Cleanup Continues at Former RB&W Site on Mogadore Road

Work continues to clean contaminated soil at the former RB&W plant site at 800 Mogadore Road, while little progress has been made in understanding why on the property.

The property, currently in the midst of the , is being managed by HzW Environmental Consultants. HzW is managing the cleanup for the property owner, Memphis, TN-based Thomas and Betts Corp.

Matt Knecht, president of HzW, said the work on Friday should have finished the removal of between 18,000 and 20,000 tons of contaminated soil on the property.

“Hopefully this is the last soil we have to hog out of there to meet commercial and industrial standards under the VAP,” Knecht said.

Thomas and Betts' goal is to obtain a covenant not to sue letter from the EPA, which will absolve the company from liability for any future such land issues and pave the way for the property's redevelopment.

Friday's work was unrelated to and started leaching contaminants into the area's groundwater.

Knecht said he is awaiting word from the Pittsburgh company that installed the containment wall, Geo-con Environmental Barrier Co., before further evaluating the containment wall. The next step in the remediation process is to inspect the wall to determine if it has indeed failed and is responsible for higher levels of contaminants in groundwater test wells on the property.