CANFIELD — City officials, along with the Canfield Board of Education, have set a town hall meeting to discuss a chemical leak discovered last year.

The meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Feb. 3 at Canfield High School.

The leak at Material Sciences Corporation, on West Main Street, was found July 11, 2024, when a process fluid was found in a ditch running alongside the Mill Creek MetroPark Bikeway.

The Cardinal Joint Fire District responded and immediately notified the company, HAZMAT and the Ohio EPA. The Ohio EPA took over the situation and has since been investigating and on Oct. 11, issued a Notice of Violation from the EPA for unlawful disposal of hazardous waste.

MSC, in a document released Dec. 12, 2024, was said to have contracted with environmental service providers THC & Associates, Environmental Response Contractor (ERC), and August Mack to assess and work to clean up the situation.

The Dec. 12 document says since August Mack’s involvement, “there has been no breach of impacted process water past the line of compliance dam, formerly the Ohio EPA plywood dam, which is at the end of the Adjacent Ditch.”

The processed water did contain dangerous chemicals that could burn skin. To ensure the public would not be subject to the danger, the clean-up area was fenced off to keep people away.

Chemicals found during the investigation included, but weren’t limited to: zinc, hexavalent chromium, cyanide and arsenic.

Late last summer, city resident Brad Kincade took up the fight to ensure the area was properly cleaned up and the threat dealt with. He attended several city meetings asking that something be done.

“According to the Ohio EPA, the leaks are contained, but there is no guarantee they have been stopped,” Kincade said.

One of his main concerns is the high school and the students. He is concerned the creek that runs along the sports field at the high school could become affected.

“[These chemicals] have traveled on Saw Mill Creek and are on the east side of Cardinal Drive,” he said. “How much further downstream is the contamination?”

He mentioned the Red Gate Farm property and how voters turned down a new campus when they learned about the explosive fuels running in underground pipes near where the schools would have been built.

“People really rallied together for the safety of our students,” Kincade told school board members. “I hope they can come together again with that zest.”

Canfield Superintendent Joe Knoll said there are 3 or 4 big players in this issue and he reached out to them to keep the school board informed.

The school district offered the auditorium for the town hall meeting, which saw Councilman Bruce Neff addressing the school board on Wednesday.

“I want to thank the school board for allowing this meeting,” Neff said. “I hope there is solid information coming out of this meeting. I also thank Mr. Kincade for bringing this to the forefront.”

The town hall will begin with invited entities giving a brief report. Expected participants include the city of Canfield, Cardinal Joint Fire District, Mahoning County HAZMAT, Mahoning County Board of Health, Canfield Schools, Mill Creek MetroParks, MSC, August Mack and the Ohio EPA.

If time permits, a question-and-answer session will follow the reports.

The meeting will not be recorded for the city website as there is no hookup for the city camera system at the school.