A greasy, paint-like substance has been found in the same Envirosafe Services of Ohio Inc. trench that holds two waterlines the city of Toledo uses to move raw Lake Erie water to its Collins Park Water Treatment Plant.

Tests are being done on the substance to determine exactly what it is. But it has the physical characteristics of hazardous waste, officials from Toledo’s Department of Public Utilities said during a news conference Friday.

The city wants to assure people, though, that nothing hazardous has entered those two waterlines or its treatment plant, which is used to produce tap water for nearly 500,000 people in the Toledo area.

“We’re sure the drinking water is safe,” DPU Commissioner of Plant Operations Andy McClure said. “The drinking water is safe. It [the contamination] is well-contained.”

The larger of those two raw water mains, a 78-inch line, was installed in 1940.

A smaller, secondary one, a 60-inch line, was installed in 1967.

The finding is significant because, until now, there was no evidence of hazardous waste in that trench.

“There hasn’t been disturbance to that area for decades,” Jake Goetz,  a DPU senior professional engineer who is working on a $175 million project to replace the larger of those two water mains.

The project is the biggest undertaken by the Toledo Regional Water Commission since it was formed in 2020 by the city and the area suburbs it serves.

Mr. McClure was asked why he and other officials believe the substance in question is hazardous waste, based strictly on its texture, its discoloration, and its foul odor.

“It was very clearly not dirt,” he said. “It was like grease or paint.”

He later reiterated that thought when explaining how city officials reacted upon learning about the substance.

“We were very alarmed,” Mr. McClure said. “It was greasy, like greasy paint.”

The potentially hazardous waste that was found in the trench, or easement, is believed to date back to the 1950s, long before modern environmental regulations for landfills began coming into existence in the 1970s. It also is believed to have been buried there long before Envirosafe took possession of the site, which is along Otter Creek Road in Oregon.

The discovery was made during sampling of the easement that is being done so the Toledo Regional Water Commission can proceed with its plans to replace the 78-inch waterline that was laid 85 years ago.

That particular waterline was laid 14 years before Envirosafe’s predecessor, Fondessy Enterprises Inc., began accepting a variety of household municipal and industrial solid waste there in 1954.

Fondessy accepted all forms of waste because no restrictions existed on what it could accept for many of the years it was in business.

It continued to accept various forms of waste until its operation was purchased by Envirosafe in 1983. Envirosafe eventually received state approval to receive hazardous waste.

The easement was thought to be free of hazardous material, Mr. Goetz said.

The prevailing theory is that a barrel of waste buried during the Fondessy era might have shifted as land was moved around over the years. At some point, the waste-filled barrel probably corroded and released the material it was holding into the trench, officials said.

That’s just a theory, though, Patekka Bannister, DPU deputy director, noted.

In reality, nobody knows how the hazardous-looking substance got into the trench or how long it’s been there.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have been notified.

Bryant Somerville, Ohio EPA spokesman, said the important thing to remember is that Toledo's drinking water remains safe.

“Ohio EPA is aware of contamination that was found during the assessment work for the future water line, and we are currently waiting for the raw water sampling data from the public water system,” he said. “Right now, the city of Toledo is working with its contractors to develop a sampling plan, conduct additional borings to gather precise locations where contamination might be, and have the responsible party remove and remediate any contaminated material.”

Mr. Somerville added that the Ohio EPA “continues to be involved in discussions as well as the oversight and follow-through with this sampling plan.”

Envirosafe, which assumed liability for the Fondessy landfill after acquiring it, has agreed to clean up the substance, Mr. McClure said.

Envirosafe was acquired by Heritage-Crystal Clean Inc., of Hoffman Estates, Ill., on Jan. 9, 2024.

In its news release, the city quoted an anonymous Envirosafe spokesman as saying the company is “committed to supporting the remediation process and ensuring that all necessary steps are taken to protect public health and the environment.”

The Blade could not reach a company spokesman for comment.

The city has not found more contamination than one spot on the western end of the easement. But it is making plans to do considerably more testing, Ms. Bannister said.

Although a small part of the trench is now known to be contaminated, the city said the substances were found about 20 feet from both of the waterlines. Those lines are used to send raw Lake Erie water to the Collins Park Water Treatment Plant, where it is made into drinking water and distributed across a network to about 500,000 Toledo-area residents who consume it daily.

There is no evidence of hazardous waste showing up in any raw water samples, including those inside the plant, Mr. McClure said.

The city will pay for the additional sampling. It is not yet known how much more needs to be done, he said.

The regional water commission committed itself in December of 2022 to going forward with the $175 million waterline-replacement project, knowing that going through Envirosafe posed some engineering challenges.

It needs to replace that waterline because a consulting firm, Jones & Henry Engineers, warned the commission almost three years ago that 1,189 clamps, or couplers, holding the steel pipeline together are at risk of failing because of extensive corrosion.

The pipeline is nine miles long. It goes from the city’s low-service pump station in Reno Beach to the water plant, with only a portion of it going through Envirosafe.

A Chicago-based subcontractor working with Jones & Henry told the commission the problem isn’t with the pipeline’s World War II-era steel.

That’s still in pretty good shape. But it’s with the couplers holding sections of the pipeline together, he said.

The pipeline was never welded, probably because welders back then were used to build ships in support of the war effort, the commission learned.

Mr. McClure, Mr. Goetz, and Ms. Bannister, who are part of the regional water commission, said they are optimistic the pipeline-replacement project will stay on schedule despite the unexpected turn of events at Envirosafe.

The project’s design is taking up much of 2025.

The eastern three miles of the replacement pipeline is expected in 2027, with the other two thirds coming after that. The phase involving the Envirosafe land is expected to be built until at least 2028, Mr. McClure said.

Testing thus far has involved 10 soil borings inside of the trench, or easement. Three showed “visible signs of waste,” according to a news release issued by the city.

“There is no indication that the water supply has been impacted and drinking water tests continue to show the water is safe,” the release states.

The city said it is working with its environmental consultant, Verdantas, to ascertain how much hazardous waste has gotten into the trench.

Modern hazardous waste rules took effect in 1976, when the federal government’s Resource Conservation and Recovery Act was enacted.

First Published April 11, 2025, 7:00 p.m.