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Soil contaminated at former service station site
(by Rick Palsgrove, Southeast Editor - March 09, 2010)
Contaminated soil at a former service station site at the northeast corner of Front and Main streets in Groveport is still awaiting clean up.
The village of Groveport currently owns the property.
Speaking at Groveport Village Council's March 8 meeting, Groveport Village Administrator Steve Morris said, "Some toxins were found in the soil (during soil tests)."
Morris said the Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulations (BUSTR) has identified the responsible party for the ground contamination.
"BUSTR will not consider the clean up of this site at this time as they will try and work with the responsible party to get them to pay for the clean up," reported Morris.
According to an April 2009 report by CTL Engineering, 4,000 gallon, 3,000 gallon, and 2,000 gallon gasoline underground storage tanks were removed from the site the spring of 2004. In January 2005, during demolition of the service station, four 1,000 gallon gasoline underground tanks were found and removed. Petroleum contaminants were detected in the soil that were above acceptable levels on the site.
In 2004, 84 tons of contaminated soil were removed and another 92 tons were taken away in 2005. Further tests in 2007 found more contaminated soil.
CTL Engineering's report offers four options for getting rid of the contaminated soil: soil vapor extraction (a vacuum process), chemical oxidation (injections of chemicals into the ground to eliminate the contaminants), accelerated bioremediation (oxygen injections into the ground), and digging up the dirt and disposing of it.
Councilman Ed Rarey questioned how the village did not know about the contaminated soil.
"I thought we had crossed this valley and had a clean bill of health before purchasing the property?" asked Rarey.
Finance Director Ken Salak stated he believed the ground was not remediated before the village purchased the property and that soil testing was not done until plans to develop the site began.
Both Salak and Mayor Lance Westcamp said, as they recalled, the village agreed to purchase the land as is.
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