Coverage of this outside Ohio...

New federal rule targets harmful mercury emissions

 

By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press Writer Matthew Daly, Associated Press Writer – Fri Apr 30, 4:14 pm ET

 

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration says 5,000 deaths could be prevented each year under new rules announced Friday to limit the amount of mercury and other harmful pollutants released by industrial boilers and solid waste incinerators.

The planned rules would reduce mercury emissions more than 50 percent by requiring steep and costly cuts from companies operating some 200,000 industrial boilers, heaters and incinerators.

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed the rules Friday and must seek public comment before they are made final.

Industrial boilers and heaters are the second largest source of mercury emissions in the United States, after coal-fired power plants. The boilers burn coal and other fuels to generate heat or electricity and are used by petroleum refiners, chemical and manufacturing plants, paper mills, municipal utilities and even shopping malls and universities.

The incinerators burn waste to dispose of it, and some also turn it into energy.

The EPA said the new federal limits would save lives and prevent up to 36,000 asthma attacks each year by reducing air pollution.

Once airborne, mercury eventually settles in water, where it builds up in ocean and freshwater fish and can be highly toxic to people who eat them. Mercury can damage the brain and nervous system, especially in children and fetuses.

The estimated cost of installing and operating the required pollution controls total about $3.6 billion per year, the EPA said.

Some lawmakers representing industrial states have protested placing the added burden on businesses when many are struggling because of the recession.

Sen. Robert Casey, D-Penn., wrote in a March 17 letter to the EPA that forcing companies to spend so much "will only result in plant closings and further loss of jobs."

A spokesman for Casey said Friday the senator was reviewing the new rule and had no immediate comment.

The EPA estimated the rules would lead to savings of $18 billion to $44 billion annually, measured in work days not missed, hospital visits avoided and illnesses prevented.

EPA administrator Lisa Jackson called the proposed rule "a cost-effective, common-sense way to protect our health and the health of our children, and get America moving into the clean economy of the future."

Frank O'Donnell, president of the advocacy group Clean Air Watch, said the rules are "a huge step toward protecting children from toxic mercury and other hazards from smokestack pollution."

The limits would take effect after a 45-day public comment period. A hearing is likely in June.

___

On the Net:

EPA mercury rule: http://www.epa.gov/airquality/combustion/

Disrupt IT

Whether you care about childhood lead poisoning or not, I think you'll be interested by important insight on Lead, Diabetes, Hypertension, and Renal Function that everyone in the world should understand. Think of the cost of this on society - the suffering, reduced quality of life, and lost years for so many people, caused by lead harming kidney function. Here's the intro and abstract - you'll need to set up an account on WebMD to read the rest (apparently free - this is not an endorsement of WebMD... I am not a member... I will join to read the rest of this  and let you know my thoughts)...

From Environmental Health Perspectives

Lead, Diabetes, Hypertension, and Renal Function: The Normative Aging Study

Shirng-Wern Tsaih; Susan Korrick; Joel Schwartz; Chitra Amarasiriwardena; Antonio Aro; David Sparrow; Howard Hu

Authors and Disclosures

Posted: 09/02/2004; Environmental Health Perspectives. 2004;112(11) © 2004 National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Abstract and Introduction

Abstract

In this prospective study, we examined changes in renal function during 6 years of follow-up in relation to baseline lead levels, diabetes, and hypertension among 448 middle-age and elderly men, a subsample of the Normative Aging Study. Lead levels were generally low at baseline, with mean blood lead, patella lead, and tibia lead values of 6.5 µg/dL, 32.4 µg/g, and 21.5 µg/g, respectively. Six percent and 26% of subjects had diabetes and hypertension at baseline, respectively. In multivariate-adjusted regression analyses, longitudinal increases in serum creatinine (SCr) were associated with higher baseline lead levels but these associations were not statistically significant. However, we observed significant interactions of blood lead and tibia lead with diabetes in predicting annual change in SCr. For example, increasing the tibia lead level from the midpoints of the lowest to the highest quartiles (9-34 µg/g) was associated with an increase in the rate of rise in SCr that was 17.6-fold greater in diabetics than in nondiabetics (1.08 mg/dL/10 years vs. 0.062 mg/dL/10 years; p < 0.01). We also observed significant interactions of blood lead and tibia lead with diabetes in relation to baseline SCr levels (tibia lead only) and follow-up SCr levels. A significant interaction of tibia lead with hypertensive status in predicting annual change in SCr was also observed. We conclude that longitudinal decline of renal function among middle-age and elderly individuals appears to depend on both long-term lead stores and circulating lead, with an effect that is most pronounced among diabetics and hypertensives, subjects who likely represent particularly susceptible groups.

Introduction

An association between lead poisoning and renal disease in humans has been recognized for more than a century (Wedeen et al. 1975). Numerous epidemiologic studies, mortality studies, and experimental studies in animals have reported lead nephrotoxicity at high levels of exposure; however, studies on the action of lead on renal function at lower levels of chronic exposure have produced a mixed pattern of findings. Most of the studies found no significant association between low-level lead exposure and renal dysfunction. To date, only a few cross-sectional studies (Payton et al. 1994; Staessen et al. 1990, 1992) and one longitudinal study (Kim et al. 1996) have reported a significant association between elevated blood lead levels and reduced renal function measured by serum creatinine (SCr) or creatinine clearance in members of the general population. In addition, a recent randomized trial among individuals with elevated environmental lead exposure demonstrating improved creatinine clearance in those receiving chelation therapy provides evidence of lead's effect on the kidney (and its potential reversibility) at community levels of exposure (Lin et al. 2003).

Blood lead, which mostly reflects relatively recent exposure, is an inadequate measure of total body burden of lead, which may explain why most of the previous observational studies failed to find a significant association between low-level lead exposure and renal function impairment. Compared with concurrent blood lead, bone lead, which comprises > 95% of adult body lead burden and has a biologic half-life ranging from years to decades, is a better biologic marker for studying chronic toxicity of accumulated exposure and lead burden (Gonzalez-Cossio et al. 1997; Hu et al. 1996; Korrick et al. 1999). In addition, bone lead also serves as an endogenous source of lead exposure for individuals with increased bone turnover (Silbergeld 1991; Silbergeld et al. 1988). Therefore, bone lead may be a risk factor for impaired renal function either by serving as either a dosimeter of cumulative exposure of the kidney to lead or a measure of the major endogenous source of blood lead that, in turn, may affect the kidney.

