Emissions tests begin at Cleveland C&D facility after residents raise concerns

Air tests will begin at a Cleveland construction and demolition (C&D) debris recycling facility after residents raise concerns over air emissions and noise, a report by Cleveland.com says. Jim Riffle, a certified industrial hygienist with Auburn Environmental Services in Hudson, Ohio, will be doing the assessments free of charge.

According to the report, Riffle will place meters indoors and outdoors on several homes surrounding the area that are designed to detect volatile organic compounds, methane and hydrogren sulfide gas. Results are expected to return in one or two weeks.

The recycling center, called Arco Recycling in East Cleveland, separates woods, plastics, metals, concrete, brick and appliances. It receives the majority of its materials from homes that have been demolished by the Cuyahoga Land Bank, the report says. Prior to demolition asbestos abatement should have taken place.

The facility received its permits to install the center from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2014, but because there is no landfill at the site, the state does not require it to be monitored, according to the report. If evidence of air pollution violations are found, the EPA could step in.

In March 2015, East Cleveland sold the land for $1250,000 to Arco Recycling. Previously, the site held General Electric’s Nela Park lighting complex.