ASHLAND — More soil at a downtown Ashland site being considered for Pump House District redevelopment needs to be removed and tested, state regulators have determined.
Ashland City Council unanimously approved an ordinance Tuesday allowing officials to spend up to $150,000 on the additional work needed at the site of a former service garage.
The city entered into a contract with CEC, Inc. in October 2023 to remove an underground storage tank on a parcel at the intersection of Covert Court and Commercial Avenue.
A CEC, Inc. subcontractor removed the 1,000-gallon steel tank that used to store gasoline in November 2023 for $24,950.
“We were hoping it would be empty,” said Shane Kremser, the city’s engineer. “There was material in it and there was evidence of soil contamination.”
Kremser said the discovery led to what’s referred to as a Tier 1 source investigation, which is regulated by Ohio’s Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulations (BUSTR). The process involves taking soil samples from borings and placing monitoring wells at the site.
“That helps delineate the amount of contamination there,” he said.
Ultimately, the city is seeking a “No Further Action” status from BUSTR so redevelopment of the Pump House District can proceed.
City officials have said the extra cost should be covered by grant money that Grow Ashland (the city’s economic development office) expects from Ohio’s Department of Development (ODOD).
Grow Ashland received slightly more than $1 million to be used for 12 demolitions in the city. Kremser said Ashland is in line to receive additional grant money from ODOD’s Brownfield Remediation program.
The Brownfield Remediation money will cover the extra cost of the contaminated soil, Kremser said.
Part of Pump House District
The underground storage tank is located in the city’s so-called Pump House District, a development that encompasses more than five acres of downtown Ashland along East 4th Street between Union Street and Orange Road.
Developers from Columbus plan to construct up to seven buildings with roughly 150 apartment units and other commercial spaces such as restaurants and shops.
The new buildings are expected to surround an “urban meadow” park and the old Pump House building that has sat vacant for years will be redeveloped into a boutique hotel with 94 “suit-style” rooms.
Ashland officials have been laying the foundation for the Pump House District for more than five years, with several developments taking place within the last year.
In January, the city accepted an $800,000 grant from the Ohio Rail Development Commission to remove a rail crossing at Union Street.
A few months later, in April, city council approved a 100% property tax abatement for a developer who plans to turn the vacant Pump House building on Orange Street into a hotel.
And the city used nearly $220,000 of its American Rescue Plan Act allocation to pay Ohio Edison to remove and bury power lines in the Pump House district area. The money also went to installing infrastructure needed to power the former Pump House office building.