Council votes to end Hilton Davis funding

Cincinnati City Council last week voted unanimously to end its contribution to environmental remediation at the Hilton Davis site.

A $12,000 final payment from the Cincinnati Health Department to the Pleasant Ridge Community Council (PRCC), ending nearly a decade of City assistance in the cleanup of the contaminated property at 2345 Langdon Farm Road.

The payment also absolves the City of any responsibility for the site and restores complete oversight to the PRCC.

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, which many in the surrounding residential neighborhoods feared would seep into the soil. Over 100 soil sites were found to be contaminated.

Cleanup of the site, which was mandated in a 1986 state court decision, is nearing completion.

Plans for redevelopment have been slow to materialize, but options include blacktopping the site and fencing it in, building a light industrial park, and greenspace.

Previous reading on BC:
Health Department to end Hilton Davis funding (12/11/07)