NORWOOD — Residents have few qualms about a $35 million medical office project on General Motor Corp.'s former parking lot. It's the upheaval of possible contaminants they're worried about.

        Tuesday, about 60 people gathered at Norwood High School to learn more about a joint $3 million grant application filed by the city of Norwood and Al Neyer Inc. to remove contaminants from the 15 acres northwest of the intersection of the Norwood Lateral (Ohio 562) and Carthage Avenue.

        The lot is the former site of a furniture plant and painting facility that GM purchased in the 1960s.

        The developer and city should hear by mid-July whether they will receive the maximum grant from the “Clean Ohio Fund.” The fund is expected to disburse $120 million over the next three years to redevelop the state's most polluted spots.

        The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is expected to say within weeks the land is good to develop.

        “I'm not against the project at all,” said Jay McCarty, a 41-year-old Norwood resident who works near the old GM site. But “when the wind blows, the dust blows on the other side of the fence. I hope they do (the cleanup) right because I don't want cancer.”

        He was one of several people who asked questions at Tuesday's hourlong session.

        Ken Schon, vice president at Neyer, and Michael Weinstein, the company's environmental consultant, assured them the clean-up would be safe.

        Expected to last a year, the work would entail excavating and neutralizing volatile organic compounds, including carcinogens.

        If the grant is approved, it should be more than enough to finance the project, Mr. Weinstein said.

        Some residents were concerned about the lot's blacktop being removed and a heavy storm blowing contaminants around.

        But Mr. Weinstein said that shouldn't happen because the most troublesome pollutant — trichloroethylene — is almost 30 feet underground and most likely would be neutralized by the time the blacktop is removed.

        Al Neyer hopes to break ground on its project in August. Kroger and Mayfield Clinic have expressed interest in the complex.

        General Motors still owns the 15-acre parking lot. The Ohio EPA is expected within weeks to grant the auto manufacturer a “no further action” letter, which will allow Al Neyer to buy the property.

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