Ashland County Property Receives Environmental Covenant Under Ohio EPA’s Voluntary Action Program

WASHINGTON, D.C. – (RealEstateRama) — MCI Service Parts, Inc. has received a covenant not to sue under Ohio EPA’s Voluntary Action Program (VAP) after the company investigated and remediated the former Grumman-Flxible property in Loudonville.

The property, located at 520 N. Spring St., is 15.9-acres where the company manufactured motorcycle sidecars, ambulances and finally, transit buses during its history. The site currently is vacant. MCI sold the property in 2015. The northern portion is owned by 520 N. Spring LLC while Flexi Holdings LLC owns the southern portion.

Following standards developed by Ohio EPA, the volunteers hired a certified environmental professional to assess the property and address areas of environmental concern. In the northern section, four feet of contaminated soil was removed on a portion of the property and the area covered with a multi-layer cap and two feet of soil. A soil vapor extraction system also was installed. In the southern portion, a concrete foundation and cap were installed at the former coal yard to prevent direct contact with contaminated soil.

With these controls in place, the property meets VAP requirements to be redeveloped for commercial or industrial uses.

A covenant not to sue protects the property owner or operator and future owners from being legally responsible to the State of Ohio for further environmental investigation and remediation relating to known releases. The protection applies only when the property is used and maintained according to the terms and conditions of the covenant.

In the 22 years since Ohio EPA issued the first covenant not to sue under the VAP program, more than 12,300 acres of blighted land have been revitalized at more than 570 sites across the state.

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The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency was created in 1972 to consolidate efforts to protect and improve air quality, water quality and waste management in Ohio. Since then, air pollutants dropped by as much as 90 percent; large rivers meeting standards improved from 21 percent to 89 percent; and hundreds of polluting, open dumps were replaced with engineered landfills and an increased emphasis on waste reduction and recycling.

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