WARREN EPA letter gives hope

The building hasn't operated as a power plant for more than 20 years.
WARREN -- City officials are optimistic a letter from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency means the agency will help with the Mahoningside cleanup project.
The cleanup at the site of the former power plant started several years ago.The removal of contaminated soil and replacement with clean soil are left to be done.
That's why the city enlisted the EPA's aid.
Michael D. Keys, community development director, received a letter last week from an agency official who said he would "pursue having this site designated for a time-critical removal action."
If the agency pursues federal funding to pay for the cleanup, it's unlikely funds will be available until after October, the beginning of the next fiscal year.
Keys is encouraged by the letter.
"We're finally seeing daylight now," he said.
Abandoned plant
Mahoningside is an abandoned hydroelectric plant off Summit Street N.W., along the Mahoning River. It hasn't been used since the late 1970s or early 1980s. The city became the owner in January 1999, and the building was demolished that March.
"We're going to go ahead with the grant application for the Clean Ohio Assistance Fund," Keys said.
That money, an estimated $1 million, would be used to finish work, including filling holes left from the building with clean dirt.
Clean Ohio Revitalization funds, administered by the Ohio Department of Development, come from the Clean Ohio Fund approved by Ohio voters in 2000.
Voter approval enabled the state to use $200 million each for brownfield redevelopment activities and for green space preservation.
The city initially wanted to refill the basement of the building that's been demolished with soil within acceptable contaminant levels and encapsulate it.
The Ohio EPA accepted that plan, but when the U.S. EPA did some work to remove PCBs, some of the soil piles were found to be contaminated.
Removing the soil from the site and refilling with clean dirt is a more costly measure.
denise.dick@vindy.com