Many power plants like this one emit a large volume of polluting gases. Unlike those power plants, Ohio Edison decided to settle the lawsuit filed against the Sammis Plant by installing equipment to reduce pollution. (Photo by Lynne Lancaster)
More than five years ago, several eastern states filed suit against Midwest power companies. They claimed the power companies were violating the Clean Air Act, and their residents were suffering from air pollution that drifts eastward. Now, one of the power companies named in the lawsuit has settled. And as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jo Ingles reports, environmentalists think this agreement might prompt other utilities to follow suit:
Transcript
More than five years ago several eastern states filed suit against Midwest power companies. They claimed the power companies were violating the clean air act, and their residents were suffering from air pollution that drifts eastward. Now, one of the power companies named in the lawsuit has settled. And as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jo Ingles reports, environmentalists think this agreement might prompt other utilities to follow suit:
Ohio Edison has agreed to pay more than a billion dollars over the next seven years to install pollution control equipment that will reduce the amount of pollution emitted into the air from the Sammis Plant near Steubenville, Ohio.
In addition, the company will spend ten million dollars over the next five years for alternative energy projects in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Plus Thomas Sansonetti with the U.S. Justice department says the company will pay a huge fine.
“In fact, it’s the second largest civil penalty ever obtained in this field….it’s 8.5 million dollars.”
Environmentalists are cheering the settlement, saying it will prompt other power companies that have polluted in the past to pay up.
First Energy, the parent company of Ohio Edison, says it’s happy to settle this lawsuit because it can now plan for its future.
Many farmers in the Midwest are bracing for huge crop losses. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jo Ingles has details:
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Many farmers in the Midwest are bracing for huge crop losses. The
Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jo Ingles has details:
Just three months ago, some Midwest farmers were struggling to get their
crops planted because the weather was so wet and cold. But now, many
farmers are finding it’s too dry and hot for their crops to grow. Joe
Cornealy, a spokesman for the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, says new
statistics show, in Ohio, more than half of the corn and soybean crops are
considered to be in very poor to poor condition. And he says Ohio is not
alone.
“The latest USDA statistics say this drought has impacted a lot of the country and we’re looking for substantial reductions in corn and soybeans….perhaps the smallest corn crop we’ve seen on both of those….since 1995 on corn and 1996 on soybeans.”
Cornealy says consumers are already paying more for sweet corn and other
vegetables because of crop loss. And he thinks some farm related jobs could
be eliminated if this agricultural downturn continues.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Jo Ingles.
Two animal rights activists who recently shot footage of chickens at two of Ohio’s largest egg farms are not getting what they bargained for. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jo Ingles has more:
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Two animal rights activists who recently shot footage of chickens at two of Ohio’s largest egg farms are not getting what they bargained for. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jo Ingles reports.
(sound of chickens)
These chickens are shown in cramped cages….often featherless from abuse…in unsanitary and unsafe conditions. The activists say they had hoped the sight of this would spark an all out investigation into the way the farms treat their livestock. But it’s done something else. The head of the Ohio Livestock Coalition wants to know why the activists were able to trespass onto the farms to get this footage….especially these days when food security is a major concern.
“It’s an example of how a bio terrorist might try to introduce something to the livestock.”
Dave White is backing a plan that the Ohio senate has already approved. It increases penalties for trespassing onto and vandalizing farms. The bill is expected to pass the Ohio house the first of next year. Meanwhile, the activists are trying to get lawmakers to take an equal interest in the well being of the hens at Ohio’s major egg farms.
Ohio’s attorney general has settled a lawsuit with one of the nation’stop egg producers. The suit claimed the company’s farms caused flyinfestations and pollution. But as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’sJo Ingles reports, neighbors of the operation are not convinced the farmwill hold up to its end of the bargain:
Transcript
Ohio’s attorney general has settled a lawsuit with one of the nation’s top
egg producers. The suit claimed the company’s farms caused fly infestations
and pollution. But as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jo Ingles reports, neighbors of
the operation are not convinced the farm will hold up to its end of the
bargain.
Dan Perkins says the nearby Buckeye Egg facility has polluted his creek. So
he thinks the one million dollar fine the company has agreed to pay, under
this settlement, is just a drop in the bucket….and he doesn’t like the way
the company gets to pay it.
“They give this guy a one million dollar
fine and six years to pay it off? Do you get six years to
pay off a speeding ticket?”
Perkins doubts the company will live up to the agreement. But a spokesman
for Ohio’s attorney general, Joe Case, says the company has financial
incentive to do that.
“All of the money that would be profit will
be re-routed back into the facilities to modernize them to make sure they
obey Ohio’s environmental law.”
It’s hard to know what Buckeye Egg thinks about the agreement of the
neighbor’s skepticism. Company executives are not returning phone calls from
reporters.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Jo Ingles in Columbus.
