Harshaw Chemical Company

Department of Energy Sites
Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP)
Harshaw Chemical Company

Cleveland, Ohio

The Harshaw Chemical Company (Harshaw) Site encompasses 40 acres in an industrial area adjacent to the Cuyahoga River and Big Creek, a tributary of the Cuyahoga River. It is located at 1000 Harvard Avenue. The site contains several industrial buildings, most vacant, and is 90% paved. Several of the Harshaw Facility buildings have been demolished over time. The former Harshaw Chemical Company is currently owned by the Englehard Corporation and is surrounded by a chain link security fence.

The Harshaw Chemical Company was contracted by the Manhattan Engineering District (MED) and the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to provide support to the Manhattan Project. From 1944 through 1959, the facility processed various forms of uranium at the site, especially in Building G-1 which is now fenced. The facility primarily refined yellow cake into uranium orange oxide, though some work consisted of reducing orange oxide to brown oxide; fluorination of brown oxide to green salt (UF4); and fluorination of green salt to hexafluoride. In 1960, the site received an unrestricted release from AEC, following decontamination effects by Harshaw.

The facility was designated under the federal government’s Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) under the Department of Energy (DOE) on June 3, 1999. The DOE began the FUSRAP in 1974 to study sites involved in the World War II and Manhattan Project activities, as well as, peacetime activities under the Atomic Energy Commission. In October of 1997, the Congress, through the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, transferred responsibility for the administration and execution of the FUSRAP to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).

The state of Ohio (Ohio EPA and Ohio Department of Health) provide oversight of the investigation and cleanup of these sites under a Cooperative Agreement with USACE.

Current Harshaw Site Status

USACE has secured funding for the October 2001to October 2002 fiscal year. Based upon this funding, USACE has scheduled site inspections for November 2001 and will be working on drafting a site investigation work plan this fiscal year.

For environmental queries relating to this site, contact:

Kurt Kollar
Ohio EPA
(330) 963-1160