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Tuesday, 10 March 2009 |
By MIKE BURKHOLDER
Managing Editor
ST. MARYS — A local resident called into question materials dumped on a lot within the city during Monday night’s St. Marys City Council meeting.
Michael Bayman addressed councilors regarding materials placed on a lot on Pine Street just south of the St. Marys Foundry as a result of the demolition of the Cotton Mill. Bayman said he believes there could be items on the lot that are not allowed to be there under current laws.
“To allow them to dump is an eyesore,” Bayman told The Evening Leader. “I’ve been on them (the city) for months about it. They need to clean it up.”
Bayman said he called officials at the Ohio EPA about his concerns regarding the lot. Bayman said Ohio EPA officials told him they visited the site and collected soil samples for analysis.
“I got tired of waiting on them,” Bayman said of the city.
Ohio EPA Environmental Specialist from the Northwest District Office Brent Goetz told The Evening Leader officials visited the site in response to Bayman’s complaint. Goetz said Ohio EPA officials looked at the construction debris and noticed some materials that need to be removed from the site.
“He complained about the foundry sand and the construction demolition debris out there and what they had in it,” Goetz said. “They had a lot of brick that they used as a road base to dump the foundry sand on their property.”
Goetz said brick and concrete are allowed to be used as a road base. Goetz said the materials are considered clean, hard fill under current EPA rules.
“You can do with that what you want,” Goetz said. “They had a quite a bit of wood and wire mixed in. That doesn’t really fall under that category.”
Goetz said officials at the foundry must remove the wood and wire from the concrete and bricks. Goetz said he does not expect the cleanup to be a major undertaking by the foundry.
“It’s not a huge deal but it will take a bit of work,” Goetz said. “I’ve seen worse. They were honestly trying to do a good thing. We like to see it put to use, they just didn’t quite follow the rules and will have to clean it up.”
Goetz said Ohio EPA officials also took samples of the foundry dust to make sure it is non-toxic. Goetz said foundry dust that is non-toxic may be used as a soil on a site as long as surface water rules are followed.
“The way they are using it, it should be OK,” Goetz said. “They are a little close to the canal and maybe someone from surface water will look at it to see if they need to control the runoff. They don’t have any sample data within the past 10 years to see if it is non-toxic so we are going to sample it to make sure. In a lot of cases their foundry sand is considered non-toxic. We just want to make sure.”
Goetz said officials at the foundry have been cooperative during the process.
“Everything we have asked them to do has been done,” Goetz said. “We will sample the sand and go from there.”
Calls seeking comment from officials at the St. Marys Foundry were placed this morning but were unsuccessful.
St. Marys Mayor Greg Freewalt said the city was not involved in any type of agreement regarding the site. Freewalt said he would ask Safety-Service Director Tom Hitchcock to look into the matter.
“We really weren’t aware of it,” Freewalt told The Evening Leader. “We knew the contractor must have contracted with the foundry for materials. We will investigate it further.”
In other business, councilors:
• Approved the third and final reading of a resolution outlining the 2009 street project.
• Approved, on emergency, an ordinance that would provide for the issuance and sale of bonds in the aggregate principal amount of $74,900 for the purpose of paying the property owners’ share of the project. The project impacts residents who live along portions of Greenville Road, Ash Street, Hillcrest Drive, Woodward Street, Maple Street, Hendricks Avenue, West Street, Pear Street, Vine Street and Tecumseh Drive. The project also calls for paving and the construction of curbs, gutters, sidewalks and drive approaches.
Councilors also set meetings for the Electric/Communication and Finance committees for 5:15 p.m. and 5:25 p.m. respectively. The next meeting of the St. Marys City Council is scheduled for 7 p.m. March 23 at the city building located along East Spring Street. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 13 March 2009 )
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