Notice of public meeting and Information repository for a Clean Ohio Assistance Fund Grant
The CoshoctonPort is applying for a grant from the Clean Ohio Assistance Fund for a Phase II Environmental Assessment of the former GE Electro Materials Property located at 1350 South Second Street, Coshocton, Ohio. The application is available for review at the Coshocton Public Library, located at 655 Main Street, Coshocton, Ohio until May 5, 2010. A public meeting to discuss and solicit comments to the grant application will be held on May 4, 2010 at the Kno-Ho-Co building located at located at 120 N. 4th Street Street, Coshocton, Ohio at 6:00pm. Any questions may be referred to Mr. TJ Justice, Executive Director of the Coshocton Port Authority at 740-622-7005.
- History of the Project Property
The Former GE ElectroMaterials Property at 1350 South Second Street, Coshocton, Ohio43812 (Subject Property) consists of approximately 80 acres and was developed as the former GE ElectroMaterials main plant and support buildings in 1946. Prior to GE’s purchase and use of the Subject Property, it was used for agricultural purposes.
Starting in 1946 the Subject Property was used for the manufacture of decorate plastic laminates, refrigerator door liners and laminated sheets, rods and tubes for the electric industry. In 1955, the plant became a primary producer of plastic- and copper-clad fiberglass laminates for printed circuit boards. At that time, buildings under roof totaled over 550,000 square feet.
SABIC IP purchased the business from GE in 2004 and discontinued manufacturing operations in July 2004. Decommissioning and demolition of the facility were completed by SABIC IP in 2007, leaving the Property vacant. In April of 2009, only one building remained on the property: a garage previously used by GE for the storage of automobiles used in facility operations.
- Current Use(s)/Business(es) of the Project Property
According to documentation provided by Mr. John Wood, representative with SABIC IP, SABIC IP US, LLC has been the owner since August 2007. The Property has been vacant since 2007 except for use of the existing garage for the storage of equipment and supplies related to the long term monitoring (LTM) program for groundwater on the southern portion of the Subject Property.
- Surrounding Properties
The properties to the north of the Subject Property include the Coshocton Elevators, Inc., Swiss Valley Oil/Marathon Oil, CoshoctonSeniorCenter, Windsorwood Place Retirement Home, and VictoryBaptistChurch. According to Mr. Wood of SABIC IP, a subsurface investigation completed in 2002 concluded that a TCE plume originated off-Property. The investigation was not provided for review during the VAP Phase I investigation.
The Kraft food processing plant is located to the south of the Subject Property. A 2.048 acre portion of the Subject Property’s southwestern corner provides ingress/egress for Kraft delivery trucks to/from the Kraft facility under a 99-year access agreement signed by SABIC IP and Kraft in 2007.
The Ohio Central Railroad traverses the eastern property boundary. Mixed commercial and residential development is located beyond the Ohio Central Railroad to the east.
The Subject Property is bordered to the west by South Second Street, followed by the Muskingum River. A mix of undeveloped woodlands and farmland are located west of the Muskingum River.
- On-site Buildings and Condition
At present, the Subject Property contains one building. The building is approximately 2,400 square feet in size and is constructed of concrete-block with a steel framed exterior and solid concrete floor. Six garage doors are located along the north side of the building and are constructed of wood with glass window inserts. One aluminum access door is located on the west side of the building.
- Previous Sampling Activities
Based on the review of previous investigations of the Subject Property as part of the Phase I Site Assessment by Hull and Associates completed in April of 2009, a total of twelve (12) underground storage tanks (USTs) have been present on Tract A of the Subject Property. Three (3) of the USTs were removed in 1991 including one (1) 2,000 gallon diesel fuel UST, one (1) 550 gallon diesel fuel UST, and one 550 gallon gasoline UST. The excavation of each of the three (3) USTs was filled with “clean, washed sand” and a No Further Action letter was issued from the Bureau of Underground Storage Tank
Regulations (BUSTR). Three (3) acetone USTs may still be buried on the property in the approximate location of the former maintenance building. Six (6) 30,000 gallon oil UST were removed and/or decommissioned prior to 2001. The status of the three (3) acetone USTs and six (6) 30,000 gallon oil USTs is unknown and lack previous investigations.
Additionally, six (6) RCRA solid waste management units (SWMUs) were identified during a RCRA Facility Investigation completed by Dames & Moore in 1991. The SMWUs include:
Unit A – Container (Drum) Storage Area: These include the solid hazardous waste storage area, the liquid hazardous waste storage building, the laboratory spill containment system and other hazardous waste storage and/or satellite areas on the Property. Ohio EPA has approved the RCRA closure of each of these SWMUs, however the soils were only investigated in limited fashion and groundwater was not evaluated.
