Royal China site to finally get cleanup

Benjamin Duer, Canton Repository
·3 min read
Local officials anticipate cleanup at the former Royal China property, a 20-acre brownfield site in Sebring, to begin in April and take 90 days to be completed. Photo taken Feb. 13, 2024.
Local officials anticipate cleanup at the former Royal China property, a 20-acre brownfield site in Sebring, to begin in April and take 90 days to be completed. Photo taken Feb. 13, 2024.

SEBRING − The former Royal China property is one of nearly 3,240 brownfields registered across Ohio.

It has remained an eyesore for decades.

Later this month, the Mahoning County Land Bank expects to award a contract to one of eight bidders to clean the 20-acre contaminated site. The remediation − estimated to cost $1.3 million − should start about April 1 and be done within 90 days.

The contract will be awarded Feb. 27.

Most of the project will be funded through a $1.5 million state brownfield grant secured by the Land Bank. A local match of $231,000 was provided by the property owner, Mike Conny, and county officials. Conny, owner of MAC Trailer and several other area real estate properties, bought the land in 2020.

"We are expecting a good deal of truck traffic through town when the dirt starts moving," said Sebring Village Manager Tim Gabrelcik. "To prepare for that, Sebring is working with the consulting firm and the contractor on designated truck traffic routes."

Roger Smith, director of planning, acquisition and disposition for the Mahoning County Land Bank, outlined some of the work that will be involved. He said residents can expect 1,800 truckloads of clean soil to be hauled through town to the former Royal China site.

Ricky Tosatto, a driller for GPD Geotechnical Services, uses a Geoprobe drilling rig to take soil samples on the former Royal China property in Sebring on Monday, March 20, 2023.
Ricky Tosatto, a driller for GPD Geotechnical Services, uses a Geoprobe drilling rig to take soil samples on the former Royal China property in Sebring on Monday, March 20, 2023.

Smith said crews will remediate six or seven "pockets of soil" that have lead contamination and haul away some of the dirty soil. The rest of the lead soil will remain on the premises, moved into a three-acre area of the property, where it will be buried and covered with clean dirt.

Royal China site: Local and state officials celebrate milestone at Sebring property

The entire property will receive two feet of new soil. Smith said the result of this remediation will leave 17 acres for new development.

In its prime, the former Royal China property − formerly The Oliver China Company and the E.H. Sebring China Company − was the third largest manufacturer of dinnerware in the United States. Founded in 1934, the business on South 15th Street changed hands several times before ending operations in 1986.

The building was the site of four fires, including a 2010 blaze that led to demolition of the factory building. An attempt to clean up the site in 2008 failed due to lack of funding.

This time, after some minor delays, the project has the governmental and financial support needed to be completed.

An Alliance Review file photo shows the former Royal China property in Sebring in 2018.
An Alliance Review file photo shows the former Royal China property in Sebring in 2018.

"When the cleanup is completed, with the blessing of property owner Mr. Conny, Sebring hopes to market the property for commercial development," Gabrelcik said. "We have utilities available and a workforce. Of course, Sebring will look for grant funding and other incentives that may be helpful in bringing an employer to the village."

Gabrelcik added that village officials prefer a manufacturer over a warehouse facility.

Brownfields in Stark, Mahoning and surrounding counties

The Royal China property is one of 488 local brownfield sites registered on the Ohio Brownfield Inventory Database for an eight-county area that includes Stark and Mahoning counties. Because the database is voluntary, the list maintained by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is not comprehensive.

There could be many more sites that have not been registered.

In 2023, workers demolished the Orrville Historical Museum through the efforts of the Wayne County Land Reutilization Corporation. The State of Ohio recently notified the Wayne County Land Reutilization Corporation that they would receive $500,000 to demolish abandoned buildings through the Demolition and Site Revitalization Program. The program and the successful Brownfield Remediation Program aim to preserve property values countywide.

All of the properties in this inventory either underwent remediation or were assessed through various Ohio EPA programs. According to the Ohio EPA, here's how many brownfields in area counties are listed in the database:

  • Carroll County − 6

  • Columbiana County − 32

  • Mahoning County − 63

  • Portage County − 49

  • Stark County − 111

  • Summit County − 159

  • Tuscarawas County − 29

  • Wayne County − 39

Some notable properties on this list include the former Molly Stark Hospital near Louisville; the Linsley-Royal Funeral Home in East Palestine; and the former Mud Run Gun Club in Cuyahoga Falls. The funeral home was added to the list after the Feb. 3, 2023, train derailment.

An Ohio EPA official said the funeral home was required by its bank to register for the brownfield database to get refinanced.

Reach Benjamin Duer at 330-580-8567 or ben.duer@cantonrep.com. On X (formerly Twitter): @bduerREP.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Cleanup of Royal China site in Sebring to start in April