Given that an increase in bone resorption is a characteristic of aging in both men and women, aging-associated release of bone lead into the circulation is a potentially important source of soft-tissue lead exposure and toxicity. Another factor associated with aging that may increase the nephrotoxicity of lead is diabetes. The more prevalent form, type 2 diabetes, affects approximately 10% or more of the general population (with substantially higher rates at ≥ 55 years of age) (Ford 2001) and is well known as an independent predictor of accelerated decline in kidney function. A third factor associated with aging that may also increase the nephrotoxicity of lead is hypertension.

In the present study, we used data from a cohort of middle-age and elderly men who had no previous known heavy lead exposure to examine the effects of low-level bone and blood lead levels on renal function. We also examined the potential modifying effect of diabetes and hypertension on these relationships.

Disrupt IT

2008 Lead Poisonings of children in Cuyahoga County, Ohio - do not move here

The Greater Cleveland Lead Advisory Council has released data on children in the neighborhoods of Cleveland and surrounding suburbs who were tested and documented as lead poisoned in Cuyahoga County in 2008 - about 3,200 of our Cleveland children were KNOWN to be lost to lead poisoning - about 4,000 children poisoned in Cuyahoga County overall. As only a small percentage of our children are actually tested for lead poisoning, the numbers of children in the County lost to lead poisoning is much higher... 1,000s of victims higher.

Cleveland's worst known mass-murderer, Anthony Sowell, is only known to have killed 11 people.... yet that has captured 1000s of inches of pointless newsprint... hours of pointless news coverage... to help nobody.

Lead poisoning is barely ever mentioned in mainstream media as a problem in this highly contaminated region - raising awareness of this would help save 1,000s of children from lifetimes of suffering and lost opportunity for normalcy.

As such, the mainstream media is complacent if not conspiratorial in these 1,000s of poisonings. The leadership of these media organizations are personally responsible for this harm caused to citizens, who support the media by buying their flawed products. For shame.

The politicians responsible for the lead poisoning of over 4,000 children per year are far more serious criminals, yet they are not prosecuted for their crimes.

I expect they shall rot in hell, but that may be difficult to prove.

What is easy to prove is that in communities with competent leadership lead poisoning is entirely preventable.

Northeast Ohio has horrible leadership, and has for long enough to have poisoned 100,000s of our children, and destroyed our public health and economy.... all to help the interests of a few people who were responsible for covering the Earth in lead, and their lawyers.

If You Are A "Politician" In Northeast Ohio Not Committed To Lead Poisoning Eradication, You Must Resign.

There is considerably more lead poisoning data you never saw before linked as attachments below - look up your neighborhood and then your political leaders and thank them for killing our children and economy - or attack them for that... your choice, citizens.

I'm attacking them for lead poisoning my family until they are ALL GONE, and lead poisoning is truly eradicated here for all, forever.

The current local standard of 5mg/dl to indicate lead poisoning is still way to high, and no amount of lead is safe or normal in a child's body - average ambient childhood lead poisoning levels should be well below 1mg/dl, as caused from broad environmental pollution alone. Anything higher is the results of source point dangers in the child's personal space, and preventable with good community awareness and activism.

We have not had good community awareness and activism about lead poisoning here, and you see the results, as real as may be.

Our political "leaders" should stop wasting citizens' time and money trying to fix the education and crime problems here, if they aren't serious about solving our greatest crime... the lead poisoning of 1,000s of our children.

No more elections shall pass without the candidates addressing this issue, if I have my say at the table.

If you don't want to address the harm lead poisoning causes our children, do not run for political office in Northeast Ohio, or to represent us at any level of government, to the White House.

Disrupt IT

I Had To Tell A Friend Yesterday To Take His Lead Poisoned Kids Off ADHD Drugs And Get A New Doctor.

To all parents of lead poisoned kids in Northeast Ohio, your doctors probably do not know enough about lead poisoning and probably don't care - there is no money for them in the treatment, unless the poisoning is extremely severe, so it is just a waste of their time. Do not accept any advice to medicate your lead poisoned children for ADHD and other hyperactivity "syndromes" without many second opinions, ideally from somewhere other than Ohio.

As I have lead poisoned children, I am seeking professional expertise to support their healthiest possible development - which will certainly be drug free - and I am not at all looking for help with this in this region.

I will inform the realNEO community of everything I find out regarding raising children harmed by lead - spread the word to those you know with children harmed by lead, or at risk of such tragedy... realNEO is the real place to go for help and answers regarding lead poisoning in Northeast Ohio, I assure you.

Why is this my job in this community? Why are our healthcare professionals and all other leaders here so irresponsible about lead poisoning - I have not found one doctor here who really gives a damn about anything other than making money from lead poisoning research, and nobody here really knows their shit about lead poisoning. I'm finding most of these quacks put lead poisoned kids on ADHD drugs. Gee - wonder why?

Disrupt IT

Despite the foolish, incompetent, worst efforts of our disgraceful Republican U.S. Senator from Ohio, Genocidal-George Voinovich, who attempted to derail life-protecting lead poisoning prevention measures for America's children and pregnant women - supposedly as a favor to Home Depot, which we should all now boycott for life - I'm pleased to announce:

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that renovations and repairs of pre-1978 housing must now be conducted using safe practices to protect children and pregnant women from exposure to lead-based paint. Almost a million children have elevated blood lead levels as a result of exposure to lead hazards, which can lead to lower intelligence, learning disabilities, and behavior issues. Adults exposed to lead hazards can suffer from high blood pressure and headaches. Children under six years old are most at risk.

“Our lead-safe program will protect children and families from lead-based paint hazards associated with renovation and repair activities in houses built before 1978,” said Steve Owens, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “This rule requires contractors to follow some simple and effective lead-safe work practices to prevent children’s exposure to dangerous levels of lead. Lead poisoning is completely preventable.”

