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OHIO ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
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PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING
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AIR PERMIT TO INSTALL FOR
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FDS COKING
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Transcript of the Public Hearing taken in
9 the above-captioned
matter, conducted by Hearing
10 Officer
Mary McCarron, taken before Nicole D.
11 Blaker,
Registered Merit Reporter and Notary
12 Public
in and for the State of Ohio, at the Oregon
13 City
Hall, Seaman Road, Oregon, Ohio, on Thursday,
14 May 13,
2004, commencing at 8:32 p.m.
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0002
1 OHIO ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY
Mary McCarron
2 Public Interest
Center
P.O. Box 1049
3 Columbus, Ohio 43216-1049 (614)
644-2160
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5
MS. MCCARRON:
The purpose of this public
6
hearing is to accept comments on the official
7
record regarding a permit to install four coke
8
batteries at the proposed FDS Coking plant in
9
Oregon, Lucas County.
If approved, the permit
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would allow the installation of four coke
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batteries consisting of 240 coke ovens that would
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produce 1.44 million tons of coke. The permit
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would regulate the following pollutants: Carbon
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monoxide, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, volatile
15
organic compounds, particulate matter, hazardous
16
air pollutants, and lead.
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Ohio EPA published a public notice to
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announce the hearing and public comment period
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regarding the expansion -- or the permit
20
application in newspapers in the area. This
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notice was issued in Ohio EPA's Weekly Review,
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which is a publication that lists, by county, all
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agency activities and actions taking place in the
24
State of Ohio.
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Written
and oral comments received as part
0003
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of the official record are reviewed by Ohio EPA
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prior to a final action of the director. To be
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included in the official record written comments
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must be received by Ohio EPA by the close of
5
business on May 24th, 2004. Comments received
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after this date may be considered as time and
7
circumstances permit but will not be part of the
8
official record for this hearing.
9
Written comments can be filed with me
10
tonight or submitted to Matt Stanfield, Toledo
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Division of Environmental Services, 348 South Erie
12
Street, Toledo, Ohio, 43602, and this address can
13
be found on your agenda for this evening.
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It is important for you to know that all
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comments received in writing at the agency, all
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written comments given to me tonight, and all
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verbal comments given here tonight are given the
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same consideration.
I ask that all exhibits,
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including written speeches, maps, photographs,
20
overheads, and any other physical evidence
21
referred to in your testimony be submitted to me
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tonight as part of the official record. If you
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choose not to submit the information, Ohio EPA
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cannot ensure the accuracy of your testimony. A
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court reporter is here to make a stenographic
0004
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record of tonight's proceedings.
2
Questions and comments made at the public
3
hearing will be responded to in a document known
4
as a responsiveness summary. The director, after
5
taking into consideration the recommendations of
6
the program staff and comments presented by the
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public, may issue or deny the permit. Once a
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final decision is made by the director, the final
9
permit decision, along with the responsiveness
10
summary, will be communicated to the applicant,
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all persons who have submitted comments, and all
12
persons who present testimony at tonight's
13
hearing.
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Final actions of the director are
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appealable to the Environmental Review Appeals
16
Commission or ERAC.
This board is separate from
17
the Ohio EPA and reviews cases in accordance with
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Ohio's environmental laws and rules. Any ERAC
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decision is appealable to the Franklin County
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Court of Appeals.
Any Court of Appeals order is
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appealable to the Supreme Court of Ohio.
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If you wish to present testimony at this
23
hearing tonight and have not already completed a
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blue card, please do so at this time and return it
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to me or another Ohio EPA representative, and the
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cards are available at the registration table.
2
Each individual may testify only once, so
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I ask that you use your time wisely and that you
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are respectful of others providing their comments
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and questions.
There is no cross examination of
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the speaker or Ohio EPA representatives in public
7
hearings of this type.
Ohio EPA's public hearings
8
afford citizens an opportunity to provide input.
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Therefore, we will not be able to answer questions
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during this hearing.
