From Landfill to Light Industrial Development
Through early actions surrounding the Consent Decree, MSD began design and construction of six Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs). Starting in 2004, our collaboration with Mill Creek Restoration, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to improvement and restoration of the Mill Creek watershed, ensured that the SEP projects would leverage work that was already being done.
Four of the SEPs involved stabilizing a stream bank and constructing more than a mile of Greenway trail extending to the Elmwood Place Landfill and the Center Hill Landfill. The projects included building leachate collection systems that would prevent further landfill pollution from entering the creek. At the same time, the City of Cincinnati was assessing and remediating the landfills as a part of their Strategic Property for Urban Redevelopment (SPUR) program. The 60-acre Center Hill site, a SPUR district, is located less than a mile west of the Winton Hills neighborhood and could support up to 500,000 square feet of new light industrial space. If the project achieves its potential, City officials estimate that it could bring up to 500 new jobs to the area, while adding $1 million in annual property tax revenue and just under $500,000 in earnings tax revenue.
Within 5 years, the City of Cincinnati obtained the Covenant Not to Sue (CNS) from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, making the site ready for redevelopment as the Center Hill Commerce Park. Now, with filling operations nearly complete, the City is preparing for negotiations with several light industrial endusers that have expressed an interest in the site. A lasting legacy of MSD’s contribution, this SPUR district has the first mile of constructed Greenway Trail along Mill Creek.