News Releases from Region 05

U.S. EPA finalizes $35 million cleanup agreement for Valleycrest Superfund site in Dayton, Ohio

For Immediate Release: No. 18-OPA070

CHICAGO (Nov. 21, 2018) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) finalized a consent decree which requires responsible parties to carry out a $35 million cleanup of the North Sanitary Landfill (Valleycrest) Superfund site in Dayton, Ohio. The 104-acre site in a mixed residential/industrial area.

“This Administration is demonstrating its commitment and attention to Superfund sites by accelerating the cleanup process,” said Regional Administrator Cathy Stepp. “Cleaning up the Valleycrest site will spur redevelopment in Dayton and help revitalize the surrounding neighborhood.”  

Under the Trump Administration, the Superfund program has reemerged as a priority to fulfill and strengthen the Agency’s core mission of protecting human health and the environment.

The consent decree requires responsible parties to:

• Install a multi-layer cap over 70 acres,
• Install and operate a leachate extraction system to contain contaminated groundwater and prevent it from leaving the site, and
• Install and operate a permanent landfill gas collection system to replace the existing system.

The consent decree also requires controls at the site to ensure the long-term protections of human health and the environment. The agreement provides for a preliminary investigation to collect updated groundwater contaminant information that will be used in the design of the selected remedy. EPA anticipates the preliminary data collection will be completed by fall 2019, and work on the cleanup design will begin shortly thereafter.

Prior to being used as landfill, the site was a sand-and-gravel quarry. Mining operations created large, unlined depressions across much of the site. These unlined depressions were later used for disposal of commercial, industrial, municipal and other types of waste. Site records indicate that industrial and municipal wastes, including oils, solvents, scrap paper, electrical transformers, asbestos-containing brake grinders, and sewage were disposed in unlined former gravel pits that pond with water and intersected the water table. In 1994, U.S. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List, a list of the most contaminated sites in the nation.

The consent decree was entered by the court on Oct. 30, 2018.

EPA remains dedicated to addressing risks at all Superfund sites and will continue to provide the public with regular updates of progress at Superfund sites across the country.

For more information, visit: www.epa.gov/superfund/north-sanitary-landfill.

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