EPA proposed the Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule, which requires contractors to be trained and certified in lead-safe work practices, in 2006. In 2008, EPA finalized the rule and set April 22, 2010 as the implementation date. To date, EPA has certified 204 training providers who have conducted more than 6,900 courses, training an estimated 160,000 people in the construction and remodeling industries to use lead-safe work practices.

EPA will continue to provide support and assistance to states, industry and communities on all aspects of implementing this rule. Recognizing the large number of contractors and homes subject to the rule, EPA is increasing its outreach efforts and providing guidance to facilitate compliance and ease the transition period following the rule’s effective date. This guidance can be obtained at: http://www.epa.gov/lead. EPA has an 800 number to respond to inquiries about the new requirements: 1-800-424-LEAD (5323).  

In addition to the rule becoming effective, EPA has issued three additional actions:

• A final rule to apply lead-safe work practices to all pre-1978 homes, effectively closing an exemption that was created in 2008. The rule will become effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
• A notice of proposed rulemaking to require dust-wipe testing after most renovations and provide the results of the testing to the owners and occupants of the building. For some of these renovations, the proposal would require that lead dust levels after the renovation be below the regulatory hazard standards. EPA will take comment on the proposal for 60 days. The agency expects to finalize the rule by July 2011.
• An advance notice of proposed rulemaking to announce EPA’s intention to apply lead-safe work practices to renovations on public and commercial buildings. The advance notice also announces EPA’s investigation into lead-based paint hazards that may be created by renovations on the interior of these public and commercial buildings. If EPA determines that lead-based paint hazards are created by interior renovations, EPA will propose regulations to address the hazards.

In addition, EPA is working with the Ad Council on a public-outreach campaign that will raise awareness among parents and caregivers of young children about the dangers of childhood lead poisoning from paint. EPA is jointly sponsoring the Ad Council campaign with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the non-profit Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning. The campaign has developed a series of public service announcements in English and Spanish for use in radio, TV and print publications.

 

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The federal government banned lead-based paint from housing in 1978. If a home was built before 1978, there is a likelihood that it contains lead-based paint. The 2008 rule requires contractors working in pre-1978 housing and child-occupied facilities to take the proper precautions to work lead-safe, including minimizing dust, containing the work area, and conducting a thorough cleanup to reduce the potential exposure associated with disturbing lead-based paint.

More information on the rule: http://www.epa.gov/lead
More information on the lead outreach campaign: http://www.leadfreekids.org

EPA Announces Start of National Lead-Safe Renovation Program to Protect Children and Pregnant Women EPA also strengthens protections in lead-safe program

Release date: 04/23/2010

Contact Information: Dale Kemery kemery [dot] dale [at] epa [dot] gov 202-564-7839 202-564-4355

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 23, 2010

Disrupt IT

I include below in its' entirety the most irresponsible words ever published by a newspaper, and I include the profiles of the Editorial Board of the Cleveland Plain Dealer that published these words, on this day, for the permanent record, for all history. I include this editorial here because the Plain Dealer has a history of hiding their online content, and this content is terrorism that may not leave the free public view and record ever... this Plain Dealer editorial is the equivalent of bio-terrorism and should be prosecuted by the Federal Department of Homeland Security. The line: "Many youngsters and some adults suffer from respiratory problems, particularly in the summer, when smoggy days can be pure misery" is especially harmful and insulting to the citizens of Northeast Ohio, who live under health-crisis conditions here. The Plain Dealer is highly responsible for the poor health of our citizens, and the poor state of the regional and global environment, even as their editors deny the reality of climate change. They are hereby disgraced forever.

Editorial: When it comes to ozone, Cuyahoga County has gone as low as it can go

By The Plain Dealer Editorial Board

March 29, 2010, 4:31AM

To the federal government, eliminating ozone might seem like a game of limbo: Lower the ozone level and watch counties bend over backward to meet it.

They can't. State and local air-quality officials here in Northeast Ohio say they have reduced smog as much as they possibly can. The federal government ought to turn up its hearing aid and heed their pleas.

Instead, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposes to lower ozone standards even more. If the feds have their way, the new standard would be 60 to 70 parts per billion, down from 75 parts per billion, perhaps by this August.

Someone has to put the kibosh on this foolish idea.

Eliminating ozone is an admirable goal. Many youngsters and some adults suffer from respiratory problems, particularly in the summer, when smoggy days can be pure misery.

But continuing to lower the standard, forcing local governments to slap on onerous regulations that make it difficult for counties to retain and attract businesses, will do little or nothing to vanquish smog.

Cuyahoga County can't meet the 75 parts per billion standard set in 2008, so how is it supposed to meet a more stringent one?

It's not for lack of trying. State and local officials have tackled the low-hanging fruit with little to show for it. Officials established the notorious E-check program, which monitors automobile emissions. They have demanded that companies add new pollution controls. Cleveland passed an ordinance against idling motor vehicles. None of it has worked.

Even banning gasoline-powered cars wouldn't make a difference. Former EPA officials have argued convincingly that this urban region's natural wind patterns and hot summer days make ground-level ozone inevitable.

There might be something that the federal government could do from its vantage point -- demanding cleaner cars and businesses comes to mind -- but the locals have more than done their part.

The U.S. EPA should put away its limbo stick and come up with solutions to the problem of ozone that make sense for Northeast Ohio.

The Plain Dealer Editorial Board

By Joey Morona

October 01, 2008, 11:29AM

Terrance C.Z. Egger
Terrance C.Z. Egger, publisher, president and chief executive officer joined The Plain Dealer in May 2006. Prior to The Plain Dealer, he served as the president and publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where he was the publisher and president. Previously, he was vice president of advertising for Tucson Newspapers in Tucson, Arizona. Terry also worked as marketing services manager and later advertising director for Copley Los Angeles Newspapers. He began his newspaper career at a small bi-weekly newspaper in Southern California. Prior to working in newspapers, Terry taught college communications courses in California. Egger is a native of Rock Island, Ill. He received a bachelor's degree from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D. and a master's degree in speech communication from San Diego State University.
To contact Terry Egger: tegger [at] plaind [dot] com, (216) 999-4216

