EPA Ends Air Monitoring at Toledo Chemical Leak Site
TOLEDO, Ohio — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has stopped air monitoring and sampling at the north Toledo site of the Oct. 21 chemical release, the agency said in its Oct. 27 update, after finding no hazardous chemicals above screening levels.
Air monitoring and sampling data have not shown detections of glycidyl methacrylate or other hazardous chemicals above screening levels, the EPA said. After reviewing all data and consulting with state and local partners, the agency determined monitoring would not need to continue and stopped it at 11 p.m. on Oct. 26.
As of Oct. 27, Ohio EPA is the lead agency overseeing the potentially responsible party’s cleanup, and the U.S. EPA is leaving the site. The agency said it will post TAGA air sampling data and a map of the sampling route as soon as the data is available.
The release came from a tank at MC Tank Transport at 1266 Progress Ave. It prompted a one-mile evacuation order and a three-mile shelter-in-place order. All evacuation orders were lifted Oct. 23, and the compromised tank has since been moved into secondary containment, where it will be monitored onsite until a disposal plan is developed.
Separately, the City of Toledo said Oct. 27 that a strong odor reported in the area appears to come from a landfill in Oregon, Ohio, and is not related to the chemical release at MC Terminal. That investigation is ongoing.
Sources: U.S. EPA site profile and City of Toledo incident page
Photo: Ethan Gorosti / Pexels.