Countywide landfill in East Sparta received the order after the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency consulted with the Ohio Department of Health.

Low-level radioactive waste is not allowed in solid waste landfills, the Ohio EPA said. But incidental amounts of low-level radioactive waste are occasionally included in residential solid waste. The waste typically comes from homes where someone is recovering from a medical procedure that used low doses of short half-life isotopes, the state said. An example is iodine-131, which is used to treat thyroid problems.

The Ohio EPA is ordering the landfill to take steps to identify the waste and isolate it in a handling area away from the landfill´s working face. The landfill also has to notify the state health department and environmental agency as well as the Stark County Health Department when such waste is confirmed.