Plant cleanup cost increases

WARREN -- Mayor Hank Angelo told council members Wednesday that the Mahoningside Power Plant cleanup won't be done as early as he'd hoped and will cost more than anticipated.
Angelo said the U.S. and Ohio Environmental Protection Agencies now want the city to remove piles of material that had been taken from the former building. The city and agencies previously had agreed to encapsulate the material in the basement.
About $750,000 remains of what was budgeted for the project. The additional work will cost about $2.2 million, Angelo said. About $3.1 million in state and federal money has been spent on the Mahoningside cleanup so far, but Angelo pointed out there was no general fund money involved.
OEPA has agreed to help the city pursue Clean Ohio Funds, or grant money used for environmental cleanup, for the project. But that process won't start for about 90 days.
Angelo initially had hoped to have the site cleaned up by the end of the summer.