Firm agrees to finish cleanuup at former Nease Chemical plant site near Salem

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Rutgers Organics Corp. has agreed to complete the cleanup of the Nease Chemical Superfund site near Salem, estimated to cost $18.75 million, federal officials announced.

The agreement is in a consent decree filed Friday in federal court in Youngstown.

Under the consent decree, Rutgers, based in State College, Pa., also agrees to restore injured natural resources at the site and nearby areas at a cost of about $500,000.

Further, Rutgers will reimburse federal and state agencies for their past response and assessment costs of about $1 million.

“This agreement will undo the damage done in the past while preserving creeks and the [Little Beaver Creek] watershed for future generations,” said Carole S. Rendon, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

In a complaint filed with the consent decree, federal and state agencies allege that between 1961 and 1973, portions of the site were owned and operated by a chemical manufacturing plant known as the Nease Chemical Co.

Nease Chemical produced specialty products, including pesticides such as Mirex, a probable human carcinogen no longer produced in the United States.

Hazardous substances derived from these products were detected in the soil, groundwater, sediments, floodplains and wetlands in the area, as well as in the fish in the nearby Middle Fork of Little Beaver Creek.

Rutgers acquired the assets of Nease Chemical, which ceased operations in 1973. Since 1988, Rutgers has cooperated with EPA to investigate and clean up the site.

Under the consent decree, Rutgers will cap soil, treat ponds and groundwater and remove contaminated sediment and floodplain soil.

As part of the settlement, Rutgers will remove a low-head dam, known as the Lisbon Dam on the Middle Fork of Little Beaver Creek, and restore adjacent stream-side habitat to help establish a free-flowing stream with a healthy and diverse fish population.

Rutgers also will fund a $366,000 trust to conserve a variety of lands in the Little Beaver Creek watershed.

“About 280 acres of habitat were contaminated by hazardous substances injuring surface and groundwaters,” said Ohio EPA Director Craig W. Butler. “Healthy streams and waterways are critical to Ohio’s citizens and our economy. This consent decree is a welcome step forward after many years of work to bring the area stream habitats back to healthy, functioning waterways and protecting drinking water resources into the future.”