CANFIELD — The chemical leak from Material Sciences Corporation near the bike trail over the summer took center stage at Wednesday’s city council meeting as resident Brad Kincade told council members he was going to stay on the issue until the city is free of the dangerous chemicals in the ground.

“I made the choice to take this (issue) farther,” he said. “I am contacting the (United States) EPA and I have notified the schools and all those directly impacted. I will push forward on this myself because it is huge.”

He was talking about a leak from the facility that was discovered July 11, when a person reported a strange brown fluid along a ditch near the bike trail. The Cardinal Joint Fire District responded and contained the spill with assistance from the Mahoning County HazMat unit. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency also was called and took over the scene.

While investigating the leak, another leak, possibly dating back several years, was discovered. That situation is still under investigation.

City attorney Mark Fortunato said he was given a summary of the situation from Ohio EPA attorney Tod Anderson. His summary was that Material Sciences Corporation was “doing everything expected of them.”

He added the EPA will issue a cleanup order to the company.

“There is arsenic, cyanide and other dangerous chemicals found all over the area,” Kincade told council.

He also questioned why the company is treating and storing water on their property. He stated it was in violation of city code to operate a dump in the city.

Resident Karen Kalina questioned if the company had a safety plan in place.

“They never had one and they don’t have one now,” she said.

After a lengthy discussion, Fortunato said the city’s power in the matter is limited, but the Ohio EPA has the power to shut down the plant.

Councilman Bruce Neff said the company uses an acid bath to clean the processed metals. He checked into it and found new facilities are not allowed to use those chemicals, but MSC is grandfathered for now.

City Manager David D’Apolito said, “I would like to have a town hall meeting with the EPA, MSC and all those involved so residents can come and ask questions and hear the responses.”

He said the meeting likely will be next year.

Canfield school board member Traci DeCapua also was in attendance and said the board is looking at having testing done to ensure the safety of district students.