Susan Goldberg
Susan Goldberg was named editor of The Plain Dealer in May of 2007. Prior to that she was the executive editor of the San Jose Mercury News from 2003-07, after working as managing editor at the paper for four years. From 1989-99, Goldberg worked at USA Today, serving as a deputy managing editor of the News, Life and Enterprise sections. Previously, she worked as a reporter and editor at the Detroit Free Press. She began her career as a reporter at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. A Michigan native, Goldberg has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Michigan State University.
To contact Susan Goldberg: sgoldberg [at] plaind [dot] com, (216) 999-4123

Elizabeth Sullivan
Elizabeth Sullivan, who received a BA and MA in Russian and East European Studies from Yale University, started at The Plain Dealer in 1979 as a business reporter. She served in a variety of local and overseas reporting capacities, with one earlier stint as an editorial writer, before rejoining the editorial board in 2003 as an associate editor and foreign affairs columnist. In 2009, Sullivan was named editor of the editorial pages. Additionally, Sullivan writes many of the newspaper's editorials on energy, international and national security topics.
To contact Elizabeth Sullivan: esullivan [at] plaind [dot] com, (216) 999-6153

Kevin O'Brien
Kevin O'Brien came to The Plain Dealer staff in 1984 as a copy editor. Before joining the editorial board in 1993, he worked in numerous editing capacities in the news division, including assignments as day city editor and suburban editor. As the paper's deputy editorial page editor, he is primarily responsible for editing the Opinion pages' locally produced content, including each day's editorials and staff-produced columns. He also tracks issues in science, technology and medicine for the editorial board. His column appears on Thursdays.
To contact Kevin O'Brien: kobrien [at] plaind [dot] com, (216) 999-4146

Joe Frolik
Before joining the editorial board in 2001, chief editorial writer Joe Frolik was The Plain Dealer's national correspondent for 12 years -- that's four presidential election cycles, in political-junkie terms. He wrote about personalities, strategies and issues, and also coordinated The Plain Dealer's opinion polling from 1996 through the 2000 election. Away from politics, he has covered earthquakes, hurricanes, space shots and Kenyon College's swimming dynasty. On the editorial page, he has written extensively about local and national government and politics, and about economic development. He was the lead writer in the opinion section's "Quiet Crisis" series on Northeast Ohio's struggle to reinvent its economy. His Saturday political notebook column debuted in January 2008.
To contact Joe Frolik: jfrolik [at] plaind [dot] com, (216) 999-4548

Sharon Broussard
Sharon Broussard came to The Plain Dealer in 1991 to work as an education reporter in the Lake and Geauga bureau. She joined the editorial board in 1993 and covers a number of issues, from local and statewide education issues to suburban politics to Africa. She has worked on far-flung projects, traveling to the International AIDS Conferences in Bangkok, Thailand, and in Toronto, and writing columns about the worldwide scourge.
To contact Sharon Broussard: sbroussa [at] plaind [dot] com, (216) 999-4149

Christopher Evans
Christopher Evans joined The Plain Dealer in 1983 as a cops and courts reporter. He became a staff writer on the Sunday Magazine five years later. Evans wrote profiles of local celebrities including television evangelist Ernest Angley and boxing promoter Don King. He traveled to Nepal to investigate the mysterious beheading of a Jesuit priest killed in that Hindu kingdom, and tracked Salvadoran death squad leaders to their suburban townhouses in Florida for exclusive interviews. After the magazine ceased publication in December 2005, Evans joined the paper's Investigative Team. His stories helped free a woman wrongly convicted of murder, return an improperly released con man to prison and exposed land deals that profited private developers at the expense of taxpayers. Evans joined the editorial board in September 2008. He writes about Cleveland and Cuyahoga County issues.
To contact Christopher Evans: cevans [at] plaind [dot] com, 216-999-6139

Thomas Suddes
A native of Youngstown, Thomas Suddes joined The Plain Dealer in 1982; the next year, he transferred to the newspaper's Columbus bureau, where for 17 years he covered the Ohio General Assembly and the state budget. While at the Statehouse, Suddes was elected president of the century-old Ohio Legislative Correspondents Association. His Plain Dealer column on Ohio government and politics, which appears on Sundays, began in the 1980s. Late in 2000, Suddes left the newspaper's staff for graduate study at Ohio University's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism; he graduated in 2009 with a Ph.D. in mass communication. Suddes returned to The Plain Dealer in 2007 as a part-time editorial writer covering state affairs
To contact Thomas Suddes: tsuddes [at] gmail [dot] com

Disrupt IT

It recently came to my attention that one of the most serious sources of pollution in Cuyahoga County is literally in my back yard. Less than two kilometers upwind from my home are the coal and natural gas fired external boilers at the power plant shown above, at University Hospitals, operated by Medical Center Company (MCCo), polluting the surrounding neighborhoods since the 1930s.

From the MCCo website, "For more than 75 years we’ve successfully provided steam, electrical power, compressed air, vacuum, hot-soft water and chilled water to each of our members.  Our primary focus has been to maintain and service the equipment necessary to provide reliable, low-cost utility services to our member institutions." 

And:

Today our customers include:

• University Hospitals of Cleveland
• Case Western Reserve University
• The Cleveland Museum of Art
• The Church of the Covenant
• The Musical Arts Association
• The Cleveland Botanical Garden
• The Cleveland Hearing and Speech Center
• The Cleveland Medical Library Association
• The Cleveland Institute of Art
• Severance Hall

All of the corporate members are located in the area designated as University Circle in Cleveland, Ohio. All of our members are organized and operated exclusively for educational, charitable or religious purposes and as such are tax exempt institutions.

Actually, from the MCCo home page... "The Medical Center Company quietly yet efficiently provides the power behind each of the facilities within University Circle." So, there is a huge and astoundingly powerful institutional partnership behind this enterprise, which seems to include just about everyone in Northeast Ohio who is anybody.

What they are partners doing is explained in the benefits section of the MCCo website:

The District Energy Solution provided by MCCo benefits the community in countless ways:

Financial

Utilizing one source for all critical utility services enables each of our members to save millions of dollars in energy costs each year.  It is estimated that MCCo will save at least $160 million in energy costs for its members over the next ten years.  MCCo houses all of the equipment and sources necessary to produce and pipe steam, hot water or chilled water to the nine non-profit institutions located within University Circle.  Without MCCo, these facilities would need to use valuable building space for heating and air conditioning units.
Members also save money on electric power by letting MCCo negotiate a price with other providers. MCCo can save money by purchasing larger blocks of electric power, and aggregating the load through their own substation for further distribution. The economies of scale provided by MCCo save countless hours of maintenance and save millions of dollars a year for each institution.

