(DAYTON, Ohio)—Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine Monday announced that a Montgomery County grand jury has indicted a Dayton-area man for alleged illegal open dumping of solid waste at three different locations – a site owned by the city of West Carrollton, a construction-and-demolition-debris landfill, and a cattle ranch.
Steve R. Rauch, 63, of Germantown, is charged with:
- Three felony counts of open dumping of solid waste.
- Two felony counts of operating a solid waste facility without a license.
The indictment stems from an investigation into dumped mattresses, box springs, and other solid waste at 4000 Hydraulic Road, a site owned by the city of West Carrollton. Investigators allege that Rauch illegally dumped and buried solid waste at that site and at two other sites he owns: a construction-and-demolition-debris landfill located at 1550 Soldiers Home-West Carrollton Road in Dayton; and a cattle ranch called Bearcreek Farms at 7750 Dayton Farmersville Road in Dayton.
Rauch’s company S.R.I. Inc., which owns the land where the construction-and-demolition-debris landfill is located, also is charged with:
- Three felony counts of open dumping of solid waste.
- One felony count of operating a solid waste facility without a license.
- One misdemeanor count of violating a construction-and-demolition-debris rule.
Additionally, S.R.I. operations manager Jennifer M. Copeland, 32, of Franklin, was indicted on three felony counts of complicity to open dumping and one misdemeanor charge of complicity to violating a construction-and-demolition-debris rule.
Bearcreek Farms also is charged with one felony count of operating a solid waste facility without a license.
The case was investigated by the West Carrollton Police Department, the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (Environmental Enforcement Unit), and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. The case is being prosecuted by attorneys with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.
An indictment is merely an allegation and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.