I just spoke with the realtor who sold me my house in East Cleveland - he says he didn't know about the coal-burning here

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Fri, 03/12/2010 - 11:45.

I just spoke with the realtor who sold my family our house in East Cleveland - he says he didn't know there was a coal-burning powerplant operated by and for University Circle institutions a few blocks from here, when he sold me the house. He acknowledges the house is worth far less as a result

I don't know if I would have been be more furious if he said he had known or not - I'm furious regardless to have been fooled into buying a house by a coal burning powerplant, without that fact being disclosed to me, whoever's fault that may be.

Can you fight a powerpalnt owned and operated by Univesrity Circle institutions, in Northeast Ohio? Can you fight God?

The unreal NEO Gods of University Circle are definitely not merciful

I believe there are grounds for a class action lawsuit against the operators of this powerplant - Medical Center Company - and their affiliates, and perhaps the Cleveland EPA and other parties associated with them - for failing to adequately disclose, monitor and control harmful pollution from their powerplant that has a direct impact on the health, lives and property values of area residents. Rather than warning us about and helping us cope with the harm caused by their pollution, the polluters keep their operations as secret as possible.

The polluters control Green City Blue Lake - our region's industry-funded "sustainability"portal - they want to own the minds in cyberspace.

This all is the fault of many of our region's most respected community leaders.

It is the fault of Medical Center Company, University Circle Incorporated, Green City Blue Lake, the EPA, University Hospitals, Case... City Hall... Columbus... everyone who clearly knows about and profits from the powerplant being in University Circle - they certainly know the harm it causes area residents and they keep that information on the down-low, if not undisclosed to the public. I live here - we are not informed by our polluters about our pollution... I guarantee that.

Patients checking into University Hospitals, next door, are not warned.

Staff and students in University Circle, next door, are not warned.

My realtor claims he didn't know they burned coal in University Circle, and he is a professional who helps determine property values in the region.

Property near a powerplant is as nearly worthless as property may be. Our tax assessments should certainly show that.

They do not.

In fact, we are deceived into thinking good things are happening around our community, which is impossible. That lie is coming from mouths and brains with high degrees and huge positions in this community - are they really willing to burn their degrees and careers for life to burn coal for a few more years in one of the world's most powerful learning environments, in the dawn of the green era?!?!

It seems so... all Cleveland leadership fell right in line supporting AMP, too.

I'm the first person in the world I know of who has dared speak up about pollution in precious University Circle, and my family has paid dearly.

That is not my job - that is not my wife's fair burden for wanting clean air in Cleveland.

People are paid to deal with pollution and they are not doing their jobs. People are paid to plan and map our community to proterct citizens from hazards - and they are not doing their jobs.

I have ended long friendships because people have lied to my face about this - I do not consider closet urban coal-burning sustainabillies honorable, in this enlightened age - my family has lost $100,000s over this - we will move away from East Cleveland because of this - our lives are in the air because of this...

We are more polluted than necessary every day Medical Center Company burns coal in University Cuircle, and we were not told that was a risk here when we invested our time, lives, efforts, money and hearts in this community.

We couldn't afford to lose those years and that good health - nobody had a right to take that away from us in this way, and those responsible for this must pay.

All that, on top of all the other harm these leaders cause... why do others put up with this bullshit?

BTW - our Cleveland EPA Stand Alone, for bad

Citizen Action Cleveland area program director lilg [at] ohiocitizen [dot] org was at a meeting with me and a few Mittal-area residents to discuss litigation to reduce pollution at MIllat with an attorney from Detroit - he said the Cleveland EPA stands out in the entire country for its failure to manage our environemnt well - as is reflected by our state of pollution here.

Interesting the Cleveland EPA appears to be in a strip mall in Westlake - wonder who is their landlord... wonder what is their nearest pollution point source - wonder what they think about sprawl... mobile source pollution - lead poisoning 20 miles away in CLEVELAND/ Wonder where their employees ... our employees... live... they work here:

The EPA Region 5 Cleveland Office is located in Westlake, Ohio. We work with Region 5 program offices to provide direct program implementation in Northeast Ohio and throughout Region 5.

We provide outreach and education and have an active speakers bureau. Request a speaker or check out our Events Calendar.

 

Cleveland office

Visitor Guide - How to get to our office

Do you think these people even know where University Circle is?

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Nemeth is responsible for Air Quality in Cuyahoga County

Division of Air Quality

Cleveland Department of Public Health, Division of Air Quality (DAQ) serves as Ohio EPA’s Delegated Agent for air pollution control for all of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County. As a contractual representative with Ohio EPA for performing air monitoring, air permits and enforcement work in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County in Ohio, Federal grant money that Ohio EPA receives for air pollution work is "passed through" to the Cleveland agency.

