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

Close to 30,000 tons of contaminated soil has been removed from the vacant Mogadore Road property

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…

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Around Town and Gown

Shining a Light on One of Kent's Oldest Brownfields

Former RB&W site on Mogadore Road has long history of manufacturing; may have future in technology

The revelation that a "slurry wall" meant to contain years of manufacturing waste buried on the former RB&W site may, in fact, be leaching those chemicals into the ground is pretty potent information. I thought Kent Patch readers might appreciate some behind-the-scenes information about how we discovered it, how we reported it and why we think it's important for you to talk about. The site has always been of particular interest because it is one of Kent's oldest, and most successful, manufacturing properties. And because of that, throughout its lifetime the land became one of the city's most contaminated brownfields. But today, the property owner, Memphis-based Thomas Betts Corporation, appears to be doing its due diligence to clean up the…

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Jon Ridinger

12:34 pm on Friday, June 3, 2011

Very interesting article! One thing though: "...they will keep migrating through the soil in the direction of the river — Akron's source for public drinking water." While the statement is true in regards to Akron's source for water, the former RB&W site is well downstream from Lake Rockwell, which is where Akron draws water from the Cuyahoga. So even if it was leaking chemicals into the river, it…   more ›

A Dirty History of Manufacturing at old Lamson and Sessions, RB&W Site

Last known as the RB&W plant, the property at 800 Mogadore Road was one of Kent's most enduring manufacturing locations

The now-barren land at 800 Mogadore Road is a lot cleaner than it's been in a long time — practically 100 years. Still, the barbed-wire fence surrounding the property suggests it has a ways to go. Last week, Eslich Wrecking Co. removed the last few yards of what environmental officials believe is the last soil tainted with residual oils and heavy metals from decades of manufacturing at the site.  So far, about 20,000 tons of contaminated soil have been removed from the site. "It's still very much a cleanup in process," Ohio EPA spokesperson Mike Settles said in a recent interview. The current property owner, Thomas Betts Corp. of Memphis, TN, has contracted with Mentor-based HzW Environmental Consultants to oversee the cleanup of the site…

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EPA: No Link Between Demolition, Contaminant Breach at RB&W Site

EPA, environmental consultant say there is no connection between the recent razing and regrading on the site and news of a possible breach in an underground containment wall

Officials investigating the possible breach of a chemical containment system at the former RB&W site on Mogadore Road say there is no connection between the breach and recent demolition work on the property. Demolition work started in August 2009 to bring down the more-than 270,000-square-foot manufacturing plant at 800 Mogadore Road, which last housed the RB&W fastener manufacturer. That work wrapped up in the fall of 2010 when crews graded and seeded the site. Then in December, the environmental consulting firm managing the site reported the possible breach. The slurry wall — which is a liquid clay bentonite wall between 20 and 25 feet deep surrounding a 1.8-acre site at the southern end of the property — was constructed in 2005 to try …

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Andy Esparza

10:06 am on Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Since the influx of our western culture that location has been polluted..tannery...canal yard..petroleum..heavy metal ...haven't tested for nuclear yet??....A restoration to a canal yard would have been feasible in a long range strategy for some world class parks.   more ›