04/17/03

Columbus - Utilities, manufacturers and other businesses leading an effort to rewrite Ohio's clean-air permitting process have donated more than $2.9 million to Ohio political causes in the past four years, a new study has found.

The analysis of campaign contributions by Ohio Citizen Action, released yesterday, found that members of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency's "Permit Processing Efficiency Committee" and the industries they represent donated to Gov. Bob Taft, other top statewide officials and judges, lawmakers and political parties.

The committee's formation was spearheaded by industry, said Kurt Waltzer, clean-air program coordinator for the Ohio Environmental Council, and its meetings have been held in private.

Proposed changes that emerged from the committee in February would cut in half the number of sites around Ohio that need an air pollution permit, he said. The new rules are open to public comment through April 30.

EPA spokeswoman Carol Hester said industries that deal frequently with the agency were gathered to suggest ways to make the permitting process more efficient. She said that several other advisory groups also will provide input before the new rules are finalized.

The review of political donations found that members of the permitting efficiency committee and organizations they represented gave $2,939,796 from 1999 to 2002. Taft, who appointed EPA Director Chris Jones, received the largest sum of any candidate or party group, at $311,504, according to Ohio Citizen figures.

Marilyn Wall, chairwoman of the Ohio Chapter of the Sierra Club, called the committee, which includes AK Steel, Georgia Pacific, Procter & Gamble and American Electric Power, "a Who's Who of environmental violators and their attorneys."

"It really shows the power of money in the whole political process to get the attention of the governor's appointee at the EPA and to have your interests heard," Wall said.

But Orest Holubec, a spokesman for Taft, said, "There's no correlation between political contributions and policy decisions at any of our agencies."

The top contributor was FirstEnergy, which the study found contributed $517,568 to political causes during the four years.

Ralph DiNicola, a spokesman for the energy company, called it "ridiculous" to suggest that his company is using political largess to steer environmental regulations. "Once again, Citizen Action is operating with half the facts," he said.

He said that FirstEnergy has invested $5 billion to reduce pollution at its power plants.

"All of our facilities meet all state, local and federal environmental requirements, so we're clearly operating in compliance with the law," DiNicola said.

He said the company's political contributions are also legal and appropriate. "It is our right as an American company and as Americans to participate in that process," he said.

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