The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is getting more involved in the problems at a Stark County landfill.

The agency, in a Jan. 22 letter, encouraged Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility in Pike Township to cooperate with a new federal investigation under Superfund laws, to agree to pay federal costs and to take unspecified corrective actions that the agency may order.

The federal EPA said it feels strongly that ''response activities at the site must be initiated as quickly as possible,'' said the letter from Jason El-Zein, acting chief of the emergency response branch in Chicago.

Possible remedies include a gas-extraction and treatment system, collecting and treating leachate or liquid runoff and capping the problem area with clay and soil, the letter said.

It also called for reviews of surface and groundwater, development of a contingency plan in case of landfill failure or construction activities and expanding air monitoring and testing around the landfill.

Countywide intends to cooperate with the federal EPA, landfill manager Tim Vandersall said Friday.

The 258-acre landfill in Pike Township is already under a series of state orders to eliminate underground fires and offensive odors.

The U.S. EPA has been supporting the Ohio EPA for months in dealing with Countywide, but the federal EPA letter seems to indicate a new approach.

The Ohio EPA fully supports the federal action, and Ohio has been apprised by the federal agency, said Ohio EPA spokesman Mike Settles.

Federal officials involved in the Countywide case were not available late Friday, said EPA spokeswoman Karen Thompson in Chicago.

In other action, the Ohio EPA is reporting that offensive odors at Countywide may increase in the next few weeks with new drilling mandated by the Ohio EPA.

Drilling two large wells to remove excess leachate has the potential to cause additional odor problems, the EPA reported.

Completing the wells will require drilling into buried waste in the landfill.

The first well is scheduled to be installed the week of Feb. 11, but preliminary work starting on Monday includes using an auger and that could boost odors, Settles said.

The second well will be completed before Feb. 29.

In November, Ohio EPA Director Chris Korleski issued findings and orders requiring Florida-based Republic Services Inc. to add the so-called dewatering wells. The orders were revised on Dec. 31 to give the company more time.

The two wells — each 12 to 18 inches in diameter — are expected to extract large volumes of liquids and landfill gasses from the dump and to reduce gas pressure within the landfill.

Dewatering the landfill is expected to slow the reaction of buried aluminum wastes inside the older 88-acre area of the landfill. It is also designed to improve the efficiency of the landfill's gas-extraction system and to reduce odors.

The action will also increase landfill stability. Pumping off the excess liquid should help dry out and cool the landfill, the EPA said.

Two additional dewatering wells will be installed later. Republic Services must have those wells completed by March 25.

The EPA said the landfill produces about 25 million gallons of liquid runoff a year. It is hauled to sewage plants for disposal.

In a related development, Countywide neighbors have scheduled a Feb. 16 meeting to further discuss a possible lawsuit against Republic Services.

There will be a public meeting from 9 to 11 a.m. at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 1835 Dover-Zoar Road N.E., Zoar. That will be followed by a closed-door meeting from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. involving attorneys and neighbors who have signed up to be clients.

An earlier meeting attracted about 280 residents of southern Stark and northern Tuscarawas counties.

Involved are attorneys Steven D. Bell, of Brecksville; Robin Greenwald, of Weitz & Luxenberg PC in New York City; and Kevin Madonna of Kennedy & Madonna LLP in Hurley, N.Y.

The suit will likely seek unspecified damages and assert claims of property damage, nuisance and emotional distress but not personal injuries, the lawyers said at the earlier meeting.