The Laskin/Poplar Oil Co. site sits in Jefferson Township, Ashtabula County, Ohio. It was a waste oil storage and processing operation shut down by court order in 1981 after tanks and ponds threatened to release contaminants into nearby Cemetery Creek. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1982 and deleted it in 2000 after cleanup was finished.
Contaminants found at the site include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 1,4-dioxane, volatile organic compounds such as benzene and vinyl chloride, metals including arsenic, lead, and mercury, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pesticides such as dieldrin and DDT, and other organic compounds. These contaminants were detected in groundwater, soil, sediment, surface water, sludge, and liquid waste.
Cleanup work ran from the early 1980s through the mid-1990s. EPA and private parties removed hundreds of thousands of gallons of contaminated waste oil, sludge, and surface water. Workers incinerated 7,500 tons of source material, installed groundwater diversion trenches and slurry cutoff walls to lower the water table below contaminated soil, and capped the site. Asbestos-containing material was removed from the boiler house, with some disposed off-site and some sealed in an on-site vault due to dioxin contamination. Construction was completed in September 1993.
Human exposure is currently under control, and all cleanup goals for current and anticipated future land use have been met. Groundwater migration, however, remains uncertain. EPA cannot yet confirm whether contaminated groundwater movement has stabilized, and continued monitoring is underway. In early 2024, EPA detected 1,4-dioxane in on-site groundwater and sampled private wells on Doyle Road. Those well samples did not detect 1,4-dioxane. EPA completed its most recent five-year review in May 2024 and found the remedy still protects human health and the environment. The review also identified actions still needed, including a slope stability analysis, a groundwater risk evaluation, repairs to monitoring wells, surface water sampling, and sampling selected wells for PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances).
Community members with questions about the site can contact EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator or Remedial Project Manager directly. EPA also maintains an administrative record of 376 documents available for public review.