Stimulate the Economy

Thanks to the millions saved by using MCCo, each institution can invest in growing their business and creating new jobs which spurs the economic growth of the Greater Cleveland area.  The saved dollars can go toward the arts, research and development and help to keep the cost of healthcare and tuition down.

Reliable and Efficient Energy

The MCCo central facility provides dependable energy to temperature-sensitive institutions caring for newborn infants, providing research and development for scientific breakthroughs, displaying art masterpieces and housing thousands of college students.    For over 75 years, MCCo has provided the power and energy necessary for these institutions to operate effectively.   Should issues arise, the reliable professionals of MCCo are just one phone call away, 24 hours a day. 

Environmentally Responsible

The Medical Center Company believes that environmental protection is an integral component of energy production and delivery.  MCCo is committed to being a good corporate neighbor and demonstrates this commitment by supporting continual improvement of environmental performance, pollution prevention, and energy efficiency.  Over the years, MCCo has upgraded and installed pollution-control systems that exceed compliance standards to reduce particulate and other emissions.  Incorporation of renewable energy resources and advanced generation technologies are currently under consideration.

I love how even polluting in University Circle "stimulates the economy".

Their shit don't stink.

These people may do no wrong, which is what makes this situation so wrong.

Nearly every leader in NEO is wrong, here... and that includes nearly all our planners, economists, academics and supposed environmentalists, all beholden to University Circle insitutions and their funders, like the area Foundations behind all our planning in the region.

So MCCo saves its institutional, tax-exempt partners something like $16 million a year by selling them "district power" for lower cost than is available to the public, by burning coal in cheaper ways than public utilities may, and polluting more in the process.

Here is how that is actually reflected, in impact on the community...

As of 1999, the MCCo plant was among the 60-90% dirtiest/worst facilities in America for lead, nitrogen dioxide, ozone and particulates... I believe the annual PM-2.5 is low because the plant has reduced operations during warm weather.... 

The Scorecard for Medical Center Company:

There is shockingly little public data I may locate on the pollution caused by this facility, now and in the past. There is also little data on the health effects on surrounding neighbors, like my family members.

What is certain is that this facility has harmed the health of people in the community, and continues to do so today, and it is run to benefit a hospital where my father has been a physician for his entire career.

Knowing the truth, our family does not approve.

What is uncertain is the actual "benefit" of MCCo to anyone, considering the harm it has caused the environment and area residents and core institutional stakeholders.

The area around the powerplant that is not controlled by University Circle is quite blighted and unhealthy. Perhaps this is the primary reason why?!

Further, if this plant is harming University Circle stakeholders, like students, faculty, doctors, and staff at dozens of huge institutions within 100s of yards, like it is harming the residents in the surrounding community, then it is not worth the cost savings for even the few institutions that appear to benefit, considering the physical harm to their stakeholders and all.

As one of the neighbors harmed, I contend one life harmed is not worth the $16 million a year saved by these institutions.

As a lifelong member of the University Circle family that is justification for this plant, I can say I do not want the burden of the harm it causes on my soul and conscious. My other family members agree.

Consider disturbing research from the University of Michigan - "Inhaling a heart attack: How air pollution can cause heart disease" - which reports "researchers at the University of Michigan Health System have determined the very air we breathe can be an invisible catalyst to heart disease".

From this report (video report above):

Ozone gases, a well-known component of air pollution, were not the biggest culprit. Rather, small microscopic particles about a 10th of the diameter of a human hair caused the rise in blood pressure and impaired blood vessel function, tests showed. The blood pressure increase was rapid and occurred within 2 hours, while the impairment in blood vessel function occurred later but lasted as long as 24 hours.

 

It’s believed these fine particles deposit deep into the lungs and certain components may gain entrance to the blood stream, or cause an inflammatory response throughout the body. There is also evidence that functions in the body’s nervous system are also disrupted.

Rank		Facility	Tons
1.		FORD MOTOR CO CLEVE CASTING PLANT	1,537
2.		LTV STEEL COMPANY, INC.	963
3.		CLEVELAND THERMAL ENERGY CORP.	269
4.		FORD MOTOR CO CLEVELAND ENGINE PLANT 2	167
5.		KENMORE ASPHALT PRODUCTS, INC.	150
6.		CLEVELAND TRINIDAD PAVING CO.	110
7.		MEDICAL CENTER COMPANY	97
8.		STONECO, INC.	73
9.		T & B FOUNDRY	67
10.		LTV STEEL COMPANY, INC.	47

If you live near one of these facilities, you have an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

This heart disease risk is in addition to increased risk of asthma, cancer and many other fatal conditions caused by pollution, and reflected in poor health and early death of those living near such facilities, which are concentrated in industrial, urban centers like Cleveland.

Why "we" are building new, high cost housing near these pollution sources, like in Tremont and University Circle, is beyond logical explanation. That we are using public money for such "Strategic Investment Initiatives", rather than addressing pollution sources, is beyond belief.

Consider trends in America and especially in polluted places like Cleveland with Asthma, as reported on the Environmental Healthwatch website:

Asthma is the leading cause for hospitalization of children at MetroHealth and University Hospitals. Nationally, over the past 20 years, asthma rates have increased 74% and deaths have increased by 50%. Asthma is also a major reason for school absences.

The EPA estimates that the chance that a child with asthma will have an attack is 40% greater on high outdoor pollution days. A recent study that followed 3500 children for up to five years found that time spent playing outside was associated with a higher rate of asthma in communities with high ozone pollution, but not in areas of low ozone.

Outdoor asthma triggers include fine particulates (soot), ground level ozone (smog), diesel exhaust, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide, as well as pollen and mold. The major sources of outdoor pollutants associated with asthma are power plants, passenger vehicles and diesel buses and trucks.

