Springfield city leaders, the Clark County Health Commissioner, local activists and representatives from two of the companies that will be responsible for some of the cleanup costs were in attendance.
The consent decree will place the financial burden on all companies deemed the responsible parties for the proposed $20 million cleanup. Previously, that process had been in a state of limbo since 2019 as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice began negotiations with the potential responsible parties in 2019.
Residents have fought for years to get the site cleaned up and the concern is that toxic waste could impact local drinking water or continue to seep into the ground if not addressed. Those concerns led to the formation of the group People for Safe Water, which attended the event on Wednesday.
Elected officials praised the signing of the consent decree as a huge step forward.
“This is a tremendous step forward,” said Springfield City Commissioner Dave Estrop. “We have never been here before. This is a new experience.”
But, the consent decree still has to be submitted for final approval to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. After that, detailed plans have to be developed before shovels can go into the ground. It could take up to two years to do the construction design and the cleanup could take another two years, said Clark County Health Commissioner Charlie Patterson.
“I want everybody to understand that there wont be shovels in the ground digging barrels out by the end of 2022. It is not going to happen. That is not the way the process works,” Patterson told the crowd on Wednesday.
The existing proposed cleanup plan involves digging up containers that contain thousands of gallons of toxins. The liquid waste would be removed from those containers, while the solid waste would remain and be reburied in a double line pit. That location would then be capped and nearby groundwater would be monitored to detect any leaks.
The barrel fill is in a 8.5-acre portion of a closed landfill at 3108 Snyder Domer Road in German Twp., about 1.5 miles west of Tremont City and 3.5 miles northwest of Springfield.
Approximately 51,500 drums and about 300,000 gallons of industrial liquid waste were disposed of in waste cells between 1976 and 1979 at the site, according to information was listed on the EPA’s website. The barrel fill is being addressed under that agency’s Superfund alternative approach.
That waste contains toxic and dangerous chemicals and local efforts to get it removed have gone on for decades.
Though, the signing of a consent decree signals good news, those with People for Safe Water stressed the need of continuing to apply pressure on federal and state agencies to make sure the process continues and chemical toxic waste is removed.
“Our local officials need to keep the pressure on the U.S. EPA to move this forward,” said Larry Ricketts, with People for Safe Water.
“There is no reason it should be held up. The money’s there, it is not taxpayer money. How many times do you get an opportunity like that,” he added.
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