Unit B – Cupric Chloride Etchant Storage Tank: This SWMU was issued a letter of closure by the Ohio EPA in 1997. However, the closure report indicated releases of this material to surrounding soils have occurred. Additionally, groundwater was not investigated as part of the closure.
Unit C – Copper Scrap Storage Area: Scrap copper foil generated during manufacturing activities on the Subject Property was stored within the SWMU, formerly located in the eastern portion of the Property north of the closed landfill. A closure of this area was approved and included confirmatory soil sampling and waste relocation to the now closed landfill. Groundwater was not investigated within this area.
Unit D – Closed Landfill: According to various documents, the landfill operated from 1946 to 1968. Waste collected within the landfill, located in the southeastern corner of the Property (Tract D) consisted primarily of organic wastes, inert industrial solids, Roto-Clone sludge and office waste and papers. Between 1954 and 1968, only Roto-Clone sludge was placed into the landfill. No waste was placed into the landfill after 1968. According to the approved construction completion report, approximately 20,000 cubic yards of waste was placed into the landfill over the 22 years it was in existence. After waste was relocated from SWMUs C, E and F to the landfill, the cover system was placed on the landfill to complete the closure.
Unit E – Closed Wastewater Lagoon: According to the Dames and Moore RFI, the closed lagoon received phenol-bearing wastewaters from resin manufacturing between 1957 and 1977. The lagoon
was designed to let wastewater seep through soils, which would theoretically biologically degrade the phenols. During this period, approximately six million gallons of wastewater was generated at the facility and discharged into the lagoon. For closure, similar steps were followed as in Unit C, which included waste relocation and confirmatory sampling. However, according to the closure completion report, soil was only sampled to a certain depth. Phenols and other potential COCs may have leached to greater depths and impacted groundwater in the area of Unit E.
Several monitoring wells are on the Subject Property and adjacent to the west, south and east of the Property. According to documentation, these wells were installed between 1975 and 2007 as part of the long term monitoring (LTM) program for the closed landfill and closed waste water lagoon. LTM will be in place until at least 2020. The landfill and lagoon cover systems are not eligible for the VAP as long as they are subject to the post-closure-care provisions of the RCRA permit; however areas outside of the cover boundary where monitoring wells are located are eligible for the VAP.
Unit F – Incinerator Cage Areas: According to the RFI, the incinerators were used to burn office trash, scrap paper, cloth-based phenolic laminates and resin-impregnated cloth. A layer of ash extending from the mouth of the former incinerator location to the south was encountered during waste relocation activities. Additionally, confirmatory samples were collected during closure, but no groundwater monitoring was conducted.
As part of the recent Phase I Property Assessment (Hull, Inc. April 2009) numerous previous investigations of the Subject Property were reviewed, some of which provided information material to Recognized Environmental Conditions (RECs) and Identified Areas (IAs). A summary of Hull’s review of the supplied documents is presented on Table 1 of the Phase I Property Assessment (Attachment 13).
- Redevelopment Potential
In an effort to make redevelopment of the Former GE ElectroMaterials site a success, the Coshocton Port Authority (CPA) is currently contemplating acquisition of part or all of this property to help prompt site redevelopment. The CPA will leverage grant funding from the Schooler Family Foundation Investment in Jobs and Economic Development in CoshoctonCounty to purchase the Subject Property from SABIC IP. Once a Phase II Environmental Site Assessment and any necessary remediation is complete, if necessary, the CPA intends to market the property for industrial re-use.
Attributes of the property, which lend well to redevelopment, include close proximity to the Ohio Central Railroad, State Routes 16 and 83, and Interstate Highways 70 and 77. Utilities, including city water and sewer, natural gas and electrical services are available near the property perimeter. Flood control measures, including thirteen (13) upstream reservoirs on the Tuscarawas and WalhondingRivers, are in place to minimize potential flooding. The property is also located near to downtown Coshocton which contains various other active industrial and Brownfield sites.
The community has a strong and capable workforce and is ready to partner with new businesses looking for a place to call home. CoshoctonCounty has been listed by the Ohio Department of Development as a Priority Investment Area and DistressedCounty. Further, all townships, villages and the City of Coshocton are located within the boundaries of an Enterprise Zone designated by the ODOD. The CPA is the administrator for the Enterprise Zone program and intends to utilize the program allowances to negotiate tax abatements and incentives for new businesses interested in developing at the Former GE ElectroMaterials Site.