Responding to Canfield Contamination Incident
Material Sciences Corporation is working with the Ohio EPA to respond to a contamination incident at 460 West Main Street in Canfield, Ohio.
Community Update
May 15, 2025
On behalf of Material Sciences Corporation (MSC), August Mack Environmental has begun implementing the Downstream Sawmill Creek Sampling Work Plan. As approved by Ohio EPA, this plan includes the following:
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Collection of sediment samples and surface water from Sawmill Creek at nine locations in which the creek crosses public roads, where samples can be safely collected.
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Collection of up to 19 samples within the wetland to characterize soil and sediment impacts. This includes 11 locations on the perimeter of the wetland area, five locations within the interior of the wetland area and three locations adjacent to previously installed soil borings for vertical delineation.
More detailed information, including maps of sampling locations, can be found here.
April 9, 2025
The TCE Interim Measure Work Plan approved by Ohio EPA has been completed, and the TCE Interim Measure Implementation Report was submitted to Ohio EPA on March 31. The primary purpose of this work plan was to determine through sampling whether there is a potential vapor intrusion concern inside buildings at Canfield High School. The results were below applicable U.S. EPA vapor intrusion screening levels, so a vapor intrusion concern was not identified.
Installation of a liner in the stormwater ditch east of the facility to prevent stormwater from being impacted by contaminated soils and sediments in the ditch is near completion.
A fence will be installed on Canfield High School property along the tributary of Sawmill Creek. MSC is discussing details with Canfield Local School District.
A Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Facility Investigation Work Plan proposing additional sampling and investigation will be submitted to Ohio EPA on or before May 30. This work plan is required by the Director’s Final Findings and Orders agreed upon by MSC and Ohio EPA Dec. 31.
Additional Significant Actions Taken as of April 9 to Address Historic Contamination
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Diverted clean stormwater from the adjacent stormwater ditch so that it is not impacted by historic contamination in the ditch soils and sediments.
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Collected and properly disposed of stormwater impacted by historic contamination in the ditch soils and sediments.
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Installed fencing between the ditch and the bike path and around the wetland that the ditch discharges into to prevent direct contact with contaminated materials.
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Implemented the September 30, 2024, Sampling and Analysis Plan and submitted the associated Report to Ohio EPA.
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Performed vapor intrusion sampling at MSC. No detections were reported above the laboratory reporting limit in indoor air.
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Entered the Director's Final Findings and Orders with Ohio EPA.
Documents
About the Incident
Updated April 15, 2025
At approximately 3 p.m. on July 11, 2024, the Cardinal Joint Fire District notified MSC of material in the stormwater ditch east of MSC’s facility. Between July 1 and 8, MSC had conducted routine power washing to clean the inside of the manufacturing building. Based on its investigation and the available information, MSC believes that the large amounts of water from power washing - which uses only water - caused historic contamination in the groundwater and/or in abandoned stormwater piping beneath the surface of the facility to enter the ditch through a stormwater pipe.
Through its investigation MSC learned that there is historic contamination beneath the subsurface of the facility, including groundwater, and in the stormwater ditch. MSC, which began operating the facility in 2013, believes that the historic contamination is likely associated with historical facility operations that began in the early 1950s. Historic contamination in the stormwater ditch appears to have migrated to the wetland into which the ditch discharges and to a tributary of Sawmill Creek into which the wetland discharges.
MSC worked with the Ohio EPA Office of Emergency Response, the Cardinal Joint Fire District, the Mahoning County Hazardous Materials Response Agency, and the City of Canfield to contain and remove the materials. On July 11, MSC blocked the pipe that appeared to be the source of the materials in the ditch and began removing the materials from the ditch, first with sump pumps and later with a vac truck. The pipe was plugged July 12. MSC believes that the materials observed on July 11 were removed by July 13. MSC believes that since then it has been addressing historic contamination and stormwater impacted by the historic contamination in the ditch soils and sediments.
Questions from the Community
Electroplating operations at this plant have occurred since the 1950s, so we can’t say with confidence when releases occurred and how long these impacts have been present. Now that we know they’re present, MSC has been coordinating with Ohio EPA regarding next steps to address contamination, which has included significant environmental investigations, impacted water collection efforts and remedial interim measures.
Out of an abundance of caution, MSC’s investigation efforts focused on a large suite of analytes including known chemicals currently used in operations, as well as other analytes that may not have been used in the past prior to MSC’s ownership. Based on the extensive data collected to date, some chemicals have been identified, which do not connect to MSC or previous ownership operations including semi-volatile organic compounds such as benzo(a)anthracene, benzo(a)pyrene and benzo(b)fluoranthene, for example. These chemicals are commonly observed along railroad and rail line activities. There was an active rail line in the area for many years prior to it being converted to the bikeway present today. Other chemicals identified also may not be associated with MSC.
The investigation was performed in general accordance with the September 31 Sampling and Analysis Plan approved by Ohio EPA. A report summarizing the initial investigation results was submitted to Ohio EPA December 12 and was posted on the Ohio EPA and MSC websites.
As part of the ditch adjacent to MSC, surface water feature, and the Sawmill Creek Tributary investigation, August Mack collected 195 soil and nine surface water samples, which included:
i) 69 soil and three surface water samples in the Sawmill Creek Tributary.
ii) 79 soil and four surface water samples in the adjacent ditch.
iii) 47 soil and two surface water samples in the surface water feature.
There were no exceedances in the Sawmill Creek Tributary surface water associated with the facility’s electroplating process water. There were detections in the Sawmill Creek Tributary soil above U.S. EPA Residential Screening Levels (RSL), and further investigation is necessary.
i) Cyanide, zinc, and hexavalent chromium are associated with the facility’s electroplating process water and were detected in soil above RSLs in the Sawmill Creek Tributary.
ii) Although arsenic detected in the soil exceeded the RSL, it appears that concentrations are within background levels based on the Ohio EPA Evaluation of Background Metal Soil Concentrations in Mahoning County report. As a naturally occurring element found in many soil and rock types across the planet, it’s common to find arsenic values above U.S. EPA screening levels in any environmental sampling. MSC does not believe arsenic is part of the process chemicals released from the site.
iii) Additional semi-volatile organic compounds were detected in soil above RSLs in the Sawmill Creek Tributary, however they are likely associated with the former railroad and do not appear to be related to MSC operations.
For information about the potential health impacts of any of these substances, please contact Mahoning County Public Health at 330-270-2855.
All work will be completed in compliance with the Director’s Final Findings and Orders, entered into between Ohio EPA and Material Sciences Corporation Dec. 31. The orders can be viewed here, and the attachment to orders can be viewed here.
Short-term plan — A temporary fence to prevent any potential for direct contact is the first step. After the fence is installed, additional sampling will be conducted to evaluate the extent of the contamination.
Long-term plan — The additional investigation results will be discussed with Ohio EPA to determine the exposure risk and long-term solution to properly design and clean up the contamination where necessary.
Yes. According to the City of Canfield Water Department website, the City of Canfield owns and operates the water distribution for the City of Canfield. Canfield maintains two 1-million-gallon storage tanks, an elevated storage tank located on Hilltop Boulevard and a ground storage tank located on Fairground Boulevard. Meander Water is the supplier of water and conducts all treatment activities related to the water distributed by the City of Canfield. Water is purchased in bulk from the City of Youngstown, and distributed throughout the City of Canfield. The City of Canfield owns the infrastructure for distributing water, and conducts routine maintenance and operational activities related to the water system, including but not limited to daily sampling, lead/copper monitoring, hydrant flushing and emergency repairs. Additional information regarding Meander Water treatment activities can be found here.
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