How to go
What: U.S. EPA meeting
When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: Northwestern High School, 5780 Troy Road
Bus information: The city will be providing free transportation via SCAT bus to the meeting. The bus will park at 5:30 p.m. at the stop near the Heritage Center and will leave at 5:45 p.m. It will return about 9 p.m. Parking will be available at the United Senior Services lot across the street from City Hall.
The city of Springfield will provide free transportation to Thursday’s meeting with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding changes to the Tremont City Barrel Fill clean-up plan.
The informational meeting will be held at Northwestern High School, 5780 Troy Road, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Doors open at 6 p.m. The purpose of the meeting is to update the community about recent sampling results and changes to the EPA’s proposed clean-up plan.
A city SCAT bus will be leaving from the downtown bus stop near the Heritage Center at 5:45 p.m. Parking will be available at the United Senior Services lot, on the corner of Fountain Avenue and High Street. The bus is scheduled return at about 9 p.m.
The barrel fill clean-up is one of the biggest issues facing the community, said Springfield City Commissioner Karen Duncan. She urged residents to voice their concerns.
“There isn’t anything more important than whether or not we’re going to have clean water into the future,” Duncan said.
All local agencies want the hazardous waste removed from the 8.5-acre site near the city’s drinking water aquifer, which comes with a $56 million price tag. But the U.S. EPA has ruled in favor of a different clean-up plan that will only cost about $24 million.
That plan calls for digging up all of the barrels, taking out the ones with liquid waste, adding a double liner and putting the barrels filled with solid waste back in place.
Since the U.S. EPA selected the cheaper clean-up plan in 2011, local leaders have expressed displeasure to officials at every level of government, including in letters to President Barack Obama and U.S. House Speaker John Boehner.
As part of the changes, the U.S. EPA says it will remove a planned slurry wall and leak collection system, instead adding a second liner with a leak detection system. Both options will protect human health and the environment, the EPA wrote in an e-mail to the Springfield News-Sun earlier this month.
With the changes, the cost of the project will be reduced by about $2 million. However, officials and residents have expressed concerns about the 50-year shelf life of the proposed liners.
State officials, including Gov. John Kasich, have yet to support a plan for the U.S. EPA to place the site on the National Priorities List, which would allow for federal and state money to be used for a clean-up. Proposals and listings occur about every six months. If the site is placed on the list, the EPA said it will begin negotiations to require the potentially responsible parties to start the clean-up.
“If our community is not able to convince the U.S. EPA to clean this site up correctly the first time, it has the potential to not only impact our drinking water and health of the community, but also economic development possibilities and potential for the foreseeable future,” Duncan said.
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