The hearing officer or an
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Ohio EPA representative may ask clarifying
12
questions of speakers to ensure the record is as
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complete and accurate as possible. If you have a
14
question, please phrase your comments in the form
15
of a question and the agency will address your
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concerns in writing within the responsiveness
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summary.
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Out of courtesy for elected officials here
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tonight, I request that they make themselves known
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to me at this time, which I believe I have a
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number of cards from elected officials, and I will
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give them the chance to testify first.
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We will now be receiving testimony. The
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first card
I have received is Mayor Brown.
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MAYOR BROWN: Thank
you. First of all, I
have
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a letter from Commissioner Thurber that she wishes
2
to be read into the record.
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Please accept this letter in lieu of my
4
appearance at this hearing. I would like to voice
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my personal support of the U.S. Coking Group's
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plant being proposed in Lucas County.
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This project is not only a tremendous
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economic benefit for Lucas County but for the
9
entire United States.
A new coke plant will be an
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important step in making the U.S. less dependent
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on foreign coke.
Currently the U.S. imports a
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significant portion of coke for steel production.
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However, throughout the world coke is scarce and
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is considered a strategic commodity to any economy
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that includes an industrial manufacturing base.
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This project is not destroying a
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greenfield piece of property such as a farm field
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or wooded land.
This plant will take full
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advantage of an underutilized brownfield site. In
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addition, Lucas County is one of the few places on
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the Great Lakes that offer the infrastructure
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needed for this project. The site is ideally
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suited for this type of facility because we offer
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rail access, seaport access, freeway access,
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proximity
to markets, infrastructure, parcel size,
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zoning, water, and, most importantly, a skilled
2
and dedicated workforce.
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Not only will the project create between
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150 to 200 permanent jobs, but the approximate 350
5
million dollar investment will also create about
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1,000 badly needed construction jobs for the
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various skilled trades of our area.
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The Ohio EPA recently reviewed and issued
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a draft approval for the coke plant's air permit
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to install, meaning that the emissions controls
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from the plant will meet the Clean Air Act
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regulations.
This plant will use the most
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innovative and environmentally sound technology
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available, including the best available controls
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technology to minimize air emissions.
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I have confidence, after reviewing the
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proposal for the plant, that the proper
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environmental concerns are being addressed in the
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plant design, the equipment specifications,
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specifically, flat push technology, and in the
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operation, once the plant is built. I urge the
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approval of the permit to install. And I will
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give you this when I give you mine.
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After many months -- this is mine, okay.
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After many months of talking with representatives
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of the U.S. Coking Group, I feel very confident in
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their ability to meet the standards outlined in
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the air permit to install and that they will be
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very good corporate neighbors. I understand that
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they will use state of the art technology that
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will be very clean and efficient.
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To gain a level of comfort to what a plant
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like this would mean to our community, I called
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the environmental manager of another coking plant
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operating in the United States. I did this
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yesterday. What
I found was that today's plants
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operate with many complex environmental controls,
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unlike the plants of yesterday, and those of us
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who are from Toledo realize and remember those
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plants. I was
extremely pleased with their strong
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environmental controls and community perception.
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They are considered very good neighbors.
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I am confident in the USEPA, the Ohio EPA,
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and the Toledo Division of Environmental Services'
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ability to complete a thorough review of this
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permit to ensure to the citizens of Oregon that
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the plant design and the operations will meet the
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Clean Air Act requirements.
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If this plant doesn't build here, they'll
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go someplace else.
We need the jobs.
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(Reaction from the Audience.)
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MS. MCCARRON:
Please be respectful to
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people providing testimony and keep your comments
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quiet.
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MAYOR BROWN:
We need the tax base, we
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need the boost to our economy, and we need to
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encourage businesses committed to coming here to
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meet all environmental standards. Thank you.
