The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is kicking off another five-year review at a former salvage-scrap yard in southwest Akron.
The review, expected to be completed by June, will assess conditions at the Summit Equipment & Supplies site that operated from the 1950s to the 1980s at 875 Ivor Ave.
It will be the agency’s third review of the 7.5-acre site near Nesmith Lake. It is required in cases where wastes are managed on-site to assure the cleanup continues to protect public health and the environment under federal Superfund rules.
The assessment is expected to look at whether the contaminated groundwater is continuing to get cleaner.
Previous EPA reviews in 2003 and 2008 indicated that no additional remedies were needed.
Federal cleanup at the site began in 1987, when more than 3,000 tons of contaminated scrap was removed. That included 300 capacitors and 1,300 transformer carcasses. That preliminary cleanup cost more than $8.5 million.
Cleanup was halted in 1991 when military shells and grenades were discovered at the site. None was live.
Then, in 1995, about 972 cubic yards of soil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were removed from a nearby apartment complex.
The main cleanup of Summit Equipment took place from September 1998 to November 2000. That $11 million project included the removal of as much as 4 feet of PCB-laced soil and debris. More than 65,825 tons were hauled away for safe disposal.
The PCBs came from military-surplus electrical transformers bought by junkyard owners Benjamin and Michael Hirsch during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Soils also were contaminated with mercury and copper.
Groundwater under the site also showed pollution from chromium, a heavy metal, and five toxic chemicals. The contaminated aquifer is being allowed to cleanse itself naturally, and that appears to be working, the agency has said.
Anyone with concerns about the site is asked to contact the EPA. Direct comments to EPA staffer Susan Pastor at 312-353-1325 or pastor.susan@epa.gov, or to project manager David Seely at 312-886-7058 or seely.david@epa.gov.
You can also contact the EPA from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays at 800-621-8431.
U.S. EPA files regarding the site are available for public review at the Akron-Summit County Public Library, 60 S. High St., Akron. They are also is available at www.epa.gov/region5/cleanup/summit equipment.
The Ohio EPA will review the federal EPA report and offer comment, spokesman Mike Settles said.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.
