Former RB&W Site Closer to Clean, But Leaching Still a Concern

The former RB&W site on Mogadore Road is inching closer to that point where about 16 of the 18 acres can be redeveloped into productive land.

But one big question mark still hangs over the property.

For years, dating to the early 1900s, various firms at 800 Mogadore Road used questionable oil management practices. Methods for containing oil used in the manufacturing processes there ranged from old railroad tank cars buried underground to open-air oil lagoons.

Today, all but one of the eight underground oil tank sites has been cleaned. The former oil lagoons site — about 1.8 acres on the southern end — is another story.

Matt Knecht, the president of Mentor-based HzW Environmental Consultants, which is managing the land remediation for owner Thomas & Betts Corp. of Memphis, TN, said only one of the former underground tank sites remains unresolved.

Near the south gate entrance, three groundwater test wells mark the site where two, 10,000-gallon underground oil tanks once were.

"This is the last piece," Knecht said. "We don't expect any problems."

What's unresolved about the tank site will most likely be a formality. The area has to undergo one more round of soil testing to make sure it complies with standards set by the Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulations, and then Thomas Betts Corp. can obtain a "no further action" letter  — essentially a "clean" bill of health document from the EPA — for that portion of the site.

Once that area is addressed, the rest of the property is one step closer to getting a "covenant not to sue" letter from the EPA that would clear much of the property for  sale and eventual redevelopment.

The big issue, then, becomes the former oil lagoon site at the south end of the property.

In January, Kent Patch broke the news that EPA officials and HzW feared the containment system designed to forever seal in chemical remnants from those oil lagoons had failed. They believe the containment system — an underground clay slurry wall capped with soil and surrounded by an artificial liner — may have failed because of an increase in contaminants in test wells surrounding the slurry wall.

Six months later, the question of whether or not the slurry wall or some other element of the containment system has failed remains unanswered.

Knecht said Thomas & Betts Corp. and HzW are negotiating with the contractor who built the containment system, Pittsburgh-based Geo-Con Environmental, to determine who is responsible for testing the containment system to see if it has indeed failed.

It's unclear when that testing will take place to determine if the system has failed, but Knecht said there is some pressure from the EPA given that they must submit quarterly reports to the agency on the status of the property.

"It's still a work in process," Knecht said of determining whether the containment system is the cause of the increased contaminant levels in test wells. "The slurry wall is still the big piece that needs to be fixed.

"This land has got real potential," he said. "I hope in a few years we're able to look back on this and say it was handled as best as it could."

Scroll down for past coverage from Kent Patch on the former RB&W property.