From the old NeighborhoodLink website is more on the growing Asthma crisis, which may be caused and triggered by pollution:

• Asthma is a chronic lung condition that causes breathing problems. During asthma attacks, air passages in the lungs narrow, making it hard to breathe. 
• Asthma rates have doubled in the last several years, rising from less than 7 million people in 1980 to more than 14 million people in 1994. *
• 25,000 children suffer from asthma in Cuyahoga County. *
• In the US, 5 million children suffer from asthma - the most common chronic disease in children. Nearly 1,500 children die each year from asthma, up 50% since the 1980s. *
• 2-3 times more African-Americans die from asthma than Caucasians. *
• People in inner cities generally have the highest asthma rates because these urban environments often have high levels of air pollution and poor housing conditions. Higher numbers of people of color and low-income households are located in these urban areas and have higher asthma rates.  
• Urban, minority and low-income children are at greatest risk. African-American children have 20% higher asthma rates than other children. 
• Asthma is the leading cause of work and school absenteeism due to chronic illness.

Whether even growing food near such pollution sources makes sense is an important question I do not see being addressing in this local foods happy community.

In fact, Cleveland's Cuyahoga County is one of the most dangerous counties in America for nearly all environmental factors.

Air Pollution in Ohio Counties - National Rankings (City-Data.com analysis of data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)).

Many Ohio counties rank high on lists for carbon monoxide (2 counties), airborne particulate matter (18 counties), ozone (8), nitrogen dioxide (1), sulfur oxides (15), and lead air pollution (6). For example, as many as eighteen Ohio counties were listed among the top 101 counties in the US for highest Particulate Matter (PM2.5) in 2005 (ppm)

Top 101 counties with:

highest carbon monoxide air pollution readings in 2005 (ppm) - Cuyahoga County, OH: #48 (3 ug/m3)

highest Nitrogen Dioxide air pollution readings in 2005 (ppm) - Cuyahoga County, OH: #24 (0.02 ppm)

highest Particulate Matter (PM10) Annual air pollution readings in 2005 (µg/m3) - Cuyahoga County, OH: #24 (41 ug/m3)

highest Particulate Matter (PM10) 24-hour air pollution readings in 2005 (µg/m3) - Cuyahoga County, OH: #45 (115 ug/m3)

highest Particulate Matter (PM2.5) Annual air pollution readings in 2005 (µg/m3) - Cuyahoga County, OH: #6 (19.4 ug/m3)

highest Particulate Matter (PM2.5) 24-hour air pollution readings in 2005 (µg/m3) - Cuyahoga County, OH: #19  (51 ug/m3)

highest Sulfur Oxides Annual air pollution readings in 2005 (µg/m3) - Cuyahoga County, OH: #22  (0.008 ug/m3)

highest Sulfur Oxides 24-hour air pollution readings in 2005 (µg/m3) - Cuyahoga County, OH: #26  (0.042 ug/m3)

I became aware of the current MCCo power plant because the powers that benefit from this plant want to build another one, less than one kilometer from my home, within the next five years. That got me looking into the people behind the powerplants, who have been deceiving the community.

I have not seen anything in writing about this new powerplant, but have seen "signs" and been told it is coming by the mayor of East Cleveland. It is apparently planned for East Cleveland, northeast of "University Circle", to move pollution further from University Circle stakeholders, and more into my neighborhood.

The word being spread on the streets in the target neighborhood, by workers on the target site, is that it will be a "medical facility", which would only really apply if the "owners", which we assume ar MMCo, will use it to study the impact of pollution on living things nearby.

That it seems this new powerplant is being kept secret from the neighborhood where it is intended to be built, but seems to be known by most area leaders, raises serious questions about the will of area leaders to protect public health over major insititutonal interests.

There is no real "environmental movement" in Northeast Ohio, and the "sustainability movement" is based at Case, the Cleveland Museum of Natual History, and the Botanical Gardens, based in University Circle, which are all customers of MCCo, and so polluters, leaving protecting the environment entirely up to citizens, against the establishment.

The University Circle establishment will fight hard to save $160 million over 10 years. Hell, they kill for that money.

Which raises the question, what other pollution issues do area leaders hide from the public.

It seems to me many, and that seems the reason our economy has in fact failed here, and will not come back in our pollution-shortened lifetimes... that is the 800 pound gorilla in the region's economy that no leaders ever want to talk about.

AKA, the powerful Ohio and US coal industry, and their big-coal Governor of Ohio, and all their deals in Northeast Ohio and Washington.

University Circle buys dirty Ohio coal and pollutes the old fashoned way, and gets lots of Third Frontier money from Columbus in return. So, University Circle institutions get a far bigger payout from coal power than $160 million in savings over 10 years, as Columbus offers great rewards for keeping dirty coal in demand and legitimate in this uncivilized world.

Nobody wants to live near pollution that they know about.

People unwittingly may live near pollution they don't know about, until it kills them. That is unfair.

As people become unhealthy and die off from pollution, their neighborhoods fail. That has happened all over Cleveland, because of industrial pollution like from MCCO. And the neighborhoods around the MCCO plant are dead, dead, dead.

Learning about the connection between air pollution and heart disease, which is an early killer in my family, and asthma, which hurts one of my daughters, and lead poisoning, which effects two sons, and then reading an article I saw recently on REALNEO about high uranium levels in people living near coal plants in India, has me worried about the health consequences of living near the existing Medical Center Company powerplant, and the harm it may have caused my neighborhood over the past 75 years, and the harm it may be causing my family and neighbors today.

Consider new harm being found caused by new coal power plants in India, through thorough scientific investigation:

Health workers in the Punjabi cities of Bathinda and Faridkot knew something was terribly wrong when they saw a sharp increase in the number of birth defects, physical and mental abnormalities, and cancers. They suspected that children were being slowly poisoned.

But it was only when a visiting scientist arranged for tests to be carried out at a German laboratory that the true nature of their plight became clear. The results were unequivocal. The children had massive levels of uranium in their bodies, in one case more than 60 times the maximum safe limit.

But an Observer investigation has now uncovered disturbing evidence to suggest a link between the contamination and the region's coal-fired power stations. It is already known that the fine fly ash produced when coal is burned contains concentrated levels of uranium and a new report published by Russia's leading nuclear research institution warns of an increased radiation hazard to people living near coal-fired thermal power stations.