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MS. MCCARRON:
I am sure Mayor Brown
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appreciates your applause, but if we could please
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not applaud after every speaker or we will be here
12
very
long. One thing that I
forgot to mention
13
before we got started is that when you come up to
14
the microphone, if you would please state your
15
name, spell it for the record, and state where you
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are from, and that's it. We are going to provide
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five minutes per person for their speeches.
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The next public official wishing to
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testify this evening is Tina Skeldon
Wozniak.
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MS. WOZNIAK:
Good evening.
Tina Wozniak,
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W-o-z-n-i-a-k, Lucas County Commissioner. I
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support this permit.
We need two things in our
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community. We
need jobs. We need them
badly.
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This is a good investment. It is an investment in
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a product that is in constant demand. This
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product, these jobs are less subject to the whims
2
of a difficult economy.
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The second part is we need a strong
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economy, and although legitimate environmental
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concerns are being discussed, I reject those who
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say that we have to choose between jobs and a good
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environment. I
refuse to accept that because I
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want both. Our
community needs jobs, good jobs,
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good paying jobs, and a good environment and a
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clean environment.
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I challenge this plant to use the most up
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to date technology to ensure that they meet all
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environmental standards for safety, both for the
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residents and for the workers. If they do that,
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and that's what they say they will do, their plant
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will be just as good for the economy as our
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health. Again, I
support this permit.
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MS. MCCARRON:
Thank you.
Again, if you
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could please hold your applause. Mayor Jack Ford.
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MAYOR FORD:
Madam Chair, thank you for
21
this courtesy of being able to speak. A recent
22 news
report indicated that the proposed plant had
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raised some flags regarding possible dangers.
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When I read that early one morning, I was deeply
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concerned about the tone of the news report. We
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convened a group at city hall in Toledo and asked
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that there be a thorough review, literally a
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de novo approach to it.
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After going through that process, I was
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informed and I believe that there were some errors
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or exaggerations in the description. In fact,
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there will not be 680 pounds of mercury emitted
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each year from the plant, and secondly, on that
9
issue, the report did not take into account
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technology that will be in place that would reduce
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whatever emission occurs by 90 percent, and so it
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is just not accurate.
There was some comment with
13
respect to this new plant would emit more mercury
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than the Bayshore plant. Again, in looking at the
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technology, again, in fact, it would be far less.
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The article also assumed that all coal is
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to be combusted in the coke plant when, in fact,
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it will be cooked.
Now, when I was told this, I
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didn't know what the hell that meant. I asked for
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that to be explained further to me. As I
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understand it, cooking coal does not drive off all
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the mercury as does combusting it.
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Only after strong internal review did my
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comfort level reach the point that it's at today
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where I could say I support this. There's been a
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lot of good arguments made about the jobs.
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Commissioner Thurber I think was very accurate to
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point out it is a national security argument that
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is also embedded in the possibility of this plant,
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but the health concern was the threshold issue for
6 me, and had I
thought or was convinced that there
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was the risk that was originally described, I
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would not be here today in support, but I'm
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convinced otherwise, and I support it. Thank you.
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I'm sorry, I'm Jack Ford, Mayor, F-o-r-d.
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MS. MCCARRON:
Thank you. James
Seaman.
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MR. SEAMAN:
James Seaman, Oregon, Ohio,
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Oregon city councilman, S-e-a-m-a-n. I would just
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like to say to everyone and to the Ohio EPA that,
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you know, Oregon has a strong track record of
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caring about their environment. We've put in
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millions of dollars in the sanitary sewers
18
recently. We've
improved our wastewater treatment
19
plant when we had an EPA difficulty with the flow
20
equalization project.
We spent over five million
21
to six million dollars for that project, which is
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a lot of money for a city the size of Oregon, so
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it shows we care
about our environment.
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We spent over ten million dollars out of
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the -- out of local Oregon money over the last
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five years to expand our water treatment plant
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from eight million to sixteen million gallons
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production per day.
The total project is twenty
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million, and we're taking a loan of from nine to
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ten million dollars over this five-year period of
6
time, so we're working hard to do |