Tuesday, February 28, 2012
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
The state Controlling Board released nearly $600,000 Monday for environmental assessments of industrial sites in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
About $299,000 will be used at the former Youngstown Sheet &Tube Seamless Tube Mill in Youngstown and Campbell, while $291,649 will be used at the former U.S. Steel property in McDonald.
In both cases, the funding will be used for soil borings, additional monitoring wells, asbestos surveys and other assessments to pinpoint cleanup activities needed to prepare the sites for future development.
The Youngstown/Campbell property includes 71 acres located southeast of downtown. It was used manufacturing seamless steel pipe for a century, according to documents.
In 2002, Sherman International Corp. purchased the site and removed all of the manufacturing buildings. The property now is mostly vacant, except for a “small, deteriorated valve repair buildings,” according to documents.
The environmental assessment will assist in preparing the site for future steel processing uses. According to documents, “The area’s active rail and interstate transportation systems will offer reduced transportation costs and shorter delivery time between the Mahoning Valley and the central and southern regions.”
The McDonald site includes 67 acres at 100 Ohio Ave., along the Mahoning River. It was used for industrial operations from 1916 until 1980, housing steel manufacturing for the Carnegie Steel Co. and U.S. Steel, according to documents.
The property is mostly vacant, with some stored trains and train parts on site.
Village officials are hoping to use it as part of a larger existing industrial park.
According to documents, “The village has been approached by several industrial end users and neighboring property owners about the possibilities of redeveloping the project property. The project property would also provide opportunities for shale gas production companies currently expanding into Ohio to take advantage of recently found oil and gas reserves in the Marcellus and Utica shale formations.”