House OKs $10 million for Mound cleanup
Friday, May 23, 2008
MIAMISBURG — The city's efforts to redevelop the former Mound Plant got a boost with the announcement Friday, May 23, that the U.S. House of Representatives has approved $10 million to complete the environmental cleanup of the old Cold War atomic plant.
The House approved the funds Thursday night as part of the fiscal 2009 Defense Authorization Bill. It still must be approved by the Senate before it can go to the president's desk.
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The bill also includes $41.5 million in projects at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, who pushed for the funds, said in a statement, "this final investment should be what is needed to reach the finish line" on the $1 billion environmental remediation of the plant. "The Mound cleanup is important for both health and economic development reasons and will benefit our region for many years to come."
Mike Grauwelman, who heads the Miamisburg Mound Community Improvement Corp. which is marketing the plant as an industrial park, called the news "fantastic."
"From a public policy standpoint, we as taxpayers have invested over $1 billion in remediation efforts," he said. "After that huge investment here, we are now on the cusp of completing this thing properly."
If approved, the $10 million will be used to remove Mound's last radioactive and chemical contaminants from a landfill called Operational Unit 1. The Defense Department, which owns the plant, and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency agreed that the landfill did not require remediation, but local officials demanded a cleanup, partly because of the stigma resulting from the contamination.
Turner and U.S. Rep. Dave Hobson, R-Springfield, obtained a $30 million appropriation to clean up the landfill in 2006, but the money ran out before the work was completed. The Defense Department put up an additional $4.5 million, but that too ran out as contractors found more contaminants than expected.
Grauwelman said contractors are wrapping up some final duties on the site, but have not ripped out railroad tracks used to haul away contaminated soil.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2264 or tbeyerlein@DaytonDailyNews.com.
