Mounds of construction materials, which have been contaminated by asbestos, are being removed from the former Johns Manville site along River Road. (Photo by Jeffrey Saulton)
Maria Ann Clark, 53, of 409 N. Seventh St., Marietta, listens to her attorney Eric Fowler in Judge Mark Kerenyi’s court Thursday. (Photo by Janelle Patterson)
Mon Power recently added new equipment to its transmission substation near Belmont, including three new circuit breakers – one shown to the immediate right of the van. (Photo Provided)
Work is nearly complete on a $2.2 million project to remove an old substation adjacent to the closed Willow Island power plant in Pleasants County. To remove the substation, four regional transmission lines were interconnected with new poles and other equipment. When the project is completed in June, there will be an empty space between the three new wood poles in the foreground and the old power plant. (Photo Provided)
John Clark Nelson III, 43, of 2396 Woodruff Road, Vincent, right, appears in Washington County Common Pleas Court for sentencing Thursday with his attorney Eric Fowler. (Photo by Janelle Patterson)
The Lab/Pit Bull mix previously owned by John Clark Nelson III, 43, of 2396 Woodruff Road, Vincent, was surrendered to the dog warden in December and seen by a veterinarian for starvation, infection and dehydration. (Photo Provided)
Assistant manager Trista Wick checks the chemicals in the swimming pool of the Marietta Aquatic Center. (Photo by Peyton Neely)
The methamphetamine recovered during a Parkersburg Narcotics Task Force investigation Thursday is shown. (Photo courtesy of
Parkersburg Police Chief Joe Martin)
Jean Yost, member of the Marietta chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, gives the keynote address at the Memorial Service for the Revolutionary War Patriots of the Northwest Territory Thursday in Mound Cemetery. (Photo by Janelle Patterson)
Mary Ann DeVolld, public relations and media chair of the Ohio Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, speaks with Lila Hill, 95, of Marietta, left, about her ancestry dating back to the Revolutionary War Thursday. (Photo by Janelle Patterson)
Sons of the American Revolution members fire off a salute in memory of those who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of colonists in the American Revolution. (Photo by Janelle Patterson)
Spelling Bee competitor Cecelia Fatta, 14, of Vienna, studies for the Scripps National Spelling Bee at her home on Tuesday night. (Photo by Peyton Neely)
Debris piles of asbestos-contaminated building materials like this one are getting smaller at the former Johns Manville site, which is being redeveloped into Spencer’s Landing. (Photo by Jeffrey Saulton)
Mounds of construction materials, which have been contaminated by asbestos, are being removed from the former Johns Manville site along River Road. (Photo by Jeffrey Saulton)
VIENNA — City officials are predicting the work to remove debris from the former Johns Manville site in Vienna may be done in less than two weeks.
During Thursday’s meeting of Vienna City Council, Mayor Randy Rapp said the mountains of asbestos-contaminated debris at the site are being removed one by one with more than 2,000 tons removed.
“One week ago we began work on the Johns Manville remediation,” he said. “In one week there has been an incredible amount of progress made at the facility.”
Air monitoring samples from the area where the work is being done show no detectable amounts of dust in the air, Rapp said.
During the removal, Rapp said, the crews are keeping the loads in the trucks wet and are tightly covered to keep the dust from escaping while it is hauled away to the landfill.
Debris piles of asbestos-contaminated building materials like this one are getting smaller at the former Johns Manville site, which is being redeveloped into Spencer’s Landing. (Photo by Jeffrey Saulton)
Since the start, he said, 2,085 tons of debris have been removed from the site.
“The project is going way better than we ever thought it would go,” Rapp said. “Based on the production we’ve had, it appears like it will take another seven to 10 days and the site will be cleaned.”
Councilman Jim Leach said the rest of the site is nearing a milestone in remediation. He said the group working on the risk assessment of the riverside part of the Johns Manville site expects to be done with its work by June 2.
“This is the next step in getting the certificate of completing and getting out of the voluntary remediation program,” he said. “They are also doing the background work to follow up on the assessment plan. It’s all good news.”
One year ago officials in Vienna were dealing with a water supply emergency after the Environmental Protection Agency set a lifetime health advisory at a level much lower than was found in the city’s water supply.
For the following six months Vienna’s drinking water was supplied by a special link to the Parkersburg water supply until filters could be stalled in Vienna to remove any traces of perfluorooctanoic acid, better known as C8.
In May 2016 the EPA set the lifetime advisory at 0.07 parts per billion for C8.
Rapp said the latest test of the water supply came back showing the chemical at undetectable levels.
“Our water is testing as absolutely perfect,” Rapp said. “The filters are working as well as could even be expected and I’m pleased to report that to you.”
In other matters:
∫ Vienna City Council approved the Parkersburg-Wood County HOME Consortium annual plan for the 2017-2018 fiscal year.
∫ Vienna City Council approved the donation of real property giving the city ownership of 46th Street from Third Avenue to River Road. Mayor Randy Rapp said the last heir of Milsark property, Joan Huck, gave the city the roadway that for many years was thought to be city property.