The Division of Air Quality is driven by its primary objective to ensure that regulated industrial and commercial sources within Cleveland and Cuyahoga County are in compliance with federal, state and local air quality regulations. CDAQ installs, operates and maintains the monitoring equipment, and reports resultant data of ambient levels of criteria air pollutants throughout Cleveland and Cuyahoga County as a component of a statewide monitoring and reporting network.

 

The DAQ is composed of three sections that work together to achieve the objective of meeting Federal clean air standard. The Field Monitoring Section measures air pollution levels at more than 21 sites in Cuyahoga County for six National Ambient air Criteria Pollutants. These measurements determine the overall air quality in the city and county.  The Engineering Section operates the permit system, which requires all industrial sources of air pollution to register and obtain permits. The permit system identifies sources and establishes limits on the amount of emissions released into the atmosphere. The Enforcement Section maintains surveillance on pollution sources and responds to complaints from the public about a variety of air pollution problems.

All sections work together on the common goal to improve the quality of life in the City of Cleveland, allowing Cleveland to be a desirable place to live and work.

Read more about the history of the Division of Air Quality here. 

Enforcement Section

The enforcement section ensures that industrial and commercial  air pollution sources within Cuyahoga County that are regulated by OEPA air pollution regulations are in compliance with the OEPA rules and regulations. The Enforcement section responds to citizen complaints about those regulated sources and regulates asbestos abatement in Cuyahoga County for sources that are subject to the National Environmental Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants.

Engineering Section

The Engineering Section prepares and issues permits to stationary sources of air pollution (including power plants, gas stations, incinerators, and other fixed sources of air pollution that do not move around).  Permits are required to be obtained before construction begins, and to operate the source.  The permits developed by the Engineering Section apply Federal, State and local laws to control air pollution from regulated sources.     

Field Monitoring Section

The field monitoring section of the Division of Air Quality (DAQ) operates a network of ambient air monitors throughout Cuyahoga County.   The network measures "criteria pollutants".  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses six "criteria pollutants" as indicators of air quality, and has established for each of them a maximum concentration above which adverse effects on humans may occur.  The threshold concentrations are known as the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.  The "criteria pollutants" include carbon monoxide, lead, sulfur dioxide, ozone, particulate matter, and nitrogen oxides.

Cleveland Local Air  Agency
Rnemeth [at] city [dot] cleveland [dot] oh [dot] us, Commissioner
Cleveland Department of Health
Division of Air Quality
75 Erieview Plaza, 2nd Floor
Cleveland, OH 44114
(216) 664-2297
FAX (216) 420-8047

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Toxic Release Inventory

 Most, if not every, hospital facility is licensed to release toxins...kind of ironic...isn't it?

But, hospitals are also expected to provide service in light of national emergencies.  Hence, they are equipped with their own power plants. 

It should not be a surprise to anyone that hospitals run power plants and incinerators to dispose of medical waste.

What should be done?  Put good minds to work to address the problem.

Toxic Inventory Open GIS

I have proposed for four years a first solution that is shunned by the empowered leaders in this community - create an open source open community GIS system where we may map all hazards for all citizens to see and monitor - lead and air pollution are two sets of layers to include and much of the data collection may be automated and real time - e.g. presenting current pollution reading data in ways more usefull to area citizens, like with with, temperature and proximity. Much of the data may be real time and community derived - e.g. lead hazard observations and poisoning actuations.

Because this will work, I have everyone against me on this... people have gone to extreme lengths to stop me from doing this.

So, I built an ICEarth Supercomputer to host this perfectly forever and I am building a GRASS system to run it and I will teach the community how to use it (already asked for help here) and I will provide this as a service from ICEarth, paid for by the Roulets as is all social media innovation here.

It'll take me a few more weeks to implement - nobody seems to care to help with any of this real innovation stuff here in the community - and the universities all seem to want to hurt me in the process.

Get this going, we'll have one hell of a start straighteneing up this mess here in NEO.

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learned and become brighter and greener

As Oengus pointed out, before dropping his account, they should have stopped burning coal and swithed to natural gas over the past few decades...

and they should have invested more in new pollution control technologies sooner...

and they should have told area residents of their pollutions and studied any health impacts... provided neighbors free health services... offered more jobs in the fallout zone.... washed people's houses and provided fresh topsoil... monitored pollution directly... provided free vitamines... learned and become brighter and greener

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It's not too late

For NEO hospitals to take the lead in HEALING communities.  Thanks, Norm, for caring and being righteously angry for this cause.