The test results for children born and living in areas around the state's power stations show high levels of uranium in their bodies. Tests on ground water show that levels of uranium around the plants are up to 15 times the World Health Organisation's maximum safe limits. Tests also show that it extends across large parts of the state, which is home to 24 million people.

The findings have implications not only for the rest of India – Punjab produces two-thirds of the wheat in the country's central reserves and 40% of its rice – but for many other countries planning to build new power plants, including China, Russia, India, Germany and the US

Considering the MCCo coal plant in University Circle - a few 100 yards from Little Italy - has been operating since the 1930s... and has not historically been a particularly clean plant... it is obvious to be concerned about what happened to the 75 years of flyash generated... was it used for fill in developing the area, or paving roads, like in India?

Does my neighborhood have high levels of uranium?

Do we know what other pollution this plant has spread in the community, and what pollution it spreads in the community, day to day?

Such questions are being researched about other coal-fired pollution sources, in other parts of Ohio, and may be researched here.

GEOCHEMICAL SIGNATURES OF POWER PLANT EMISSIONS IN SOILS AND SEDIMENTS OF THE NORTHEAST U.S

Particulate (fly ash) emissions from coal combustion represent a potential regional pollutant. These emissions may have been a particularly important component of toxic air releases, prior to the Clean Air Act of 1970. To test this hypothesis, we took sediment cores and nearby soil samples from two reservoirs located in northern West Virginia downwind from a concentration of coal-fired power plants. Sediments were analyzed for major-minor-trace elements, lead isotopes, magnetic properties, PAH’s, and 137Cs. The temporal distributions of sedimentary As, Pb, Zn, Hg, Ge, combustion PAH’s and magnetite show pronounced and well-correlated peaks dated about 1969. Lead isotope data on samples from the 1969 lead peak match data from Appalachian Basin coal, and are dissimilar to gasoline lead. Spherical magnetite with internal metallographic texture, indicative of combustion rather than rock-derived origin, dominates the magnetic properties of the sediment. The simultaneous decline after 1970 of the correlated trace element, PAH, and magnetite peaks in the study area suggests that the amount of power plant particulate emissions has decreased since the initial implementation of the Clean Air Act. Despite this decrease, A-horizon soil samples collected from the vicinity of the two reservoirs are strongly enriched in As, Pb, and Zn relative to local bedrocks, indicating potential accumulation of trace elements in soils over time.

Although the drainages studied are quite small, regional geochemical data suggest that the fly ash component may be identifiable in surficial materials from a significantly larger area. Much of the Ohio River valley is elevated in arsenic in both stream sediments (based on extensive USGS regional stream sediment geochemical data) and on a published USGS national soil geochemical map. The enrichment coincides with a large concentration of bituminous coal-fired power plants along the Ohio River.

It does not appear there is significant, systematic monitoring of pollution near the MMCo plant, now. But EPA modelling of lead contamination at other pollution sources in the region, like the illustration below for Ellwood Engineering Castings, in Hubbard, Ohio, gives some signs of the type of lead fallout that may have occurred around the MMCo plant, over the decades... and may continue today... putting heavy metals and other pollutants in area soil and residents. The inner square below represents a 16 square kilometer monitoring area, with monitors every 50 meters. There are hotspots.

Just knowing this pollution source is around the corner is very stressful. That there are plans to build a second pollution source like this in my neighborhood makes living here hopeless, pointless, and ultimately disasterous. That this polluting is being done in secret, by supposed friends and representatives, is disgraceful

My wife just contacted the Cuyahoga County property assessors office to request a significant property valuation reduction for our property near the MCCo plant, based on facts we have uncovered about current MCCo pollution and plans for a future power plant in our neighbohood. Her letter includes the following:

There are also significant environmental reasons why my home should be worth much less than those of its size, age and condition located in other areas. I am located approximately one mile southeast of one of the worst polluting coal power plants in the United States – this is the privately owned power plant at University Hospitals. Also, mayor Brewer just confirmed plans to build another coal power plant along Euclid Avenue approximately one mile Northwest of our home. I feel that my neighborhood has been intentionally blighted because of these coal power plants and the tax value of my home should reflect this. I believe the $35,000 I paid is an accurate market value and my tax value should be less than that.

I actually believe people living near such pollution sources should be given tax exemptions, as it is hard to say being killed by your leadership is of value worth paying taxes to fund... paying taxes for poor inner-city education of your lower I.Q. children lead poisoned by their community seems an outrage.

That so many people who are supposed to look out for the public seem to be hiding so much about all this pollution, and the fact they are planning aspects of their polluting in secret, makes me distrust these people "in the know" entirely. We trusted them with our well being, and are their victims.

Those who know about all this know who they are... we should know who they are, as well.

I am quite confident the people in the know include all our "leaders" planning anything "Greater" University Circle, and "Opportunity Corridor", and "Strategic Investment Initiative", and "Sustainable Cleveland", like leadership at the City of Cleveland, major area Foundations, the GCP and Fund for our Economic Future, our many Development Corporations, University Circle Incorporated, the Cleveland Foundation, the Cleveland Botanical Gardens, Case Western Reserve University and other area universities, and other institutions throughout University Circle, and others planning the "sustainability" of our region.

Are you in the know?

Disrupt IT

Implementing an open source GIS system (Geographic Information System) is one of the core necessities for eradicating lead poisoning and reducing other environmental harms in Northeast Ohio.

GIS needs lots of computing power. Bigbang Supercomputers are optimized for heavy graphical and computational processing in a lean, scalable cluster/cloud-friendly Linux environment that should be perfectly suited to run open GIS. 

Now that we have supercomputers available, let's get mapping for lead poisoning eradication.

The open source GIS system we will be using is GRASS - Geographic Resources Analysis Support System - and it is free/libre, so there are really no barriers to citizens mapping out environmental solutions for the future of real NEO, with state of the art technology and information services available to and for all citizens.

With an open source GIS system for eradicating lead poisoning, and reducing other health hazards in real NEO, we may layer multiple maps and data sources to track lead poisoning and all health hazards by location. We shall have performance metrics and be able to map successes and failures.

