Biohazard and Death Cleanup in Delhi Township and Sayler Park

Greenhouse land and riverfront Victorians

Delhi's houses tell the story of its flower trade. After an 1850s grape blight, growers turned to vegetables and then greenhouses, and by the years before World War II some 55 family greenhouses had earned the township the nickname Floral Paradise of Ohio. After the war most of that land became subdivisions, and the township counted 11,060 housing units in 2020, most of them suburban homes spread over the township's slopes.

Sayler Park is older. Three villages merged there in 1909, two years before Cincinnati annexed the area, which was once known as Home City. Its 1,312 housing units include Italianate and Queen Anne houses, foursquares, Tudor Revivals and Arts and Crafts bungalows, mostly built between 1880 and 1925.

Old plaster, wood lath and original hardwood in a Sayler Park Victorian deserve careful handling, while a split-level on one of the township's hillsides may have a walk-out lower level where odor collects. Tell the provider the age, style and layout of the Delhi house up front so the crew can plan.

Two police agencies and the county coroner

Calls inside the township go to its police department at 934 Neeb Road. Sayler Park, as part of Cincinnati, is covered by Cincinnati Police District 3, which serves 18 West Side neighborhoods from its headquarters at 2300 Ferguson Road in the 45238 ZIP. Either agency calls the Hamilton County Coroner when a death needs investigation.

The coroner's office relocated to Blue Ash in 2021, well north of this river corner of the county. Coroner's investigators release the person who died and then the home. Neither they nor the police clean it.

After that, the family, the court-appointed executor or the landlord arranges the work. In a rented Sayler Park house or a township apartment, the building owner normally signs the order and deals with the insurer for the structure.

Three ZIPs, a township and a city neighborhood

Delhi Township covers 10.1 square miles of hills and ravines above the Ohio River and had 28,760 residents in 2020. Its unincorporated communities include Delhi Hills, Delshire and Mount Saint Joseph. Along the river below, Sayler Park is Cincinnati's westernmost neighborhood, home to 2,825 people.

ZIP 45233 is Sayler Park's ZIP and also the address of the township police station on Neeb Road; it stretches north into parts of Green Township as well. ZIP 45238 covers Delhi Hills and Delshire along with Covedale in Green Township and part of West Price Hill in the city. ZIP 45051 belongs to the university campus near Delhi and Neeb roads.

All three are in Hamilton County. Whether the home is on a township hillside, a Sayler Park street near the river or a Covedale block, the same 513 line applies.

River road, ferry road and hillside streets

US 50 parallels the Ohio River through western Hamilton County on its way into the city. In Sayler Park the riverbank belongs to Fernbank Park, 65 acres stretching more than a mile along the water, and Thornton Triangle, the city's smallest park, sits in the neighborhood too. Anderson Ferry Road runs up from the river through Delhi and on into Green Township.

The Anderson Ferry itself, running since 1817, carries cars across to Constance, Kentucky. That Kentucky side is outside this line's area; only Ohio addresses in Hamilton County are covered.

The township's hills and ravines can mean steep driveways and winding streets, and the township's slopes run down to the Ohio River floodplain. If a home has had flood water as well as a death or injury, say so, because wet materials and contaminated materials may need to be handled together.

Before the crew comes: Delhi and Sayler Park

Keep the room closed off, and switch off ceiling or furnace fans that could carry air from it into the rest of the house. Leave furniture and bedding in place for the crew, and take photos for the insurer. Ask Delhi police or Cincinnati District 3 for the report number.

On either side of the Delhi line, a crime victim who qualifies can ask the Ohio Attorney General's office to cover part of the scene cleaning, up to a $750 limit. Homeowner policies sometimes help with the rest, so ask your agent how yours reads.