A public hearing by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the City of Cleveland's permit application for a proposed waste-to-energy plant drew a large crowd to Estabrook Recreation Center on Monday night. Despite the city's promises that the new plant will effectively turn trash into treasure -- in the form of synthetic gas that can be used to create electricity -- many attendees said that environmental concerns and scant communication have left them with a long list of concerns.

"Why have there been a lack of community meetings around this issue?" asked Jeff Ramsey, Executive Director of the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization, citing only two community meetings held last year. "I don't consider a two-week comment period to be community engagement."

Other attendees expressed concerns about the plant's technology, which is relatively new and has not yet been used in the U.S. "Gasification has been touted as a clean technology, but it is not," said Stuart Greenberg, Executive Director of the nonprofit Environmental Health Watch. "If the City of Cleveland is the first to try this untested technology, then shouldn't there be more controls on it?"

Ward 14 City Councilman Brian Cummins stated his objections based upon concerns about pollution affecting low-income and minority constituents. "Pollution has affected our community for over 150 years," he said. "We want to move forward, not backward, and we're concerned about lead and mercury."

The City of Cleveland has stated that the Cleveland Recycling and Energy Generation (CREG) Center will create up to 100 new jobs, reduce the city's costs of hauling waste to out-of-county landfills, facilitate citywide recycling efforts, reduce environmental pollution and provide a safe, greener method of creating energy. The city also deems the CREG Center as a means of reaching its sustainability goals and Advanced Energy Portfolio Standard goal.

Following the hearing and comment period, the Ohio EPA will rule on the city's application for a permit. The city has not yet said how it plans to finance the gasification plant, which is expected to cost as much as $200 million.

Source: Jeff Ramsey, Brian Cummins, Stuart Greenberg
Writer: Lee Chilcote