We may be able to add the Cuyahoga County landbank properties.

We may be able to track foreclosures in our neighborhoods

We may add layers for other hazards and pollution sources, as well.

Very quickly, with such a free, public mapping system, we will collect enough information to accurately present the environmental conditions of every corner of the region, forecast outcomes from different environmental interventions, and plan solutions to environmental challenges. Such a system will be invaluable in disaster preparedness, as well.

WIth the arrival of the Bigbang on ICEarth, we are prepared to grow GRASS.

If you are experienced with GIS or would like to learn more - and try this out - please raise your voice on realneo or email norm [at] realneo [dot] us

More about GRASS, from their website, where you may download this amazing capability into your own supercomputer, if you have one:

Geographic Resources Analysis Support System, commonly referred to as GRASS GIS, is a Geographic Information System (GIS) used for data management, image processing, graphics production, spatial modeling, and visualization of many types of data. It is Free (Libre) Software/Open Source released under GNU General Public License (GPL). GRASS is official project of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation.
Originally developed by the U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories (USA-CERL, 1982-1995), a branch of the US Army Corp of Engineers, as a tool for land management and environmental planning by the military, GRASS has evolved into a powerful utility with a wide range of applications in many different areas of scientific research. GRASS is currently used in academic and commercial settings around the world, as well as many governmental agencies including NASA, NOAA, USDA, DLR, CSIRO, the National Park Service, the U.S. Census Bureau, USGS, and many environmental consulting companies.
The new GRASS 6 release introduces a new topological 2D/3D vector engine and support for vector network analysis. Attributes are now managed in a SQL-based DBMS. A new display manager has been implemented. The NVIZ visualization tool was enhanced to display 3D vector data and voxel volumes. Messages are partially translated (i18N) with support for FreeType fonts, including multibyte Asian characters. New LOCATIONs can be auto-generated by EPSG code number. GRASS is integrated with GDAL/OGR libraries to support an extensive range of raster and vector formats, including OGC-conformal Simple Features.
The GRASS Development Team has grown into a multi-national team consisting of developers at numerous locations.
In September 2006, the GRASS Project Steering Commitee was formed which is responsible for the overall management of the project. The PSC is especially responsible for granting SVN write access.
[see also:  | Freshmeat.net entry | Wikipedia entry]
GRASS Features
GRASS (Geographic Resources Analysis Support System) is a raster/vector GIS, image processing system, and graphics production system. GRASS contains over 350 programs and tools to render maps and images on monitor and paper; manipulate raster, vector, and sites data; process multi spectral image data; and create, manage, and store spatial data. GRASS uses both an intuitive windows interface as well as command line syntax for ease of operations. GRASS can interface with commercial printers, plotters, digitizers, and databases to develop new data as well as manage existing data.
GRASS and network support for teams
GRASS supports workgroups through its LOCATION/MAPSET concept which can be set up to share data over NFS (Network File System). Keeping LOCATIONs with their underlying MAPSETs on a central server, a team can simultaneously work in the same project database.
[see also: GRASS capabilities]
GRASS Programming
GRASS is released under GNU GPL, the source code (5.x: more than 1 million lines of C; 6.x 500k SLOC) is completely available. GRASS provides a sophisticated GIS library which can be used for own developments. A GRASS Programmer's Manual is available for download.
[see also: GRASS Development]
Supported platforms
    •    GRASS is written in ANSI-C and is POSIX compliant : C-API
    •    A preliminary C++ interface is available
    •    Architectures: Intel x86, Motorola PPC, SGI MIPS, Sun SPARC, Alpha AXP, HP PA-RISC, CRAY, others.
    •    Operating systems: GNU/Linux (Intel, PowerPC, Sun, ...) Solaris (SPARC, i86), SGI IRIX, HP UX, Mac OS X (Darwin), IBM AIX, BSD-Unix variants, FreeBSD, CRAY Unicos, iPAQ/Linux handhelds and other UNIX compliant platforms (32/64bit), additionally MS-Windows native or Cygnus.
Source code and selected binaries can be downloaded.
Import/Export: Data formats supported by GRASS
    •    2D raster data,
    •    3D raster data (voxels),
    •    topological vector data (2D and 3D)
In detail:
RASTER: The GDAL library (r.in.gdal) is used, see the GDAL project format list for full capabilities. Examples include:
    •    Raster: ASCII, ARC/GRID, E00, GIF, GMT, TIF, PNG, ERDAS LAN, Vis5D, SURFER (.grd) ...
    •    Images: CEOS (SAR, SRTM, LANDSAT7 etc.), ERDAS LAN, HDF, LANDSAT TM/MSS, NHAP aerial photos, SAR, SPOT, ... can be read
VECTOR: The OGR library (v.in.ogr) is used, see the OGR project format list. Examples include:
    •    Vector: ASCII, ARC/INFO ungenerate, ARC/INFO E00, ArcView SHAPE (with topology correction), BIL, DLG (U.S.), DXF, DXF3D, GMT, GPS-ASCII, USGS-DEM, IDRISI, MOSS, MapInfo MIF, TIGER, VRML, ...
    •    Sites (vector point data lists): XYZ ASCII, CSV, dBase, ...
    •    List of GRASS raster import and export modules
    •    List of GRASS vector import and export modules
    •    List of GRASS volume import and export modules
Data Management capabilities of GRASS
    •    Spatial analysis
    •    Map generation
    •    Data visualization (2D, 2.5D and 3D)
    •    Data generation through modelling (list of simulation models)
    •    Link to DBMS (PostgreSQL, mySQL, SQLite, ODBC, ...)

Disrupt IT

Disrupt IT

And if it seems mean spirited to talk about pollution go talk to the people dealing with the Gulf oil disaster, and then talk to my lead poisoned children.

This is all personal, going after those who profit by killing innocent people. If you are part of that killing machine, you have enemies.

Disrupt IT

And if it seems stupid not to talk about pollution you are right.

In Northeast Ohio, leaders refuse to talk about pollution, because they profit from polluting citizens excessively.

Disrupt IT

The Political Gangster

                                           These are very good postings and they really need to be read and understood. We are slowly dying openly and I'm prepared to help stop this maddness.