Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously agreed to allow Dotto to apply for a state grant — the Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund — to clean up the former Springfield Landfill, which has been closed for at least 40 years.
If Dotto’s application is approved, the 40-acre site near Limestone Street and Interstate 70 could become home to a truck stop with buffet restaurant, grocery, motel and car wash, he said.
“I’ve always dreamed of doing a big truck stop. I’ve got a year to put plans together and see what we can do out there. But deep down my desire is to do something out there,” Dotto said.
Dotto’s application for the grant will come 10 years after his earlier plans for the travel center were delayed due to lack of funding.
The former city dump is filled with household waste and should not have industrial or commercial waste on the property, said Atul Pandey, president of Columbus-based Pandey Environmental.
But Pandey said additional testing is needed to determine the materials on the site.
Pandey, who is an environmental consultant for Dotto, has cleaned up other landfills for development, including a landfill in Columbus that is now home to the regional headquarters for Time Warner Cable.
Cost to clean up landfills vary, Pandey said.
“It could be expensive, but it depends on what’s sitting out there and how long it’s been sitting there,” Pandey said.
Dotto will apply for the up to $3 million state grant in November. Officials will learn if the site was approved for the cleanup funds by summer 2012, and Dotto will have to come up with matching funds, said Barbara Asberry, county development planner.
“He’s going to request as much as he can get because it takes a lot of money to do something like this,” Asberry said.
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