Three water lines running non stop at the former Westinghouse site
Three waterlines have been running nonstop for about three months at the site of the former Westinghouse property along East Fifth Street, forcing a temporary halt in scheduled demolition of the abandoned facility.
The status of the Westinghouse demolition project was discussed Wednesday during a regular meeting of the Richland County Land Bank at the county courthouse.
Amy Hamrick, land bank manager, said the city of Mansfield has been working to resolve the matter for about 12 weeks.
She said the contractors hired for the demolition project will need to be paid more for the extra work they have been doing to pump the water out of the site. It is not yet known how much more money will be needed to complete the demolition project, but a meeting is planned to discuss the change order with contractors.
The water was still running as of Wednesday, Hamrick said. She showed photos taken this week of the water that is slowing down the work. Completion could take an estimated 20 weeks at the demolition site and the property could be seeded in the spring, she said.
2 pumps could not keep up with flow of water
Hamrick, in a PowerPoint presentation, outlined areas where the demolition company, R & D, tried unsuccessfully to dry out the site by running two pumps moving 11,000 gallons an hour.
"They (the pumps) couldn't keep up with this water," she said.
Adrian Ackerman of the city's codes and permits office said an informal meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday to try and determine the next steps to find out where the water is coming from. That meeting is not open to the public.
Mayor Tim Theaker said city engineer Bob Bianchi believes there is leakage from a water main that is feeding into abandoned sewer lines.
Ackerman said she has been told there are no waterlines running through the former Westinghouse property.
"There is an abandoned sewer line and an abandoned storm (line) right at that center line that you see," she said, pointing to a map on an overhead projector.
Richland County Commissioner Tony Vero, a member of the land bank, asked if it was storm water.
Ackerman said no one knows.
"There are waterlines along Fifth Street, along Purdy and along Fourth Street of course," Ackerman said. "Obviously we're not sure, maybe something is leaking into the abandoned sewer lines causing the issues."
Two areas shown on a PowerPoint presentation on the demolition site map were pits are filled with groundwater and possible contaminants awaiting environmental consultants' input.
Hamrick said they are waiting to hear how the consultants want to dispose of that water.
The recent downpours have not helped the site dry out, she said.
Also, large chunks of concrete are still being found under the pads, Hamrick said.
"They're thinking they are finding twice as much concrete buried as what they have removed in the pads," she said.
10-year study breaks down local demolition statistics
During the meeting, Hamrick presented a demolition study she completed. She said she looked at an estimated 774 demolitions going back from January 2012 to August, including demolitions conducted by the city or the land bank in Richland County.
She said 1,028 housing units were demolished, not including mixed-use units.
"All this information I got from the Richland County Auditor's website," she said. There were 20 commercial/industrial properties demolished in the past decade, two churches, eight garages only, and a hotel, Hamrick said, citing data on her PowerPoint presentation.
Among the data, Hamrick noted 453 investor-owned properties were demolished. She said 160 of the investors were from outside Richland County; 293 investors were from Richland County, and 56 were out of state and one demolition investor from out of the country.
Her study showed 59% of investor properties demolished had purchase prices under $15,000.
"I really wanted to break down where our problems are," she said.
History of Westinghouse demolition project
Demolition on the former Westinghouse building on East Fifth Street began on Dec, 19, 2022.
Members of the Richland County Land Bank board worked throughout 2022 on the former Coffman building. Work on the removal of the historic doorway began in December 2022. The doorway was removed by WR Restoration of Twinsburg, erecting safety measures above the doorway to protect workers from the potential for falling bricks while removing the stone door frame.
More: Monument proposed for Westinghouse, Mansfield manufacturing history
The historic doorframe at the Westinghouse "A" Building is being proposed as a monument at the site to honor Westinghouse, manufacturing in Mansfield, the history of women in the workforce, and the "Westinghouse Girls" who worked in the "A" Building.
In April 2022, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine was in Mansfield to announce the first round of the Ohio Department of Development Brownfield Program awards, providing funds for demolition and remediation of the former Westinghouse "A" building and the concrete slab along West Fifth Street. The governor announced the Mansfield project is getting $3 million for cleanup of petroleum tanks and hazardous materials and demolition. City and county funds, in the amount of $500,000 each, also were made toward the project.
lwhitmir@gannett.com
419-521-7223
Twitter: @lwhitmir
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Crews unsuccessful after running 2 pumps moving 11,000 gallons an hour
