WAVERLY, Ohio — An Ohio EPA inspection of the former Parker Hannifin contamination site in Waverly has found that the facility’s groundwater pump and treat system has been shut down for two years, that trichloroethylene violations were never reported to state regulators as required, and that the company’s permit renewal was filed late — all at a site where a known carcinogen continues to spread through the groundwater beneath a Walmart and a newly built Aldi grocery store.
The compliance evaluation inspection was conducted on April 22, 2026, by Ohio EPA’s Division of Surface Water at the Parker Hannifin facility at 11197 US Route 23 in Waverly.
The Ohio EPA documented four findings from the inspection.
The groundwater pump-and-treat system — the primary mechanism for controlling the spread of volatile organic compounds beneath the property — has been offline for two years. Three permit effluent limit violations occurred between September 2021 and April 2026. In April and July of 2022, TCE in the discharge exceeded the permitted limit of 5 micrograms per liter — registering 8.4 and 7.6 micrograms per liter, respectively — and neither violation triggered the required noncompliance report to Ohio EPA. The permit renewal application was also submitted one day past the required deadline.
TCE is a chlorinated industrial solvent classified as a known human carcinogen. The contamination at the Waverly site traces to Parker Hannifin’s hydraulic component manufacturing operations, which ran from 1969 until the plant closed. A plume of volatile organic compounds has spread through the groundwater beneath the property for decades. The company was recently granted a ten-year extension of its post-closure care period by the Ohio EPA after the site failed to meet cleanup standards within the original timeframe.
The property now includes a Walmart and a newly built Aldi. No vapor intrusion testing of those buildings has been conducted to determine whether cancer-causing chemicals migrating upward through the soil are entering the structures.
The Ohio EPA did not issue an enforcement order or make a finding of significant noncompliance. The agency’s sole recommendation was that Parker Hannifin continue to operate within the terms of its NPDES permit.