Cleanup at Royal China Site Gains Momentum in Sebring

SEBRING – Remediation of the long-contaminated Royal China site took a major step forward with the beginning of delineation testing that will identify specific sections of soil that need to be removed or covered.

State and county leaders who provided the funding for the $1.82 million cleanup project celebrated the milestone today. Joining them was Michael Conny, president of MAC Trailer in nearby Alliance, who acquired the property in 2020.

“We’re a big step closer to bringing back some of the jobs that were lost with the unfortunate closing of Royal China in the 1980s,” said Ohio State Senator Michael A. Rulli. “We’re pleased that Mr. Conny stepped up to take over this property and that Ohio’s 2022 brownfield remediation program provided the funding we needed to finally move forward.”

State Rep. Lauren McNally added, “These testing and remediation activities are important for securing the environmental clearance needed to redevelop brownfield sites like this. We’d like to see additional funding for brownfield redevelopment so that the good work happening here in Sebring can be replicated at other challenging sites across the Mahoning Valley and throughout Ohio.”

Conny, a native of Sebring, bought the 20-acre property from the Mahoning County Land Bank, which had acquired it after a tax foreclosure. He has since cleared the property surface of trash, debris and overgrowth, and planted trees along the street edge out of respect for his hometown.

The delineation sampling that began Monday is expected to be complete this week, said Mahoning County Treasurer Dan Yemma, chairman of the Land Bank. The results will delineate which contaminated soil must be removed and which sections of the site need to be covered safely with new dirt. This work will last through the summer and into the fall, Yemma said.

“We’re eager to coordinate with Mr. Conny, the consultants and the state to secure the regulatory approval needed to clear the site for redevelopment,” said Yemma. “We appreciate the collaboration we’ve enjoyed since we began coordinating this project several years ago.”

The Land Bank was the grantee for a recent $1.5 million state brownfield grant for the Sebring cleanup. The grant matched investments of $231,000 by county commissioners and Conny.

Once the remediation is complete, the Land Bank will ask its remediation consultants, Brownfield Restoration Group, based in Akron, to write a “No Further Action Letter” to confirm that the cleanup met the standards of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and that the site is ready for reuse.

Also speaking at the event were Sebring Mayor James Harp, and Mahoning County Commissioner David Ditzler.

The Mahoning County Land Bank is a nonprofit community improvement corporation dedicated to acquiring vacant, abandoned, tax-delinquent properties and making them productive again. The land bank assists local governments in assembling land for future projects and collaborates with civic, religious and nonprofit organizations to create new green spaces and community gardens.