Meetings upcoming on Hilton Davis cleanup

The Pleasant Ridge Community Council (PRCC) will be holding meetings on the cleanup of the former Hilton Davis property in early- to mid-March.

Hilton Davis, at 2345 Langdon Farm Road, first began in 1922 and has operated under multiple owners.

For many years, the Hilton Davis plant manufactured pigments, dyes and specialty chemicals for the Freedom Chemical Company.

During the plant's years of operation, large amounts of pollutants were dumped into four waste lagoons and into a ravine that ran through the property, which many in the surrounding residential neighborhoods could smell.

Cleanup of the site was mandated in a 1986 state court decision and began in 1987.

Under the terms of the court order, former owner Kodak Company quickly cleaned up the lagoons, but 109 areas of contaminated soil remained on the grounds.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has been slow to make any decisions on Kodak's cleanup plan or any other aspect of the property's future, and many in Pleasant Ridge feel like both may be cutting corners and violating the terms of the consent decree.

With the EPA's corrective measure study soon to come, the neighborhood will have a 60-day window to voice its concerns.

Steve Simon, president of the PRCC, says that neighborhood involvement is key.

"It would seem that without the public outcry and the community's investment that the company, certainly, and the environmental agency would likely fall back on what's easiest," Simon said.  "The calculus changes when they see the community's involved and the neighborhoods are behind it."



Writer: Kevin LeMaster
Source: Steve Simon, president of the PRCC
Photography by Scott Beseler