May 8: Mittal Steel neighbors in Central meet



CLEVELAND -- "Neighbors of Mittal Steel who live and work in the Central neighborhood met Tuesday night to discuss the odors and soot they are dealing with from the company.  Central neighbor and property owner Dionne Carmichael hosted the meeting, and Mary Keith, Annie Coleman, Lashunda Lee, Henry Glover, Mary Seawright, Luther Smith, Ada Averyhart, Ina Roth, Rachael Belz, and I attended.  The group plans to begin keeping logs of when they smell rotten egg odors and see soot coming into the neighborhood as well as to plan other activities this summer to educate more neighbors in Central about the pollution from Mittal Steel," Liz Ilg, Cleveland Area Program Director, Ohio Citizen Action.
MORE ON MITTAL STEEL



May 8: Consumers' Counsel analyzes new Ohio energy law


Soft Switches by Claes Oldenburg, 1964.

COLUMBUS -- "Janine Migden-Ostrander, Ohio Consumers' Counsel, has released an analysis of the new Ohio energy law, signed on May 1 by Governor Ted Strickland. Her perspective deserves attention because she is one of a handful of people in Columbus who actually understand the new law. As Consumers' Counsel, Migden-Ostrander is a residential utility consumer advocate in proceedings before state and federal regulators and in the courts," Paul Ryder, Organizing Director, Ohio Citizen Action.

• FACT SHEET - What you need to know about Ohio's energy policy legislation SB 221

• GRAPHIC - Estimated generation related average rates

May 7: Reynolds, Stroud, Turner win
Newcomers unseat council incumbent

MARTINSVILLE, VA -- "Current Vice Mayor James Clark attributed his defeat mainly to the public’s displeasure with decisions made by the council during his term to pursue purchasing the local Adelphia cable television franchises — an effort that failed and cost the city roughly $700,000 — and enter into long-term contracts with American Municipal Power-Ohio for the purchase of wholesale electricity. He voted against the latter. But 'I knew it would be an uphill battle (to get re-elected) due to the stigma the council has had for the last ... year and a half' in the public’s eye, he said," Mickey Powell, Martinsville Bulletin.
MORE ON AMERICAN MUNICIPAL POWER - OHIO



May 7: City Council votes unanimously to rezone for coke plant project

More than 157 acres in the 2nd Ward will be rezoned to make way for a proposed $340 million coke-making and electric generation plant.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA -- "A group of five second-year engineering students and Dr. Gwen Ottinger from the University of Virginia have issued a report of their recent research on the Eramet manganese refinery in Marietta, Ohio. The research centered around analysis and comparison of the company's sister facilities in the United States and Norway and the differing regulatory environments in which each plant operates. The report utilized source material including Eramet's own environmental documents, correspondence with the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority and the US EPA website. The students ascribe the smaller volume of pollution from the Norway plants to the use of closed-design furnaces and a $12.5 million investment in pollution control technology in 2005. They recommend a feasibility study of using closed-design furnaces in Marietta. However, even if Eramet chooses to continue use of the open design furnaces in Marietta, the report estimates that further upgrades in filtration systems will lead to improved capture of manganese dust and other pollutants," Melissa English, Cincinnati Area Program Director, Ohio Citizen Action.

Monroe resident and attorney Frank Schiavone said that a coke plant wound be "the lowest and worst use of that land."

An 850-foot smokestack is being built as part of the overhaul at the W.H. Sammis plant.

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