People for Safe Water

Working to protect the water supply for Clark County and Southwest Ohio by advocating for the safe and responsible clean-up of the Tremont City Barrel Fill

How did we get here?

A person is pictured tossing multiple barrels from the back of a truck into an open dirt pit

A crane is pictured lowering a round metal barrel into an open dirt pit where other barrels are stacked below

A group of people stand together and one person holds a sign that reads "you have the right to know"

Stacks of round metal storage barrels are seen stacked vertically in an open dirt pit

A line of people outdoors is pictured carrying protest signs attached to shovels with various cleanup slogans

1976 - 1980

1980 - 2012

2012 - .....

The Tremont City Barrel Fill is an 8-acre site off Snyder-Domer Road in German Township, Clark County, northwest of Springfield, Ohio. After four years of active disposal of hazardous and solid industrial wastes by seven companies, it closed in 1980.

51,500 barrels of liquid and solid wastes, in addition to at least 300,000 gallons of uncontained wastes, were buried in unlined pits directly in the ground.

One of the special hydro-geological attributes of the Miami Valley and Greater Dayton area is called a “buried water aquifer” – an underground water source that is plentiful, self-replenishing, and clean.

Approximately 2.8 MILLION gallons of chemical, industrial, and toxic wastes have laid nearly 3 miles northwest of Springfield’s Well Fields, less than two miles from the Mad River, and adjacent to the Miami Valley Sole Source Aquifer.

Since 1983, citizens and civic leaders have been working for the Tremont City Barrel Fill to be dealt with adequately in order to protect the Springfield Well Field and the buried aquifer which supplies water for the entire Miami Valley.

CF (Citizens For) Water decided to cease operations, leaving no organized citizens’ voice to advocate for a safe and adequate clean-up of the site until People for Safe Water began in 2012.

Read the most recent update

The Great Miami Sole Source Buried Aquifer is pictured covering more than ten counties in Southwest Ohio

The Good News?

The Bad News?

At this time, the City’s water tests show no leaching from the site of dangerous chemicals still deposited there.

Given the length of time the barrels have been buried, and the site’s location upflow from the Springfield Well Field, more delay in doing the cleanup is UNACCEPTABLE.
The Tremont City Barrel Fill is a ticking time bomb, and we DEMAND ACTION.