CLEVELAND -- The former Harshaw Chemical Company, located at 1000 Harvard Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, was contracted by the Manhattan Engineer District and later the Atomic Energy Commission to support the Nation’s early atomic weapons program. From 1944 to 1959, various forms of uranium were processed at the Harshaw Site and sent to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, for further processing. Based on a request from the State of Ohio and the site owners, the Department of Energy determined that this site should be reviewed for possible inclusion in the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) and on June 3, 1999, referred this action to the Corps of Engineers.
Project Status
The record of decision for the site, which was signed in 2021, outlines the selected remedies to address FUSRAP-related soil contamination at the Harshaw Site for OU-1 and OU-2. The selected remedy for OU-1 is Complete Excavation and Off-Site Disposal using industrial remediation goals based on an industrial reasonable future land use. The selected remedy for OU-2 is Complete Excavation and Off-Site Disposal using residential remediation goals based on a residential reasonable future land use.
These remedies involve complete excavation of FUSRAP-impacted soils exceeding their respective applicable or relevant and appropriate requirement-based remediation goals, transportation and off-site disposal of soils, confirmatory sampling, and site restoration. All private utilities encountered during the execution of the selected remedy for OU-1 will be decommissioned and sealed to prevent the migration of residual uranium in groundwater. Public utilities encountered in OU-1 will be left in place and backfilled with amended material to minimize the migration of groundwater and uranium transport along the utility trenching. Both alternatives will be protective of human health and the environment, comply with applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements, are cost effective, and use permanent solutions and alternative treatment technologies or resource recovery technologies to the maximum extent practicable.
For Harshaw Chemical FUSRAP site we are mandated to follow the comprehensive environmental response, Compensation, and Liability Act or the CERCLA process. As such we conducted a Preliminary Assessment in 2001, a Remedial Investigation from 2003-2009, a feasibility study in 2012, we prepared a proposed plan in 2018 and a Final Record of Decision in 2021.
We are now entering the remedial action phase in the CERCLA process. In December 2023, USACE awarded a $13.4 million contract for remedial action of Operable Units 1 and 2. In early May 2024, contractors began staging equipment and placing air monitoring devices ahead of work to clean up the Harshaw site.
Remedial Action Workplans
Community Involvement
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo District welcomes your input at any time. Our goal is to offer timely and meaningful opportunities for public input to our projects and to promote the dissemination of project information to the community. Public involvement activities complement the Corps' mission to address environmental contamination at the Harshaw Site from past Manhattan Engineer District and Atomic Energy Commission activities.
News from the Corps
News from the Corps emails are sent regularly when we have new information regarding the Harshaw FUSRAP site. To receive News from the Corps, please email us at: fusrap@usace.army.mil and ask to be added to our list.