SALEM Cleanup of toxins is focus of study

A study to assess the impact on humans and wildlife is to be finished this summer.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- After years of preparation, officials are entering the final stages of an effort to remove toxins from the site of a former chemical company that operated near Salem.
A state study is now under way on the best method of cleaning up the Nease Chemical Co. location and to estimate the cost of the effort, said Kara Allison, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
Cleanup of the 44-acre site along state Route 14 northwest of Salem could begin as early as next summer, Allison said. It is expected to cost millions.
The federal and state governments have targeted the former plant location for cleanup.
State and federal agencies already have determined that the company that now owns the Nease site, Reutgers Organics Corp. of State College, Pa., should help pay for at least part of the cleanup.
Efforts are ongoing to determine if there are other companies that should share the expense, Allison said.
Federal money also might be available. No local money will have to be spent.
Creek also affected
Plans call for first ridding the site itself of toxins and then to concentrate on nearby Little Beaver Creek, which also was contaminated as a result of the plant's operations.
It's unclear how much of the creek, which runs into the Ohio River, will be targeted by the cleanup, Allison said.
The effort will focus on the presence of Mirex at the site and in the creek. The pesticide was produced by the Nease plant before it closed several decades ago.
Mirex may cause cancer if people have extended contact with it.
An endangerment study, overseen by the OEPA, is now being finalized and is expected to be released to the public later this summer. It will be available for viewing at the Salem Public Library.
The study's aim is to assess the polluted site's impact on humans and wildlife.
Class action settled
The Nease site was the subject of a federal class-action lawsuit filed by 1,300 area residents more than a decade ago.
The plaintiffs alleged that the plant contaminated the area, negatively affecting their property values and producing a negative emotional impact on them.
The case eventually was settled for $18 million, which was used to compensate property owners and residents living in the affected area between February 1986 and February 1990.
A family of four who owned and lived in a home in the affected area during that period was eligible for an estimated $30,000 settlement.