PRCC asks residents to write Ohio EPA, governor

The Pleasant Ridge Community Council (PRCC) is urging residents to make their voices heard, in the hopes of getting the Hilton Davis site cleaned up once and for all.

For the past year, community groups such as Citizens Concerned About Hilton Davis have been working to get the cleanup completed on the 72-acre site at 2345 Langdon Farm Road to terms set in a 1986 consent decree between former owners Kodak Co., the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the PRCC.

Although Kodak has removed contaminated waste lagoons and soil, the property still contains a large volume of chemical wastes that were dumped into the Bloody Run Creek ravine over a period of more than 50 years during the manufacturing of dyes and chemicals.

Kodak's latest proposal would leave the waste in the ravine and cover it in soil and clay, leaving a repository of toxic waste on the site that the PRCC and Citizens Concerned About Hilton Davis finds unacceptable and in violation of the court-ordered consent decree.

About 500 residents of the surrounding area have signed a petition asking the Ohio EPA to reject Kodak's proposal.

Now, the PRCC is requesting that people send personal letters to Ohio EPA director Chris Korleski --copied to governor Ted Strickland -- asking the Ohio EPA again to reject Kodak's proposal, listing some of the positive things about living in or around Pleasant Ridge, and sharing their concerns about leaving chemical waste in the neighborhood.

If the contamination is properly remediated, the property could be redeveloped into a light industrial/office park or greenspace.

Previous reading on BC:
Cincinnati to pay PRCC nearly $10K for Hilton Davis cleanup (6/18/08)
City may pay more funds for Hilton Davis (5/23/08)
Meeting on Hilton Davis cleanup tonight (3/12/08)
Council votes to end Hilton Davis funding (12/20/07)
Health Department to end Hilton Davis funding (12/11/07)