Rocky Ridge says it's following the rules. Council members say mining may violate zoning - and the FBI is asking questions, though 2 entities say not of them.
TOLEDO, Ohio — A proposed expansion of a South Toledo mining operation is drawing sharp criticism from some city council members, who say the current mining activities may be illegal due to improper zoning.
Rocky Ridge Development, which operates the site at 4004 Angola Road, is seeking city council approval to rezone three residential parcels for industrial use to continue and expand its mining operation.
The company currently holds a six-month contract with the city to mine clay and sand at 4004 Angola and fill in the holes with the leftover drinking water treatment material (DWTM) from the city's Collins Park Water Treatment Plant. The DWTM is made up of spent lime, and Rocky Ridge says the effort is critical to helping dispose of the material from Toledo's water treatment process.
But some council members say the land is not properly zoned for mining and that current activity may already be in violation of city code. The company, however, maintains the issue is being politicized in advance of a key vote scheduled for July 15. There have been no citations, stop work orders or fines issued by the city over the project.
"This is a political smear campaign," said Rocky Ridge owner Charles Stansley. "We've followed all the rules and self-reported when we realized there might be a zoning issue."
Stansley led a tour of the site for 11 Investigates on Wednesday, showing how DWTM is removed and spread on farmland. He argues the material is safe and environmentally sound, citing years of collaboration with scientists and ecologists.
Former City of Toledo Public Utilities Director Ed Moore, who retired from his city job in 2024, now works for Rocky Ridge. He said the company is looking to expand operations, regardless of how city council votes on the rezoning issue, or whether it takes any action on the current zoning compliance problem.
"We service Oregon as well. We did Fremont last year, so we're diversifying," Moore said. "I just had a conversation about the city of Adrian, potentially getting there. We're meeting with Detroit in a couple weeks, the Great Lakes Water Authority."
Moore said the company voluntarily disclosed the zoning issue after learning about it while seeking a permit from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for the expansion at 0 Byrne Road in late 2024.
He said he does not believe Rocky Ridge falsified any information during the application process because the company thought it was already zoned for industrial use under the previous owners, Dennis Topsoil and Landscaping Inc., which "was not doing anything with DWTM."
"We want to get it right," Moore said. "We've been transparent. We went straight to the plan commission to fix it."
Moore also warned that if the zoning change is not approved, Toledo will be left with limited options for disposing of the 50,000 tons of DWTM it produces annually.
"If this site shuts down, the city will have to truck it out," he said. "That's a costly and less sustainable option."
Moore said if it can expand to three parcels, including 3920 Angola Road, which is already zoned as 'limited industrial,' Rocky Ridge would continue to mine soil and clay, clear DWTM and then return the land in the proper condition to the city for wetland or agricultural use.
Stansley disputes any claims that DWTM is not safe for residential buildings and says it would simply require material to be placed on top of the DWTM should someone want to build there in the future or use the land for agricultural purposes.
"It is a myth that you can't built on DWTM. You can," Stansley said.
The company says it has received three formal dust-related complaints from residents in 2024 and has taken steps to address them. Those include rerouting truck traffic and investing in dust control measures, including treating the roadways with polymer and shutting down on rainy and windy days.
"We've listened to the community," said Moore. "Angola Road is cleaner now, and traffic impacts are being mitigated."
Separately, Rocky Ridge is preparing to relocate its offices from Sylvania to a new $2.5 million, 15,000-square-foot facility on Consaul Street in East Toledo. The company says it purchased the land from the Lucas County Land Bank for $116,000 and has since cleaned up the site.
Stansley said the move has been planned for two years and is not connected to any zoning decisions.
In addition to that, Rocky Ridge expressed interest in a type of profit-sharing agreement with the city as part of a $10 million investment to pelletize and repurpose DWTM. Essentially, the city would provide the DWTM and Rocky Ridge would manufacture it into pellets to be sold to farmers to apply on their land as nutrients for crops.
Ryan McBride, Rocky Ridge's Agricultural Nutrient Manager, said the DWTM pellets create a "unique opportunity" to supply key nutrients without flowing into water and feeding algal blooms.
"DWTM is full of calcium, grabs onto phosphorous and acts like a magnet for phosphorous while preventing it from running off into waterways. It gives you cleaner water and farmers get nutrients they need for healthy crops," he said.
Moore said the company is currently working with about 100 farmers to apply DWTM in its current form and has seen positive results because its primary benefit is that it "releases nutrients to increase yield," according to Stansley, "and previously, "90 percent of DWTM was going to landfills."
The Angola Road project may face more than just zoning hurdles. Multiple sources told 11 Investigates they have been contacted by the FBI regarding the site or individuals involved. Stansley, however, said he has not been contacted by the bureau and denied any wrongdoing. A city spokesperson also said the administration has not been contacted.
Stansley also addressed political donations he's made to Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz since 2022, which 11 Investigates totaled at $7,000, stating he has donated to campaigns for decades and has never expected anything in return.
Council again delayed a vote to rezone three parcels in south Toledo last week, with the decision to delay causing tension.
"I'm not sure why this is continuing to drag on. We wouldn't do this for anybody else and I'm kind of over the pay-to-play politics," District 2 councilmember Adam Martinez said at the meeting.
11 Investigates also asked Stansley about suspicion from at least three council members about the departure of Tom Gibbons, who the city announced in June was stepping down as the director of the Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commission after nearly three decades of city service.
The city did not give a reason as to Gibbons' departure or any insight into the timing, which was ahead of a possible council vote on the zoning changes. However, Gibbons ultimately opposed the rezoning of the Angola Road property.
The plan commission recommended disapproving the zoning change due to environmental and dust concerns.
The council members who spoke to 11 Investigates speculated that Gibbons was forced into retirement by the administration because he "was not being a team player."
Stansley said he had no involvement with Gibbons' departure and said he only knew that Gibbons had at first written "a favorable report and then an unfavorable report" after a community meeting regarding the zoning issues.
The rezoning request is set to go before Toledo City Council on July 15. Nine council members must approve.