CANFIELD — A member of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency answered community concerns about the Material Sciences Coil Coating Facility chemical leak in Canfield.

Ohio EPA Emergency Response Unit Leader Kurt Kolar fielded questions Wednesday during a council meeting about the situation that was discovered over the summer.

“It won’t be fixed overnight,” Kolar said. “There is more to it. Let’s fix it right.”

He told those in attendance that 1,200 feet of ditch line will be scraped next week.

The incident goes back to July 11 when the Cardinal Joint Fire District had a call about brown liquid in a ditch near Canfield High School. The ditch was actually along the Mill Creek MetroPark Bike Trail located west of the high school.

According to information the EPA provided from testing at the site, the liquid in the ditch came from Metal Sciences Coil Coating Facility’s metal coating process. Testing of the ditch showed elevated levels of sodium hydroxide, zinc, chromium and cyanide.

“Our job was to stop the emergency situation and contain it,” said CJFD Chief Don Hutchison, adding once contained, it’s sent to the state EPA.

According to an MSC website, the incident was caused by “dislodged process fluids from sealed piping that had deteriorated.” The fluid discharged into a ditch and headed north along the bike trail.

Resident Brad Kinkade addressed council at the meeting and was concerned about the lack of information.

“There was a break in communications,” he said. “I read a report that everything is going fine. We still don’t know where it’s coming from and we are four-and-a-half months into it.”

Kinkade wanted the city officials to get involved and get residents some answers.

“I am asking the city to get involved,” he said. “This is a city issue.”

City attorney Mark Fortunato told Kinkade, “The only authority that the city has is to issue a property maintenance violation.”

He said when the EPA, a federal agency, takes over, the city has very little control over it. The EPA has charge in the matter.

Kolar said MSC brought in a clean-up crew and has been cooperating with his agency. To date, more than 200,000 gallons have been contained and moved to an offsite disposal facility.

Kolar added that his agency continues to monitor the situation. That has included digging and monitoring boreholes to ensure there is no leakage into groundwater.

At the ditch site, a fence has been installed to keep people out for the present time.

“A fence is not unusual,” he said. “It is only temporary.”

Kolar said there is a danger of the undiluted liquid causing burns to the skin of a person coming in contact with it. Thus the need for the fence.

Resident Traci DeCapua asked if there was a timeline for cleaning the area. Kolar replied that a plan will be developed over the coming few months. He said in the meantime, the area will continue to be monitored. As for airborne threats, Kolar said there is no danger from those chemicals “in the present state they are in.”

“Understand that everyone needs to do their job thoroughly,” said Canfield Mayor Don Dragish. “Nobody is trying to cover anything up. We (the city officials) get small bits of information, but it makes sense for us to wait until we have the whole picture.”

In the meantime, Kolar told residents the company has posted a site to keep everyone informed on the situation. Residents can visit mscresponse.com to view information on the leak and be added to an update list.