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DeWine announces over $24M in funding to clean hazardous sites in multiple Cincinnati-area counties

Terrace Plaza Hotel
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Multiple counties in the Greater Cincinnati region will receive a combined total of over $24 million in state funding to demolish or remediate brownfield zones.

The EPA defines a brownfield as an area "complicated by the presence or potential presence of hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant." The agency estimates there are over 450,000 brownfield sites in the country.

Governor Mike DeWine announced the funding — over $52 million statewide — in a press release on Tuesday.

The funds come from the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program and the state's Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program; both programs were created by DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted to clear contaminated, vacant and dilapidated structures in the interest of making way for new economic opportunities in those spaces.

Nearly every Ohio county in the Greater Cincinnati region will receive some funds for at least one project.

Adams and Clermont counties both received funds for demolition and site revitalization at multiple locations.

In total, Adams County will receive $1,049,792 to demolish and revitalize 24 different sites throughout the county:

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Clermont County will receive a total of $4,429,569 to demolish and revitalize 42 different sites throughout the county:

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The rest of the funding for the region comes from the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program, aimed at remediating toxic and undevelopable sites.

Adams County will receive $999,860 to develop two different sites: The former Manchester Pants Factory and Manchester Bi-Lo. According to the list from the Ohio Department of Development, remediation of the factory involves asbestos abatement, demolishing the former manufacturing building and removing contaminated soil. The site has been vacant since the 1980s, and the state says it poses health and safety risks.

The Manchester Bi-Lo site will require the excavation and disposal of petroleum-contaminated soil at the former gas station site. The state says roughly 2,300 tons of soil will need to be removed and groundwater treatment will be necessary for the site to be redeveloped in the future.

Brown County will receive $696,000 to remediate the former Higginsport School. The building has asbestos that needs to be abated and "significant universal waste" must be cleared for the space to be redeveloped, the state says.

Butler County will receive $1,682,205 to remediate two different sites. The majority of the funding — $1,500,000 of it — will specifically go toward the former Middletown Paperboard site, which burned in a 2020 fire that officials called "catastrophic." The site needs abestos abatement and structures on the property are in need of demolition, soil and groundwater remediation, according to the state.

Chief: Fire at former Middletown Paperboard building 'catastrophic'

The second site Butler County received funding to remediate is the former Cohen Recycling plant in Hamilton. The $182,205 awarded for that project will go toward remediating "significant contamination" in the soil and groundwater at the site and future environmental assessments and plans for redevelopment efforts.

Highland County will receive $129,628 to remediate the East Monroe Tank Farm, a former tank farm site that has both above- and below-ground storage tanks. According to the state, an assessment is needed to examine the property, complete a geophysical survey and an asbestos materials survey. A second phase of the project will also include an assessment to identify any environmental hazard for future remediation.

Warren County will receive $300,000 to assess the former Sunoco and Morrow Plaza properties, including an evaluation of soil and groundwater contamination and assessment of an underground storage tank closure at Morrow Plaza.

Hamilton County, by far, will receive the most funding for the region: The county will receive $15,099,363 to remediate four different properties:

  • $174,680 will go toward assessing hazardous substances at a vacant mixed-use property on Walnut Street in Over-the-Rhine. Once it's cleaned up, the state says the property will be developed into 115 housing units and 5,000 square feet of commercial space.
  • $300,000 will go toward assessing soil and groundwater contamination at a former auto repair and dry cleaning site in Evanston.
  • $4,705,883 will go toward cleanup at a large, blighted industrial structure at 4574 Eastern Avenue in Linwood. Portions of the building will be demolished and hazardous materials inside, including asbestos, will be abated. The state says the site will be redeveloped into 271 multi-family apartments with parking and amenities.
  • $9,918,800 will go toward remediating and redeveloping the former Terrace Plaza Hotel downtown. Before it can be redeveloped, the site needs asbestos abatement and removal and other hazardous waste remediation. Once cleaned, the site will be converted into residential apartments, retail spaces, restaurants and a public parking garage, the state says.
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