Runway Project Halted by Recycled Slag

A report in the Cleveland Plain Dealer says the contractor building the 9,000-foot runway at Cleveland’s Hopkins International Airport may have to tear up completed portions of the runway and remove all of the slag.

According to the report, the City of Cleveland has sent a letter to contractor Anthony Allega Inc., Valley View, Ohio, demanding that all of the crushed slag that the company has been using as a runway base be removed and replaced with a non-polluting material.

Investigations by the City and Ohio EPA have determined that the crushed slag is the source of a “milky white, sulfuric runoff” that is entering a creek near the airport, and ultimately flowing into Lake Erie.

Airport officials are concerned not only about the pollution, but the fact that reconstructing the runway could delay its scheduled opening in June 2002.

One city official quoted in the Plain Dealer item says the cost to remove the slag and re-do work already performed could total as much as $20 million and would probably delay the runway’s opening.

An EPA spokesperson noted that slag is considered safe for use in construction, if “it has been aged and treated to remove pollutants.”