? of the Day: How often do you notice the pollution in NEO in your neighborhood?

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Thu, 08/31/2006 - 23:55.

Evelyn has been sneezing all evening and just commented that there is a strange smell in the air. I went outside and realized she is correct... it stinks in Ohio City tonight. It is obvious why... the wind is coming from the East, where Mittal is located. I've lived on the near west side of Cleveland for over a year, on and off, and usually the air is very nice, coming from the north-west and so from over the lake... the nearest major pollution source I can think of are power plants down lake. But when the wind shifts, as with tonight, the smell of the air is brutal... and I assume it is bad for our health.

It must be much worse in Tremont, where they are on the lip of the Mittal site, and unbearable in Central and Slavic Village. I'm curious, who else notices the changes in the winds as they change the air conditions in their neighborhoods?

For more on the monitoring of Mittal, see Ohio Citizens Action and regarding Tremont, where the conditions are worse, see discussions at the Tremonter. More on Mittal on REALNEO here.

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Cleveland stinks

Norm, I could not agree more.  I have lived in the Cleveland area most of my life.  I have noticed that this area has a order to it that is not plesent.  Living on the west side by brookparks ford plant I have not only had to deal with the toxic oder coming from the stacks in the engine plant, but I have in the past had to deal with the fall out from them as well.

If that was not enogh, the ride into downtown from the west side, accross the interbelt bridge, is so bad I have to roll up my windows.

To finish off my little rant I will tell you all something odd/interesting that recently happened to my durring an oil change.

The invention of the 10 minute oil change is great! The down side is the 15 or 20 minutes they use trying to selling you add ons.  So as usual the tech is ripping pieces of my car out and showing them to me like a young hunter who has made his first kill.

After a dozen or so "no thank yous'" I was not prepared for the last one that he brough to my window for approval.  He said "Sir, I know that you may not want to replace this now, however please look at how dirty this is."  Indeed this filter he was showing me was trashed.
"This is the cabin air filter that is used to clean the air in the car.  Most people don't realize that cars have these, but in the Cleveland area they go bad much more often that other areas".  I thought to myself, I have a cabin air filter? And.. why does Cleveland make it go bad faster?

Before I could utter my questions out loud, the tech continued with the answers. "The air in this area can sometimes be bad to breath.  Sometimes it might be pollen, but most of the time it is from toxic fumes.  For some reason the air around here just stinks."

Now, I am not sure how serious he was about the statments, but the fact they he chose that tactic as a way to get me to shell out another $30 was a good one.  Made me think about what I am breathing when I walk out side, that is for sure.

Just another benefit of living in Cleveland ...

Wow! I never knew cars had these filters. I wonder what one in my car looks like? I don't think it has ever been changed. It seems like everyday I find another reason why I wish I did n't live in Northeast Ohio.