Bumpy rides endure on part of Poland 224

By Denise Dick

The stretch of road has not been repaved since an ’83 chemical spill.

By DENISE DICK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

POLAND — For 26 years, travelers along U.S. Route 224 near the township’s eastern edge have endured a bumpy ride — and it’s going to stay that way for at least a couple more years.

“It’s like a washboard out there,” said John Kotchmar, owner of Dairy 224, who lives above the store.

He’s referring to about 1,000 feet of pavement between Lowellville and Stymie roads. Many drivers move to the road’s center to avoid the rocky surface at its sides, he said.

Customers who come into the dairy inquire about the road’s poor condition almost daily.

“They say, ‘What’s wrong with the road out there? Why don’t they pave it?’” Kotchmar said.

The answer dates back to Sept. 15, 1983, when a tanker truck bound for the East Coast tipped, dumping about 1,000 gallons of a chemical onto the road and into some yards.

The chemical, manufactured by Lubrizol, a Cleveland-area company, hasn’t been identified because the company said it was a patented formula. The truck driver worked for a now-defunct company.

Julie Young, a Lubrizol spokeswoman, said the chemical was a gear-oil additive used to prevent wear in gears such as in industrial equipment or the rear differential for a car or truck. The mixture is still proprietary, she said, but it’s a combination of sulfur, carbon and hydrogen.

The chemical can irritate the skin, but it’s considered safe if handled properly, Young said. It’s not toxic or hazardous, she said.

Since the spill, that section of road hasn’t been paved — not once.

Paving crews have resurfaced the roadway up to Lowellville Road, skipped the contaminated piece, and continued resurfacing at Stymie.

Ohio Department of Transportation District 4 plans to pave that piece in 2011 or 2012. The agency has addressed the rough surface through the years using a cold asphalt, but residents argue it hasn’t made much difference.

“They put asphalt patch down and it just washes away,” said Beverly Quimby, who also lives along Route 224.

Those who live nearby hear the rattle and clank of trucks driving over the bumpy surface, she said.

The problem, said Justin Chesnic, ODOT District 4 spokesman, is that heat, part of the normal paving process, triggers the odor of the chemical and workers complain of nausea and headaches. That’s why ODOT has used the cold material.

The roughly $300,000 project planned for late 2011 or 2012 will involve cleaning and excavating the area.

“When [Ohio Environmental Protection Agency] cleaned the area, they didn’t clean the right-of-way,” Chesnic said. “As a result, we’re going to go back and remove the dirt, embankment and side of the road.”

The culvert will also be repaired and drainage improved, he said.

The culvert is a problem too, residents say.

The pipe isn’t big enough to accommodate water during heavy rain so the water flows onto the road, creating a safety hazard, Quimby said.

A few years ago, when the rest of Route 224 in Poland was resurfaced, ODOT had planned to resurface the damaged section, too. But repair of the culvert was planned for a few years later.

Rather than resurface the roadway in 2006 and then tear it up a few years later to do the culvert work, ODOT decided to do the project all at once, Chesnic said.

When the excavating and culvert repair is done, the road will be milled and resurfaced like any other road project, Chesnic said.

John Zelinka II remembers the night of the spill well.

He had just closed on a house on Route 224, Center Road, a month before the spill. While that house was occupied by a renter, he was living on Stymie. He was watching football about 10 p.m. when he heard a loud crash.

He arrived at his new home to see a tanker truck in his front yard.

All these years later, Zelinka says he can still smell the odor, which he likens to rotten eggs during periods of heavy rain.

Several residents sued Lubrizol, including a class action lawsuit in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, claiming illness because of the chemical. The parties, which didn’t include Zelinka, reached out-of-court settlements.

Kotchmar has kept track of the road’s status since the spill, maintaining a 11‚Ñ2-inch-thick file, including newspaper clippings, legal documents, correspondence and environmental reports.

The file documents the years of letters among residents, state officials, lawyers and company representatives.

He believes he and other residents have waited long enough and want to see the road paved.

denise_dick@vindy.com