Five buildings comprising the textile mill had been empty since Leshner moved to the west side in 1992. The city declared the factory functionally obsolete and a public nuisance. Matandy Steel and Metal Products did. Matandy occupies a lot next door. The city believes such projects will reap benefits for decades.
Work is also under way in other communities.
Last fall, the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Port Authority acquired the nine-acre Green Industries plant at East Kemper Road and U.S. 42 in Sharonville. After the electroplating plant closed in 1995, more than 350,000 gallons of toxic substances, including liquid cyanide and chromic acid sludge, had to be removed from the ground and 70 tons of contaminated soil hauled away. More work remains. There are questions. Environmental groups maintain the Ohio EPA's Voluntary Action Program, in which the government promises not to sue if companies agree to clean up brownfield sites, lets companies get away with polluting the environment.