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Council accepts DEQ deed restrictions after tests find ethylbenzene in City Hall basement
Summary
After multiyear DEQ testing, the council accepted deed restrictions for City Hall properties that formalize basement‑use limits and annual inspections; staff said occupied floors are below risk levels but ethylbenzene readings were detected in the basement.
The Toledo City Council voted to accept deed restrictions for City Hall and the adjacent public parking lot after Department of Environmental Quality sampling found residual petroleum contamination in the basement area near where former underground storage tanks had been removed.
Staff explained that in 1997 the city removed approximately 780 cubic yards of contaminated soil and decommissioned tanks but that testing done after federal funding was provided to DEQ (beginning in 2023) showed ethylbenzene present in the basement with one measurement above occupational screening levels. Staff emphasized that "all regularly occupied areas of City Hall have been deemed safe" while noting the basement is used only for storage. Staff said accepting the deed restriction would require signage, limit basement occupancy and require annual inspections; it would also allow the city to request release from the restriction if full remediation is later completed.
Councilors and residents raised health and mitigation questions; Mayor Meeks commented on possible reproductive risks when discussing ethylbenzene exposure, saying on the record, "to have a pregnancy when you are exposed to ethylbenzene and then lose the child, that happens." Council approved the motion to accept the deed restrictions on a roll call vote.