I asked Mayor Norquist how he addressed lead in Milwaukee

Five years ago, when John Norquist, former Milwaukee mayor, current President of the Congress of the New Urbanism, and author of The Wealth of Cities, was our guest for a NEO Excellence Roundtable, I brought up my involvement with the Greater Cleveland Lead Advisory Council and we discussed lead issues - I asked him how he was able to make progress adressing lead ppoisoning in Milwaukee and he said his children were lead poisoned so he understood how serious it was - he gave it a sense of urgency.

I told this story to leaders here - that we needed to view lead poisoning as urgent - they went out for doughnuts.

I'm here to say to the leaders now, five years and 10,000s poisonings later, you got fat, and the problem became more urgent, and you messed up my kids in the process. No more doughnuts for you, ever.

Open source GIS for you, whether you like it or not.

I understand one of our former coucilpeople lead poisoned her grandchildren in her home and refused to go public about that - I wonder who in our leadership has personal experience dealing with lead poisoning in their families they may share, so my children don't need to stand alone.

Mayor Jackson - any lead poisoning in that sprawling central Cleveland family of yours... any way you may add to the urgency here, with some real stories from your real heart.

Any of you councilpeople have anything real to share?

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The medical community does what it is granted to do

Metro is God with lead poisoning but they must fight for every dollar - the folks there are heroic.

The rest of the medical community follows the money, PERIOD.

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UH has treated my family like shit over this

And my dad has been affilited with UH and Case his entire medical career.

Many people causing us harm are his best friends. I thought a few were my friends.

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Real Estate

I think you can sue the realtor. I mean it is impossible to not know these things , he has hidden this from you , I have had the same problem with a realtor, lucky I visited the neighborhood and saw the problem before purchase.

Case 2006

  I was extremely depressed in 2006 to attend the CASE Energy symposium. There was no mention of the critical national security need to take hospitals off the grid and to find alternative energy sources to drive the medical industry.  The whole symposium was a wash.  CWRU students can and should do better.

All this is part of Case's Master Planning

Every institution in University Circle is a customer - they have all been compromised by burning coal - which is why so many people are now told to hate us.

If you burn coal, you at least burn it away from dense population centers.

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CWRU Architecture

  Both of my parents are CWRU--mom graduated with a Ph.D. in English. Father attended the defunct architecture program on the G.I. bill. CWRU needs to lead the nation in alternative energy development.  Throw out the old regime.  We need a revolution.

Start by committing to stop burning coal

We need our brightest greenest leadership to commit to simple things like phasing out all coal burning in densely populated areas, if not the entire region. That is a simple way to begin.

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You must remember that the

You must remember that the already built environment is opposed to the new technology which renders it obsolete. But we have to use the old stuff because there is so much of it in use, it can't be changed just because we think it should be changed. We are talking about hardware, big hardware. If you shut it down, replace it with what? How do we generate the capital to make the jump to green? Will we have to suspend business, relocate business and/or do business differently? God I hate logistics!

In 1969, the faculty of the CWRU school of Architecture, co-sponsored a workstudy program to introduce innercity kids to the field of architecture. It was wonderful and I won a years scholarship. In 1970 the CWRU school of architecture folded. I didn't get the impression that "green" was part of the courses, but as I spent time in the library I saw how "green" was being developed at other schools, especially out west. We here in Ohio are more than slow on the "green" uptake. We still consider coal a "natural or green" resource of great value and usefulness. We have this caveman fire thing going as I have joked before.

What I saw in the books was not the brightest most intelligent people. It was risk takers with vision. Once the brightest creates the technology, you need the slightly less bright to apply it in ways the brightest don't have time to deal with. All of the stuff we call green today was field tested in its raw form by hippie researchers years ago. Once the hardware was in the wild, now we can say how do we improve this, make it efficient, increase the potential, apply it to homes, businessess and factories (scale it for point of use). Today, many just want to hang it on the grid and call it a day. If wind energy is so urgent today, why is the only visible sign of this urgency at the Science Center? Along I90 from Cleveland to Port Clinton are naked lightpoles you could scatter various kinds of wind turbines to test them, prove them. If solar is so important you must realize a 1% effeciency increase in California sun is meaningless in Ohio sun. Where are the solar test sites in normal neighborhoods, on dorms, on office buildings to prove solar worth in this area? Get the hardware in the wild, this will give the "bright" ones something to play.

Aragon Ball room is next demo

  I just noticed that the Aragon Ballroom has the windows knocked out. 

This Cleveland Landmark is located on West 25th St. Cleveland near Clark Ave., a route primed for redevelopment--where recent mysterious fires and overnight demos by the City of Cleveland have occurred at a fast and furious rate.

I would not be surprised if there is another arson in this neighborhood to benefit the current owner of the Aragon Ballroom--currently not listed at the Cuyahoga County Auditor site. 

The most recent owner that I am aware of for that property--former Cuyahoga County Record Patrick J. O'Malley.