Caroline Beidler
Secretary/ Treasurer

"Prior to my experiences with Eramet, I was not one to get involved -- especially not with a controversial subject-- but this experience has changed my way of thinking."

expertise
community organizing

region
southeast Ohio

Caroline Beidler is an office manager and purchaser and a leader of the campaign to clean up the Eramet plant. Eramet Marietta, located in Marietta, Ohio, is the sole domestic producer of ferromanganese, a material used to make steel stronger and more heat resistant. Eramet also produces chromium derivitives.

In 1995, Caroline bought a home in Pinehurst, a small rural community west of Marietta. She was awakened by an "awful industrial odor" that would linger into the early morning hours, then dissipate. This is when her community involvement began. She kept a "stink diary," scoured the internet and sent out pleas for help. This is what Caroline has to say about her community activism:

What caused me to become involved with Citizen Action is a very offensive odor that blankets our area. It is so strong and pervasive that it will wake you up from a sound sleep in a closed up house. It causes different problems for different people ranging from headaches, coughing and nausea to severe nose bleeds. In researching the offending facility we were astonished to find what other, maybe not as obvious, things are going on in our air, water and land. There are three coal burning power plants in the vicinity; the chemical C-8 from duPont was found in local water supplies and air; massive pits, now full of fly ash, chromium and other industrial wastes; and a lake-sized effluent pond behind one facility that has been full for years and at times emits ammonia fumes.

I had never faced a problem like this and started looking for help. The internet proved to be a very useful tool and I contacted everyone who looked like they might be able to help in some way. Rachael Belz of Ohio Citizen Action was one of the first to respond to my plea for help. She then brought Jennifer O'Donnell on board to help us out. It became evident to all of us that this area of Ohio is untouched when it comes to any representation to protect us.

I feel very strongly that all industry needs to be held accountable for their actions. But what we have sadly found is that those who are responsible for holding industry accountable are just not doing their jobs very well. You get the feeling that the inmates, in a lot of cases, are the ones in charge of the prisons. I also feel that southeastern Ohio is so isolated from the rest of the state due to the fact that it is so rural. It is widely known for its rivers, beautiful old towns and tourism, but those same rivers have allowed some of the largest pollutors in the state to settle here, prosper here and pollute the air, water and land and to get away with it for years.