Courts will eventually decide whether some Midwest power plantsviolated the federal Clean Air Act by making changes to their operationswithout installing special pollution control devices. But some Ohioenvironmentalists are not waiting for the lawsuit on that matter to bedecided in court. As the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jo Inglesreports, the activists are trying to force the power plants to reducepollution by going around the courts:
Transcript
Courts will eventually decide whether some Midwest power plants violated the federal Clean Air Act by making changes to their operations without installing special pollution control devices. But some Ohio environmentalists are not waiting for the lawsuit on that matter to be decided in court. As Ohio Public Radio’s Jo Ingles reports, the activists are trying to force the power plants to reduce pollution by going around the courts.
Bob Love and his family are happy with their house on the Muskingum River in southeastern Ohio. Love says it would be a much better place to live if his property wasn’t continually blanketed with acidic rain and black grit from fly ash. The source of that pollution? He believes it’s the American Electric Power Plant just a mile from his home. Love says he can hear the plant blowing out fly ash after dark. And he says he can see the damage from it.
“We believe that it is killing our garden, our fruit and flowers. It definitely eats holes in our canvass boat covers, outdoor furniture and boat seats.”
Love says it’s not only his property that is suffering….it’s the health of his family and friends who also live near the plant. He says they suffer from respiratory problems directly related to the electric company’s operations.
“Would you like to feel their pain and discomfort. We’ll just stick your head in a plastic bag with a very small hole in it for a few hours. This will give you a sense of what they, the oxygen therapy people, are going through. Struggling for every breath.”
Several of Ohio’s environmental groups are backing Love’s request for the power company near his home to clean up its act. The environmentalists say the power plants are causing a public health crisis in Ohio. Amy Simpson is with the Ohio Public Interest Research group.
“In 1999, more Ohioans died from power plant pollution than died in drunk driving accidents and in homicides combined.”
The environmentalists want Governor Taft to force Ohio’s Environmental
protection agency to order changes for four of Ohio’s dirtiest plants. The Ohio Environmental Council’s Jack Shaner says the companies that own the plants are breaking pollution laws.
“The utilities upgraded their power plants, but failed to upgrade their pollution controls. This a blatant violation of the clean air act and Ohio law.”
American Electric Power owns two of the plants under attack. Company
spokesman Pat Hemlepp calls the claims bogus.
“These are claims that these special interest groups make repeatedly. They have their own agenda out there. And frankly, the claims that they’re making here are the same claims they made in other places, under other titles. Its the same story, different title.”
Hemlepp says the company is operating under all of the guidelines in place under the federal clean air act. He says the company’s plant are not harming the health of their neighbors.
“Those regulations are designed to protect public health and the environment. With an extra margin of safety. And our plants comply with the regulations that are in place.”
The environmental groups are involved in lawsuits against AEP and the other power companies that operate four power plants the groups deem as dirty. For that reason, Hemlepp says the activists should wait to fight it out in a court room….not in the court of public opinion.
“And it’s extremely disturbing that these special interest groups are attempting to declare themselves judge and jury. Bypass the courts on the litigation that they are involved with, with our company right now. And attempt to find the company guilty on their own, because that is not how the system works.”
There are dozens of similar power plants operating in other states
throughout the country….most of which are under fire from environmentalists. And a lawsuit similar to the one in Ohio being considered by courts in Georgia. Lawsuits like these are complicated….and take a long time to resolve. That’s why environmentalists in Ohio are trying to get the state’s governor and Ohio’s environmental protection agency to go change the permits for these plants immediately. And if the activists here are successful in doing that, it’s likely environmentalists in other states might try doing the same thing. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Jo Ingles in Columbus.
The federal government is trying to pressure Ohio’s Environmental Protection Agency into putting the heat on the state’s so called factory farms. The U-S E-P-A is telling Ohio…..either make these farms operate under stricter standards or face losing thousands of dollars in federal grants; Ohio Public Radio’s Jo Ingles has the story:
Transcript
The federal government is trying to pressure Ohio’s Environmental Protection Agency into putting
the heat
on the state’s so called factory farms. The U.S. EPA is telling Ohio, either make these
farms operate under stricter standards, or face losing thousands of dollars in federal grants. The
Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jo Ingles reports:
The Buckeye Egg Farm in Central Ohio is one of the nation’s leading egg producers. And
critics say it’s
one of the leading polluters too. The U.S. EPA is telling Ohio to explain how it will
bring Buckeye Egg
and other mega farms into compliance with the Clean Water Act. If the state doesn’t do
that within the next
week, Ohio could lose up to $400,000. Environmentalists are pleased with this action.
The Ohio Environmental Council’s Jack Shaner says these large farms should be treated like
factories, not
like farms.
“We’re not talking about Old McDonald on the farm here. This is a
large factory sized operation that looks like a factory, operates like a factory and
generates waste like a
factory.”
Ohio EPA director Chris Jones says the U.S. EPA’s action is premature. He argues the state
should be
given more time to work on the issue. He also questions whether the U.S. EPA is
overstepping its
authority.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Jo Ingles in Columbus.
Many power plants like this one emit a large volume of polluting gases. Unlike those power plants, Ohio Edison decided to settle the lawsuit filed against the Sammis Plant by installing equipment to reduce pollution. (Photo by Lynne Lancaster)