MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — The City of Middletown has brought in a contractor to reduce the height of a multistory pile of concrete aggregate bothering people who live in its shadow. The move by the city comes roughly a week and a half after a WCPO report detailing one woman's complaints.
The pile of debris contains many remnants of the old Paperboard facility that burned in 2020.
Marva Gaston brought her concerns to Middletown City Council at two consecutive meetings before talking with us about the need to move the material away from her home.
"I love sitting on my porch. I won't sit out here because I don't know what I'm inhaling. Cars stay dusty," Gaston said.
WATCH: Middletown moves to lower massive pile left by Paperboard demolition
The decision to level off the tall debris pile to minimize dust coming from the site was first floated publicly by City Councilman Paul Lolli at their May 20 meeting.
While the bulldozer shaving a few dozen feet off the pile's top was proof the city was making an effort to curtail dust, Gaston said the move wasn't nearly enough.
"Move it," she said. "Get it out. Get it away from us."
The Middletown native said her concerns about dust from the material weren't lessened by the most recent move, calling it a "band-aid on a bad situation."
We've tried for more than a week to get Middletown administrators to explain their plans for the material and the property bookended by 5th Avenue and Hanover Avenue along Verity Parkway.
Officials didn't agree to an on-camera interview, but did respond to a list of questions we sent about the site.
We asked about controlling dust from the site:
"The City is addressing this issue in a diligent manner in terms of options including Paperboard site fill material of low-lying area and proposed development site grading, other City road construction and utility infrastructure projects, including backfill for storm/sanitary sewer lines, additional City-wide properties in need of aggregate for commercial/industrial land use and several other opportunities. To address the dust concern, the City is considering to temporarily reduce the height of the aggregate pile by spreading the aggregate on site and using water for dust suppression during the process."
A spokesperson stressed that the "aggregate" at the site was crushed concrete with viable uses in infrastructure and construction.
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The city said the materials were asbestos abated, and all "visually impacted or suspected concrete stained with petroleum" was separated from the mix before the concrete was crushed.
The city said an analysis of 12 core samples taken by mediators Burgess and Niple showed the material met EPA standards for commercial or industrial land use.
"The site will be repurposed for commercial/industrial land use with the City intending to issue a Request for Proposals from developers where the City will make the decision on final land use," a statement read. "Concurrently, the City will be filing a request from the Director of Ohio EPA for a Voluntary Action Program (VAP) Covenant Not to Sue (CNS) to provide a level of comfort for the local residents, the City and the future developer that the site meets Ohio EPA cleanup standards for a commercial/industrial land use."
Gaston pulled the Burgess and Niple report and noted a line that read "We do not recommend it be used for residential land use fill material."
"But it's right here," she said. "It's right there in our face."
Gaston has been rallying her neighbors to attend a Middletown City Council meeting on June 3 at 5:30 p.m. to advocate for a more permanent solution to the aggregate pile.
A representative of the contractor R.B. Jergens told WCPO he planned to have the pile leveled off by Tuesday evening.
You can read the full report about the aggregate in the Burgess and Niple report below:
Middletown Debris Report by webeditors on Scribd
