Master Metals Cleanup Ends

Redevelopment of the property to be undertaken by Northern Ohio Lumber and Timber Company

Chicago, IL— U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 and the City of Cleveland transferred the Master Metals property, a lead smelter shut down by Ohio EPA in 1993, to the Northern Ohio Lumber and Timber Co.

Residential properties that received contaminated fill from the facility increased the scope of the investigation and cleanup.

A cleanup at the 4-acre site, 2850 W. 3rd St., was completed in May. A group of more than 50 companies deemed responsible for the contamination paid for the work, which was supervised by EPA and Ohio EPA.

“The cleanup involved disposal of numerous truckloads of lead contaminated soil and debris and tear-down of seven buildings,” said EPA Regional Administrator Tom Skinner. “It’s a real brownfield success story: We originally proposed a cleanup plan in 1999, but the city and NOLTCO came up with a creative plan to approach things a little differently and look to future uses for the site.”

The lumber company, with a local history that dates to the 1860s, will move 1.5 miles from its current address on Carter Road to the site in Cleveland’s industrial flats area. NOLTCO had previously considered relocating to a suburban location. The company employs about 15 people.

Master Metals, which was closed by Ohio EPA in 1993 for numerous air quality violations, recycled lead batteries and other lead waste at the site beginning in 1979. Previously, NL Industries had operated a similar business on the property since 1933.

“Working together, we have turned one of the most polluted sites in Ohio into a productive property for the City of Cleveland,” said Ohio EPA Director Christopher Jones.