Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund
5th Street Industrial Redevelopment Site, Formerly Hancock Manufacturing
Toronto, Ohio
The 5th Street Industrial Redevelopment site (Property), formerly known as the Hancock Manufacturing Company, Inc. is located in the City of Toronto, Ohio. This site was the subject of a documented release of chlorinated solvents into the groundwater in the late 1980s. By the early 2000s, the cleanup was set to begin, but the company closed its operations due to the economic climate.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began a process of pursuing legal action to obtain funding for the cleanup through “piercing of the corporate veil”. In a unique and creative approach, Partners worked with the City, the Ohio EPA, the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) and a new tenant (Bulldog Rack Company, Bulldog) to create a win-win situation for all parties by utilizing the Clean Ohio Fund. After careful consideration, a Clean Ohio Assistance Fund (COAF) Cleanup Grant was authored by Partners in 2007. The City was awarded a $700,000 grant in order to conduct environmental remediation at the Property. Although a groundwater pump and treat system had been implemented at the site in the early 1990s and was running continuously, very little mass removal had occurred. Partners developed a remedial approach using Soil Vapor Extraction (SVE) to dramatically increase the mass removal of contaminants at the Property and speed the cleanup process.
Following several discussions with the Ohio EPA and on behalf of Hancock, Partners prepared a Remedial Action Plan (RAP) for submittal to the Ohio EPA, which was approved by the Ohio EPA in June 2007. Work completed at the site through November 2008 consisted of the installation of a SVE system and removal of contaminated soil. The SVE system is currently operating and Partners is conducting periodic monitoring of the system.
In conjunction with the activities conducted for the contamination cleanup, Partners further worked with the County, Bulldog, the City and the ODOD to successfully pursue an Industrial Site Improvement Fund (ISIF) grant to replace the roof at the Property. The grant for just under $400,000 was awarded and the roof was replaced in 2008, allowing Bulldog to occupy the building and begin manufacturing operations. As a result of the great success of this project, the Director of the Ohio EPA visited the site in early 2009 and declared the project to be the”poster child for how Brownfields should be done in Ohio”.
