Landfill Opens for Business

Operations began sometime in the early 20th century.

Harshaw Chemical Company begins transporting hazardous waste to the Landfill

Transporting took place between 1950 and 1971.

Resident Complaint to Governor

Mrs. Thelma Ryan, a Ford Road Resident, wrote a letter of complaint to Governor Frank Lausche. She reportedly refered to the landfill as a "stinking, smoldering, rat-infested horror of horrors."

General Motors begins dumping 32,000 gallons of sludge per day.

General Motors dumped 32,000 gallons of sludge per day between 1963 and 1970.

Brotherton Disposal begins leasing land.

This lease is transfered to BFI when BFI acquires Brotherton, and the lease is renewed when the county buys the land in 1974.

Landfill closes for a week after being overrun with rats.

Thousands of rats were the apparent cause for the shutdown.

Landfill Catches Fire

The landfill caught fire sometime in the mid 1960s. It burned for 3 weeks.

General Motors stops dumping at Ford Road.

General Motors dumped 32,000 gallons of sludge per day between 1963 and 1970.

Browning Ferris Industries (BFI) begins dumping at Ford Road.

Transportation took place between 1971 and 1979.

A.A. Rocco Trucking Corporation begins dumping at Ford Road.

Transportation took place between 1971 and 1972.

A.A. Rocco Trucking Corporation stops dumping at Ford Road.

Transportation took place between 1971 and 1972.

Clean Water Act Passes

The Clean Water Act is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution.

Chemline Corporation begins dumping at Ford Road

Transportation took place between 1973 and 1976.

Lorain County buys the Landfill

The County purchased the land in 1974. While the county asserts it was looking into using the land for a park, it continued to lease the land to Brotherton Disposal until the dump was shut down.

Chemline Corporation stops dumping at Ford Road

Transportation took place between 1973 and 1976.

EPA discovers Landfill

EPA officially discovers the Ford Road Landfill

Dumping ends

The official end of dumping is listed in EPA documents as being in 1979 when BFI ceased its hazardous waste transport to the site. The documents do not make clear whether this was before or after EPA discovery in April.

Browning Ferris Industries (BFI) of Ohio stops dumping at Ford Road.

Transportation took place between 1971 and 1979.

U.S. EPA requests that Lorain County and BFI intercept leachate streams

In response, BFI added soil to the Site and removed some refuse near the river which was transported to the Lorain County Landfill.

Ohio EPA begins random checks of 100 contaminated sites throughought Northeast Ohio.

Tests of the Ford Road site revealed high levels of Benzine, Dimethylbenzine, and hexanone. A clay cap was put in place, and the site was deemed "contained" by the EPA.

Chronicle Telegram runs story about EPA testing.

Mark Schmidt, an OEPA geologist says "This is the worst case Ive seen in terms of volume, in a year of inspection."

Ohio EPA conducts intensive survey of the Black River

EPA concludes preliminary assesment of the site

In July 1983, a U.S. EPA contractor, Ecology and Environment sampled groundwater at the Site. The groundwater was found to contain acetone, alpha-benzene hexachloride (alpha-BHC), and methylene chloride.

The U.S. and Canada target 43 pollution sources for Lake Erie.

The Black River is on the list.

Black River Remedia Action Plan (RAP) formed

EPA Site Inspection

Expanded EPA Site Inspection

EPA testing reveals chemicals seeping from ground.

Monitoring wells were installed around this time.

Canadian scientists conducted a study on target pollution sites.

Results would prompt similar studies in the U.S., ultimately leading to the start of the ATSDR study that included the Ford Road site.

ATSDR starts its study of target pollution sites.

The Agency for Toxic Substance & Disease Registry, in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control, started its own study.

Further EPA testing.

Dozens of workers from the EPAs Chicago office gathered resident histories in relation to the landfill.

EPA Proposes Cleanup Plan

The $3.4 million plan includes collection and disposal of debris from the South and North slopes of the landfill and improving the current landfill cover to ensure all waste remains buried at least two feet deep. EPA also wants to remove a smaller area of contaminated soil near the northeastern edge of the landfill where high levels of PCB contamination were found.

Public EPA meeting.

EPA held a public meeting on July 26 to explain its recommended cleanup plan and answer questions, and accept oral and written comments.

EPA releases offical record of decision.

The decision follows the preferred course of action outlined in the initial proposal made by the EPA in July of 2006.

Potentially Responsible Party Remedial Design

Design for the most recent cleanup effort began 12/31/2008 and concluded 04/08/2011

Potentially Responsible Party Remedial Action

The remedial action plan got underway on 04/8/2011. In the late summer of 2011 workers began removing debris and soil from "hot spots' located in the northeast corner of the site near the Black River. There is a 2nd phase planned for 2012 where the bulk of the work outlined in the Record of Decision will be conducted. Clay will be added along the north and south slopes which were never properly contained during previous cleanup efforts. Additionally, an access road will be built, and a sedimentation pond is being put in to catch stormwater runoff.