A Brief History of the Industrial Excess Landfill Located in Uniontown, Ohio, about halfway between Akron and Canton, the Industrial Excess Landfill, a former sand and gravel quarry, occupies a thirty-acre site on the East Side of Cleveland Avenue, about a half-mile south of State route 619. The landfill has been closed since 1980. In the latter half of the 1960's, those who then owned the site obtained permits to accept industrial, commercial, and residential waste. The original local permit allowed wastes such as fly ash, masonry rubble, paper, scrap lumber and other non-toxic material to be dumped on site. More than three hundred entities deposited waste at the landfill during its operation. Many companies in the Akron and Canton area used the landfill for industrial waste in both liquid and solid form. Among the industrial users that disposed of waste at the site were four Akron tire manufacturers: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., The Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. (now Bridgestone/Firestone), The BFGoodrich Company, and General Tire. About 1971, The Ohio Department of Health approved a procedure for the landfilling of liquid wastes at the IEL. Liquids were to be lagooned (in a bed of fly ash) and then mixed with soil before burial. On at least one occasion, before the liquids could be mixed with soil, the liquids caught fire with an associated loss of liquid wastes. The immense fire burned for three days at the site. In 1972 the Stark County Board of Health ordered that all liquid dumping be stopped. The IEL continued to accept solid waste and residential trash thereafter until the site was closed in 1980. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) placed the IEL on the National Priorities List, sometimes called the "Superfund" list, in October 1984. The IEL was marked number 159 on the Superfund list. For more information about the National Priorities List, see www.epa.gov/superfund/action/law/npl_hrs.htm. In 1985, the USEPA began remedial investigations to determine the extent of contamination at the IEL. According to the EPA's history of the site, in 1988 the Agency determined at that time that the most extensive body of contaminated material was the waste and waste-soil mixture in the landfill portion of the site; the ground water beneath and west of the site containing organic and inorganic compounds; and methane gas and other organic vapors around the perimeter of the landfill. A methane venting system was installed by USEPA in 1985. The USEPA decided in September of 1987 that about one hundred homes near the IEL should be provided with municipal water. Now, almost every residence in the vicinity of the IEL obtains municipal water from Stark County. The USEPA conducted a study in 1988 to evaluate feasible methods for cleaning up the site. In December of that year, the USEPA first presented to the public a proposal for remediation. In conjunction with what was proposed the US Government purchased a number of properties immediately surrounding the IEL to the north, west, and south sides of the site. The US government owns all but one of these properties surrounding the IEL, occupying about seventeen acres. During a USEPA public comment period in early 1989, interested parties expressed concerns about the data used to determine the proposed cleanup. The USEPA signed a Record of Decision (ROD) in July 1989, proposing a clay / plastic cap with a pump-and-treat system as the remedy. (See www.epa.gov/region5/superfund/rods/rod_index.html for the 1989 ROD Go to "Industrial Excess Landfill-ROD.PDF" --USEPA Region 5 web site.). Ground water testing in the 1990's revealed that no contaminants above Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCL's) were found in the ground water off the site. These results indicated that natural attenuation processes were occurring at the IEL, breaking down contaminants through biological processes. After reviewing these results, the USEPA prepared an amended Record of Decision in March 2000, providing for a clay and plastic cap to be placed over the landfill. (See www.epa.gov/region5/superfund/rods/rod_index.html for the 2000 Amended ROD. Go to "Industrial Excess Landfill-ROD amendment and responsiveness summary.PDF). The Board of Lake Township Trustees asked for a delay in the installation of this clay cap because they knew the cap would eliminate any possibility of further testing of the on-site and perimeter monitoring wells, which the Board felt and continues to feel is necessary and appropriate. The Lake Township Community Advisory Group (CAG) was organized in the fall of 2000 to provide informed community input about the ultimate return to community use of the IEL property, and to provide community opinion about the future use of the properties surrounding the landfill site as well as the IEL itself. All of the CAG members live in Lake Township, most within one mile of the landfill. In April 2002, the USEPA held a public hearing on an amendment to the current Record of Decision. This current proposed amendment calls for the installation of an enhanced vegetative cover at the IEL, as well as a number of additional measures, including regular ground water testing for thirty years, the installation of new wells and testing for gases will be considered as part of amendment if it is accepted. The thirty-day public comment period on this amendment closed on May 17, 2002. The USEPA is currently reviewing these comments and will render a decision later this year. (See Proposed ROD at USEPA web site.) Also view the CAG's position on the 2002 proposed ROD here as well as Lake Township Trustee's letter regarding the proposed ROD amendment. The area surrounding the IEL is currently zoned for commercial use for 450 feet east and west from the centerline of Cleveland Ave., and for residential use beyond that distance. The Township Zoning Commission is currently reviewing a proposed zone change for the site, which would make the landfill a distinct and separate zone limiting any future uses for the site. The Township, its additional legal counsel, and technical and planning advisors are also reviewing deed restrictions for the site and surrounding properties. Years of radiation testing have clearly indicated that there is not any radiation contamination at the site. The following Agencies have all confirmed these findings: USEPA, Ohio USEPA, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), the Ohio Department of Health, the Science Advisory Board, the National Air and Radiation Environmental Laboratory (NAREL) and the National Regulatory Commission (NRC). The US Inspector General and the Ohio Attorney General have agreed with this conclusion. Furthermore, the US Department of Justice spent eight months in 2001 investigating allegations on radiation dumping at IEL and found no validity to these claims. The Board of Lake Township Trustees is encouraged that the alleged radiation contamination at the IEL is now behind us. We can now focus attention on the real environmental issues pertaining to the site. At this point Lake Township is awaiting the USEPA's decision on the 2002 proposal for an amendment to the last Record of Decision.