Officials in Warren, Ohio are proud to report that the site that was once the biggest blemish on the city’s landscape is now cleaned up and ready for reuse. According to an article in the Business Journal Daily, an area known as the Mahoningside site along the Mahoning River has been cleared of thousands of tons of asbestos- and PCB-laden soil that made the area one of the most toxic sites in the state. Now, say local government officials, someone may be interested in purchasing the land and building something that will replace the long-time eyesore.

It’s been 12 years since the effort to clean up the 6.5-acre site began, and the city has spent $6 million to clean up the area that was once home to Sterling Electrical Manufacturing Company, Warren Electric Power and Light, and Summit-Warren Industries. The plant was dynamited in 1999 but the debris remained for a dozen years, threatening the health of those nearby.

The clean-up, notes the article, was especially important and extremely sensitive because of the proximity of the site to the Mahoning River. That meant that water contamination was a very real threat, stressed Mayor Michael O’Brien, who notes that contaminants – including asbestos, PCBs, and other substances – were found shortly after the plant was demolished. These were the result of 70 years of use by industries that commonly used asbestos inside their plants.

From 1999 until the clean-up was complete, more than 16,000 tons of contaminated soil was removed, added Michael Keys, Warren director of community development. “About 4,000 tons was soil containing PCBs while another 10,000 tons contained asbestos,” he noted.

The Warren site is just one of hundreds of former power plants and other industrial sites around the country that are contaminated with asbestos-containing debris. Many have been rehabilitated with funds from state Brownfields programs, which allot money for the clean-up of properties where re-use “may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant,” according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Individuals who live or work near sites contaminated with asbestos are constantly in danger of inhaling tiny asbestos fibers that can become embedded in the lungs, causing cancers like mesothelioma as well as other lung-related ailments.

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