Uniontown is a small village in Stark County. The community is quaint and peaceful, but also holds a controversy that has hovered like a black cloud for over three decades. At the center of Uniontown and the dispute is the 30-acre Industrial Excess Landfill. From the Stark and Wayne County Bureau in Canton, WKSU's Michelle Chyatte reports in part one of this series...

Two grassroots groups believe the government is covering up what is buried at the industrial excess landfill in Uniontown. They are trying everything in their power through lawsuits, letters to government officials and community meetings to convince the government to recuse itself and accept responsibility for its role in the contamination of the 30-acre landfill.

Controversy surrounding possible development on the industrial excess landfill in Stark County has centered predominately on whether the site is leaking radiation. The government agencies and the companies responsible for contaminating the landfill have conducted multiple tests over the past decade and recent water samples have shown the radiation levels to be within the standards set by the EPA.

The Industrial excess landfill in Uniontown may be closer to redevelopment plans, if the residents approve of the EPA's second proposed amendment of a cleanup plan. In the ten-page explanation the EPA is recommending three options to the residents concerning the future of the landfill.

The U.S. EPA and Ohio EPA want to continue to educate the public concerning the cleanup process of the industrial excess landfill. To emphasize the efforts the government is making to remediate the land and to demystify any preconcieved notions of what the 30-acre site actually looks like, officials from both agencies led a group of reporters on a tour of the landfill.

The U.S. EPA announced in the beginning of April its proposal to continue the cleanup of the industrial excess landfill. The EPA held a public forum for citizens to voice concerns they may have about the government's proposal for the landfill. About two hundred people participated in the public comment period at the Uniontown Methodist Church.