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UPDATE | Ohio EPA gives final OK for 800-acre Warren brownfield, soon to be owned by port authority

By Justin Dennis
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WARREN — The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has signed off on environmental cleanup work at an 800-acre former industrial site recently donated to the Western Reserve Port Authority, clearing the way for future development.

The Ohio EPA on Thursday issued a "covenant not to sue" for the former RG Steel property along Pine Avenue Southeast, an 800-acre brownfield which owner BDM Warren Steel Holdings recently turned over to the port authority. This action means site owners won't be held liable for any further environmental cleanup at the site.

Environmental attorneys working with the authority noted during the May meeting when port authority officials accepted the property that they expected this final order to be issued this year. But port authority officials acknowledged accepting ownership of the long-defunct steel-making site was a "bit of a leap."

Though the property was expected to be transferred to the port authority by the end of July, that process has been delayed, port authority CEO John Moliterno told Mahoning Matters Friday.

Once ready for development, it will be the largest site in the state's portfolio, he said in May. Moliterno said he met Friday with representatives of JobsOhio and TeamNEO who are "all very excited by the opportunities to develop that site into the future."

"We hope that it'll be nothing but jobs that'll be created at that site," he said.

Under the EPA's covenant, the site can be used only for industrial or commercial development.

Warren Steel Holdings put up $5.7 million to finalize the closure of two landfills on the property, which accounted for most of the contamination on the site.

According to the Thursday EPA filing, Warren Steel Holdings also:

  • Studied any potential releases of hazardous substances or petroleum on the property and assessed any related environmental impact;
  • Sought an exclusion for hazardous substances running off into the Mahoning River from the site, which can't be cleaned or are otherwise within acceptable standards. Ohio law allows such exclusions to be granted in a covenant so long as site owners have made "diligent" effort to clean them up;
  • Excavated about 7,800 cubic yards of contaminated soil and went through the regulatory process to close two ponds on the property;
  • Created a risk mitigation plan to protect builders or excavators who could be working in subsurface soil at the site.

The site was first developed by Trumbull Steel in 1912, then taken over by Republic Steel after World War II. The site stopped production in 2012, and owners began demolishing structures in 2014.

Warren Steel Holdings initially intended to donate the property to JobsOhio, the state's economic development arm, for development. JobsOhio instead urged the port authority to take it over.

This story was originally published July 30, 2021 at 2:21 PM with the headline "UPDATE | Ohio EPA gives final OK for 800-acre Warren brownfield, soon to be owned by port authority."