![A gnarled entry gate is one of the few visible reminders that a major chemical firm -- Harshaw Chemical -- was headquartered at 1000 Harvard Avenue until the 1990s. [Kabir Bhatia / WKSU]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2ad9d5f/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3264x2448+0+0/resize/840x630!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fimages%2Fnews%2Fnpr%2F2021%2F11%2F1054641608_619708609.jpg)
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to clean-up a site in Cleveland's Industrial Valley which was used for uranium production during World War II.
The former Harshaw Chemical campus has been dormant since the 1990s. Nearby residents have been concerned about disturbing contaminated soil at the site, since the Cuyahoga River runs through the area.
After two years of public comment, Project Manager Jeff Rowley says they've decided to remediate the soil.
“There will be engineering controls for dust suppression. We’ll evaluate, when we’re next to waterways, if there’s some sort of barrier we need to put into place. We’ll take all those factors into place when we’re generating those work plans," according to Rowley. “We’ll do air monitoring, we’ll get in there [and] remove that soil, and then we’ll back fill with low permeability soil.”
About a half-dozen landowners currently control the site, and any future development will be up to them. Rowley is hoping to award a contract next year and begin the cleanup process in 2023.
For the past decade, officials with the Towpath Trail have been planning to complete a section through the Harshaw site.
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