News Releases from Region 05

EPA cleanup begins at former Champion Spark Plug factory in Toledo

For Immediate Release    No. 18-OPA18

CHICAGO (June 6, 2018) --Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the start of a time-critical action to remove asbestos from the former Champion Spark Plug factory at 900/914 Upton Ave. in Toledo, Ohio. The cleanup is expected to take about two months to complete. 

“EPA’s $1.8 million cleanup at the former Champion factory site on Upton Avenue helps protect the health of the people who live in Toledo’s Central City neighborhood,” said Regional Administrator Cathy Stepp.  “This cleanup is further proof of EPA’s strong commitment to working with states and local communities to identify, clean up and get sites ready for productive reuse.”

Asbestos co-mingled with building debris remained strewn over 5 acres of the former factory site after the buildings were razed in 2012. The city of Toledo referred the site to EPA for cleanup in 2017. 

The federal removal action is funded under the authority of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, or CERCLA, known as the Superfund law.

For more information: https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-comprehensive-environmental-response-compensation-and-liability-act.

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