OREGON -The Midwest Hazardous Substance Research Center at Michigan State University, through its technical  assistance program, has issued an outreach plan to help the public understand the investigation and cleanup of Envirosafe Services of Ohio, Inc.

MSU's Technical Outreach Services for Communities (TOSC), funded by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was asked by local residents for assistance in researching the investigation of environmental contamination at Envirosafe's hazardous waste landfill.

Envirosafe is currently involved in corrective action to investigate and clean up on-site contamination of groundwater and soil. The first phase of corrective action is expected to be completed this March. The entire process will take a few years to finish.

Following meetings with residents and local officials, TOSC prepared the outreach plan, which provides a summary of the issues at Envirosafe, describes the current work at the facility, the concerns expressed by the community, and how TOSC will address those concerns.

Residents raised several questions about Envirosafe at meetings with TOSC on March 16 and July 11 last year, according to TOSC's report, including:

• What contaminants have been found at the site, and where have they been found? What media (soils, groundwater, sediments) have been affected? How would the community know what site investigation work has been conducted? How reliable is the information? Will the work currently being conducted at the site by Envirosafe result in a clear understanding of the extent of the contamination? What ecological and human health impacts may have resulted from the Envirosafe site? Is there a risk of contamination of drinking water from the operation of the Envirosafe facility, since Toledo drinking water intake lines run through the Envirosafe site? How does the differing geology at the site affect contaminant movement? How are the perpetual and closure funds being used? Will there be money to pay for corrective action? Who will pay if the company cannot?

The report notes that "while some data exist about the contamination, there are many gaps in our understanding, which the current investigation is designed to address."

To help the community understand the issues, TOSC will carry out the following tasks:

• Provide information on key issues and concepts related to the characterization of the contamination at Envirosafe; hold workshops to explain those issues and concepts;
• Conduct a modeling/visualization exercise to explain the report's findings.
• Assist Oregon residents in staying informed during the corrective action process, including the regulatory framework and opportunities for public comment.

The report notes that many questions by residents center around the difficulty in understanding technical documents relating to Envirosafe and want TOSC assistance in interpreting them. As a result, TOSC will prepare a series of informational handouts and hold local workshops to explain Envirosafe related issues, such as ground water and hydrogeology; contaminant transport; site investigation methods and technologies; laboratory analytical methods; human health and ecological risk assessment; and basic regulations related to site investigation and cleanup.

TOSC, which plans to hold the workshops this month or February, will also hold quarterly meetings with residents to provide updates and present findings of reviews, says the report.

Dr. Shu-Guang Li, associate professor of environmental engineering at Michigan State, will lead TOSC's technical team.

Local experts working with TOSC include Dr. Allison Spongberg, associate professor of Geology at the University of Toledo; Dr. Rakesh Govind, professor of chemical engineering at the University of Cincinnati; and Julie Weatherington-Rice, certified professional geologist and Ph.D. candidate at Ohio State University.

Oregon Mayor Marge Brown said TOSC has not contacted her or other Oregon officials about its plan.

"I wouldn't be opposed to community meetings. But shouldn't government be in on it?"

Former Walbridge Councilwoman Joann Schiavone, a long time environmental activist, said Tom Matheson, of the U.S. EPA in Chicago, had informed her about the TOSC program. Matheson was involved in the investigation of the old waste site at Envirosafe in 1996.

Schiavone said she and other environmentalists met last year with Kirt Riley, TOSC program manager, to discuss whether TOSC would be interested in helping them identify problems at Envirosafe.

"I'm hoping TOSC can help us understand what's going on at Envirosafe," added Schiavone, "and push to get it cleaned up. With TOSC reviewing the site, Envirosafe and the Ohio EPA can't accuse us of being bored, uneducated housewives with nothing else to do. Now we have the big boys out there looking at the entire picture of what's going on at Envirosafe."

Doug Roberts, president of Envirosafe, did not return calls to The Press for comment.