Two local Brownfield sites have gotten state money to make them viable again. Governor Mike DeWine announced that $192 million in grants have been awarded to 112 projects statewide as part of the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program. In Putnam County, $2.5 million were received to clean up the former Phillips LG plant. The plant stopped making tubes for television 20 years ago and hasn’t had a lot of activity since. Some of the buildings have become too costly to be repaired and will be torn down. But 400,000 square feet of building space will have the asbestos and other universal waste removed for future warehouse and manufacturing space. The total cost of the clean-up will be closer to $3 million, so there will have to be $500,000 coming from local sources.
And Allen County has gotten $860,000 to tear down the remaining buildings at the Edco Tool and Supply site to make the land useable for redevelopment. The 11-acre site has had a variety of uses since it was built around 80 years ago, and numerous attempts to clean the property have been made. The building was partially destroyed in November when Lima and other local fire departments battled a fire at the standing structure. The heat of the blaze made several parts of the building collapse. Now a company will be hired to do asbestos removal in the remaining structures before they are demolished. Plus, any harmful material in the soil and groundwater will be removed. Allen County got nearly $900,000 in April for two other projects from the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program, including tearing down the former Allen County Home on Ada road.
