Three years after the Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response (RACER) Trust sold the 266-acre former General Motors (GM) site to the Brownfield Community Development Company, Ontario officials are unhappy that still-unresolved environmental issues with the site “could derail interest” from developers, the Mansfield News Journal reports. Bruce Rasher of RACER Trust “said there are good reasons why it has taken so long, including Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] rules changing during the process and requiring RACER to resubmit some documents.” Ohio EPA spokeswoman Dina Pierce “said the EPA and RACER are working through some technical issues with the property assessment,” and that the EPA is “committed to processing each step as quickly as we can,” according to the article. Ontario Councilman Mark Weidemyre said one developer told him he could not get a bank loan without a clean EPA report. Mayor Randy Hutchinson said the city council and his office want the site developed; “[w]e ran into the problem that somebody wants to come out there and we can’t because we don’t have the clearance through the RACER Trust through the EPA.” For more, read the full article.
Environmental issues delay redevelopment of former GM site
