986 and closed the site a year later. In Sept. 1989, the site was placed on the National Priorities List where its remained ever since.