People. Sustainability. Digital.

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In 2008, Metroparks Toledo acquired a 987-acre property in Jerusalem Township, Lucas County, Ohio, also known as Howard Farms with funding assistance from the Ohio Division of Wildlife and from the Clean Ohio Fund.

This property was acquired with the specific intent that it be converted from agricultural land use into a new Metropark (to be named Howard Marsh Metropark) in order to provide the public with recreational access to restored Lake Erie coastal wetlands habitat, while also meeting the drainage needs of the surrounding residential communities that rely on the property’s network of drainage ditches and earthen levees.

With input from local citizens, government agencies, and conservation partners, Metroparks developed plans for three adjacent and interconnected wetland impoundments, or “cells”, to be constructed over an approximately 600-acre area.

Due to its size and volume, the largest of these wetland cells will be classified as a Class 1 Dam according to the Ohio Administrative Code and therefore must be constructed in accordance with strict standards as administered and enforced by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Division of Water Resources, Dam Safety Program.  To comply with Ohio Dam Safety Program requirements, Metroparks hired Verdantas to oversee construction of this Class I Dam and wetland areas and provide quality assurance testing, contractor submittals reviews, and certification documentation services.

Upon project completion, Verdantas prepared a certification report and as-built drawings for submittal to ODNR documenting that the dam has been built in conformance with the plans, specifications, and changes approved by Dam Safety.  The report included copies of the Daily Field Reports, compaction testing results, compaction test location map, construction photographs to document select construction steps and processes, and a summary of the work activities.

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{id=61564327449, createdAt=1639081110830, updatedAt=1689615998685, path='rittman-paperboard-site', name='Caraustar-Rittman Paperboard Brownfield Site', 1='{type=string, value=Caraustar-Rittman Paperboard Brownfield Site}', 33='{type=number, value=1}', 34='{type=list, value=[{id=6, name='Environmental Assessment and Remediation', order=0, label='Environmental Assessment and Remediation'}]}', 35='{type=string, value=City of Rittman}', 4='{type=string, value=Site assessment and remediation, brownfield redevelopment of former paperboard facility}', 36='{type=string, value=Wayne County, OH}', 5='{type=list, value=[{id=16, name='Real Estate', order=1, label='Real Estate'}, {id=17, name='Industrial', order=2, label='Industrial'}, {id=18, name='Water', order=3, label='Water'}, {id=19, name='Government', order=4, label='Government'}]}', 37='{type=list, value=[{id=49, name='Site Assessment', order=0, label='Site Assessment'}, {id=51, name='Remediation', order=2, label='Remediation'}]}', 39='{type=string, value=rittman-paperboard-site}', 8='{type=string, value=

When the former Caraustar-Rittman Paperboard facility was operating at its peak, the plant was home to more than 1,200 local employees. Its closing in 2006 resulted in the loss of these jobs and left behind 300-acres of vacant real estate in the industrial core of Rittman, Ohio. 

The City of Rittman (Wayne County, Ohio) now has 80 acres of prime industrial property ready for a new end user and a new 205-acre public park that will be open to visitors next year. The redevelopment of the former Caraustar-Rittman Paperboard manufacturing facility is a monumental accomplishment achieved through an ambitious public-private partnership and state funding.

This large and complicated project involved close coordination with the City of Rittman, Wayne County, JobsOhio, Team NEO, Ohio EPA, Ohio Public Works Commission, Wayne County Health Department, and the Ohio Department of Transportation. Funding assistance, a critical factor to this project’s success, was provided through a $2 million JobsOhio Revitalization Program grant and a $2.5 million Clean Ohio Conservation Fund grant.

Redevelopment and revitalization of the former Caraustar-Rittman Paperboard facility is a classic example of how a public-private partnership can provide a solution for a civic problem. Preparing this property for new industrial and commercial development is needed for the economic viability of the community. Preparing the remaining property considered less desirable from a development perspective into public open space will preserve important habitat while offering health, wellness, and educational benefits for local residents and visitors for generations to come.

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{id=61564327519, createdAt=1639086918091, updatedAt=1689616675035, path='edgemoor-container-terminal', name='Edgemoor Container Terminal', 1='{type=string, value=Edgemoor Container Terminal}', 33='{type=number, value=0}', 34='{type=list, value=[{id=10, name='Civil Infrastructure', order=4, label='Civil Infrastructure'}]}', 35='{type=string, value=Diamond State Port Corporation}', 4='{type=string, value=Assessment, permitting and design support at the Port of Wilmington}', 36='{type=string, value=New Castle County, DE}', 5='{type=list, value=[{id=17, name='Industrial', order=2, label='Industrial'}, {id=19, name='Government', order=4, label='Government'}, {id=20, name='Transportation', order=5, label='Transportation'}]}', 37='{type=list, value=[{id=49, name='Site Assessment', order=0, label='Site Assessment'}, {id=87, name='Construction Services', order=38, label='Construction Services'}, {id=89, name='Coastal Engineering', order=40, label='Coastal Engineering'}, {id=114, name='Geotechnical Engineering', order=65, label='Geotechnical Engineering'}]}', 39='{type=string, value=edgemoor-container-terminal}', 8='{type=string, value=

Verdantas is providing services to Diamond State Port Corporation to assist with the assessment, permitting and design for the expansion of the Port of Wilmington at the proposed Edgemoor Container Terminal, New Castle County, DE. The project has included permitting support to obtain a State of Delaware Subaqueous Lands Permit, a Coastal Management Program Consistency Determination and a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Section 404 Clean Water Act individual permit, Section 10 permit and Section 408 permit.

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