Old Jaite Paper Mill site targeted for environmental cleanup

by Tess Wolfe

Although its bustling mill was one of the largest multi-wall paper producers in the country, running 24 hours a day and providing employment to hundreds of people during the Great Depression, the Jaite Paper Mill legacy is also one of harm to the environment.

The Brecksville mill closed by 1985 and was purchased by the National Park Service, becoming part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

“There was a dump site that was approximately two acres along the riverbank, and it was actively eroding, contributing hazardous substances into the Cuyahoga River,” said Veronica Dickerson, environmental protections specialist at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park Contaminants Cleanup Branch and National Park Service project coordinator for the 30-acre Jaite Mill site.

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, commonly known as Superfund, is a 1980 federal law that created a tax on the chemical and petroleum industries and authorized federal agencies to respond directly to releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances.

“The way CERCLA works, you have time-critical and non-time-critical [designations],” Dickerson said. “Time-critical needs to be acted on within six months, because it is considered very important to human health and to the environment.”

Dickerson and her team brought a time-critical element regarding the dumpsite to the park service, for which a memorandum was signed in June to begin getting contracts in place for cleanup. With the six-month clock ticking once the contracts were signed, she and her team have until March to complete work on that part of the site.

The paper mill operated from 1905-1984, and its former dumping ground left a two-acre site that has impacted about 550 feet along the Cuyahoga River, near river mile 24. Waste material includes twisted wire, metal particles and a cellophane-type substance intertwined along the riverbanks and sloughed off into the river.

“It was actively eroding and contributing hazardous substances into the Cuyahoga River,” Dickerson said. “That’s the time-critical element. That section of the river has been designated an area of concern by the U.S. EPA.”

By stabilizing the bank with sandstone – the park’s policy is not to use limestone which can leach off and alter water chemistry – the cleanup team will prevent further erosion and remove the hazardous waste.

In March, the administrative record of all documents the cleanup decisions were based on will become public record and available for review. Also that month, the area will have been protected from further hazardous substances going into the river, Dickerson said. At that point, cleanup efforts can move on to the remaining, non-time critical portions of the Jaite Mill site.

Until all phases of cleanup are concluded, the entire 30-acre site is closed to the public, with signage and 8-foot fences to prevent access.

“We’re just trying to get these resources that we’ve been granted back to the public for future enjoyment,” Dickerson said. “The mission of the park is to have these park lands open to the public in perpetuity, and that’s what I’m striving to do.”

For more information about the Jaite Mill site, visit the Cuyahoga Valley National Park page of nps.gov.

 

Featured image photo caption: Environmental specialists are cleaning up a portion of the Cuyahoga River bank that was used as a dumpsite at the former Jaite Paper Mill. Waste material includes twisted wire, metal particles and a cellophane-type substance intertwined along the riverbanks and sloughed off into the river. Photos courtesy V. Dickerson