Air Force Plant 85 located near Central Ohio was an aircraft and missile testing and production plant. The 420- acre plant, located about six miles from downtown Columbus, was in operation from 1941-1994. In particular, the Air Force Plant is located close to Gahanna, Bexley, and Whitehall, which are suburban communities around the Columbus region (Installation Restoration Program 24) . Air Force Plant 85 initially served as a production site for aircraft in World War II before it transitioned ownership and titles in 1950. The site continued to produce naval aircrafts under multiple operators, including North American Aviation, which ran under the orders of the Air Force. In the 1980’s, McDonnell Douglass took over operations of the plant, in which the plant focused on aircraft parts, rather than entire aircrafts (Environmental Protection Agency 1). Finally, in 1997, the plant was sold to an investment group, marking the end of aircraft production at this plant.
Throughout the long history of Air Force Plant 85, a plethora of environmental contaminants were released unethically, and unsafely. Specifically, there were multiple spill sites on the plant. In addition, improper storage of coal and other contaminants allowed many chemicals and toxins to leak into the soil and nearby water sources. In particular, the storage of coal in the “Coal Pile Area” had been storing coal since 1941, thus deposits of chemicals such as sulfuric acid, ammonia and a chemical known as polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in two subsidiary streams that run into Big Walnut Creek, which is often used for recreational activities (Environmental Protection Agency 1). In addition to water contamination, soil contamination also occurred at the site. For example, spills of the chemical polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) were abundant, ultimately affecting the surrounding soil, which affected up to 164 square feet of the spill site and 7.5 feet deep into the ground. In addition, improper storage of more hazardous chemicals such as paint strippers and waste on a waste pad allowed chemicals such as acetone, paint strippers and cyanide to seep into the ground (Environmental Protection Agency 2).
Moreover, with the formation of the Installation Restoration Program (IRP) by the Department of Defense in addition to the Air Force’s history of handling toxic chemicals, Air Force Plant 85 was investigated, beginning in 1987. In particular, the IRP discovered 10 sources of hazardous waste contamination. Many of these 10 sources were the sites that resulted in contamination of the nearby water sources that fed in Big Walnut Creek (Installation Restoration Program 30). In addition, sites that led to the contamination of the soil with PCBs and PAHs were monitored and flagged as potentially hazardous areas. Moreover, the plant became a superfund site. As a result, after the transition of ownership in 1997 to an investment group, the Air Force used the profit from the sale to be put towards clean-up of the plant. As of today, cleanup has been drastic. Specifically, cleanup of equipment and transformers containing PCB were removed, while the soil also contaminated with PCBs was removed (Environmental Protection Agency 1). Finally, in addition to the 10 initial sites that were flagged as potentially dangerous, about 90 more were flagged over the investigations, and only 10 remain for additional cleanup.