Dumping Ground

Submitted by lmcshane on Wed, 12/28/2016 - 08:05.

 From Eric J Brewer - and Jerry Strothers http://44112news.com/?p=11472:

Every person living, working, walking and driving by the illegal dump site along Noble, Euclid, E. 152nd and Ivanhoe streets is breathing in dangerous air polluting toxins. Imagine Collinwood students walking along Ivanhoe next to the dump and breathing in dangerous asbestos, PCB's, volatile organic compounds and semi-volatile organic compounds. Think of the Collinwood athletes exerting their bodies and breathing heavier around this pile of life threatening shit. Think about you breathing in dump site toxins just because you're parked at a light on Noble Road and Euclid.

A friend introduced me to one of his associates, Jim Riffle, and he'll be conducting environmental tests of homes and businesses within a one mile radius of the dump site to produce a report of the dangerous pollutants that are affecting air quality in Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, South Euclid and possibly Euclid. I'm coordinating the effort. Riffle is a national environmental expert.
 
Once Riffle's environmental report is generated I'm sharing it widely with everyone. This is environmental racism folk and I don't give a shit if the folk who rigged East Cleveland's government to make it happen are supposed to be the Descendants of Slaves. Call 'em "sellouts" if you will but no part of "Uncle Tom" would have done to people what these traitorous political bastards did to the residents living near this hell hole.
 
The only ordinance East Cleveland city council passed relative to the Noble Road property authorized Arco and Red Rock owner Mike Riley to buy the land to ready it for redevelopment. The area wasn't zoned for a landfill and the state's EPA under Governor John Kasich and Mayor Frank Jackson's administrations shouldn't have signed off on a license to let him operate one. Even if Riley was supposed to operate a recycling center how the hell is he recycling if nothing's being moved off the damn property?
 
I'll share more soon. If WOIO's lying assed Harry Boomer wants to cover a "scandal," this is one that matters.
 
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Comments: I would be interested in knowing how the dump was approved. Before Brancatelli* retired, we had regular Planning Commission meetings to approve/reject initiatives. I am very clear that we voted "NO" for that. So how did it happen?? That's what I really want to know.
 
 
Brandon King and Thomas Wheeler removed the landbank land sale ordinance out of Mansell D Baker's committee. They scheduled a 1:30 p.m. special meeting knowing meetings are supposed to be scheduled at 6:30 p.m. These acts were taken to circumvent the normal process, to conceal their acts and to avoid public criticism and scrutiny. King, Wheeler and Norton are all criminals.
 
More specifically, to modify the purpose of the landbank sale from redevelopment to a landfill required an amendment to the original ordinance. It required an application request for rezoning. It required a hearing before the BZA with notice to the r...
 
This whole dump situation makes me angry. Why would someone want that in our city? Why? I'm going to look for the emails and minute meetings from Brancatelli where this topic was discussed and voted on.
 
Why would a former mayor orchestrate two water studies to get the one he wanted that justified his desire to raise water and sewer rates by over 60 percent to pay a contractor for a piece of $300,000 a year in bribes? Oh. So he could be bribed. Who thinks it makes sense to pay a private contractor $3.2 million a year to do the same job city workers were paid $1.4 million a year to perform? Criminals in elected office think this shit makes sense. You should be angry. In my book y'all ain't angry enough. The boy only lost by 20 fucking votes. 

Norton is an unindicted and unprosecuted criminal. That's why he "wanted" a dump site in the city. His girlfriend, the one who claims to have a baby by him, personally told me she was being paid $700 a week in cash by a guy earning only $40,000 a year as mayor

*(Eric J Brewer is referring to the former city engineer for East Cleveland, Ross Brankatelli - he uses the wrong spelling)

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Sherrod Brown and Marcia Fudge ignore Environmental Racism

From Eric J Brewer: Meredith Turner, deliver this message to Sherrod. The residents have already gotten his bullshit August 12, 2015 "pass the buck" letter to Craig White, Kasich's Ohio EPA director. Here's a copy of it. His response his unacceptable. 

Tell Sherrod to drive his ass from Mill Creek off E. 93rd Street where he lives in the hood with the brothers and sisters over to East Cleveland. It's not that far unless he and Connie have moved.

Tell him that the residents of East Cleveland and Cleveland need more than just letter lip service, but direct action in exchange for the loyal vote he's received from the Descendants of Slaves. Tell him that if he doesn't show up, and if he doesn't show the type of concern that sends some highly qualified federal and state investigators out here to identify everything that we already know is illegal about the site, and how it was allowed to operate by rogue government officials, that he's going to get the same treatment as Tim McGinty, Ed Fitzgerald and John O'Donnell the next time he runs. Tell him that's a promise. 

If you don't want to tell him send this post and he can read my words for himself. Ain't nobody on this page falling for that do-nothing from the Democrats bullshit while lives and health are being affected.

Y'all can read Brown's pass the buck letter for yourselves. I'm sharing Marcia Fudge's next.

"Thank you for contacting my office regarding your concerns with the Arco Recycling, Inc. facility on Noble Road. On September 9, 2015 I received a letter from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA), which detailed the results of air quality and physical materials testing at the site.

Off site air samples were taken, along with material samples on site, and both tests came back negative for asbestos. These samples and frequent observations of the site have found the company to be in full environmental compliance. According to the OEPA, additional tests will be conducting the Cleveland Dividion of Air Quality (CDAQ) next week, with results to follow in two to three weeks.

I am pleased that I was able to assist you in this matter and hope this information addreses your concerns. If you should have any other federally-related questions or concerns in the future, please do not hesitate to contact my District Office at (216)522-4900 or write to me at www.fudge.house.gov."

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Alexis Dillard, Donna Drummonds ,,, Jerry Strothers and Cathy White did a great job in drawing attention early on to the problem and documenting their interactions with officials and the players. They're to be commended. I'm just building on what they've already started. 

Harry was as honest as he could be when he told me they had no clue on what to do when it first opened. I'd be selfish with gifts God gave me if I didn't use them to help when the need arose. 

Jim Riffle came to me through a friend I've known for over 30 years who had his own concern about the dump. So this is a collaboration between a few well-intentioned people who want to help you folk and those in Cleveland and the surrounding communities who are affected by the toxic dump in your backyards.

I know I'm going to step on toes to get the attention of officials who've already written the dump off as okay. I'll apologize now if they're offended, but this has got to be done no matter who's toes are hurt. Elected and appointed public officials have no rights of office that allows them to manipulate government for profit at the expense of the people. I don't care what anybody says. Them assholes in East Cleveland and at the Ohio EPA will take some fucking money and this deal smells like money was taken by a whole lot of elected and appointed public officials.

Stephens needs to ROLL - on Rokakis Frangos

 

Mike Smedley goes into hiding after EJBNEWS exposes a video of him naming Cuyahoga county council woman Cheryl Stephens as his “Mike Riley” hookup https://ejbnews.com/24211/

bring down the

now - organized crime #RICO #racketeering

Trial is set for February 2021 - a new Justice Department can not undo this crime and bury the evidence.

WOIO covers dump story - but glosses over impact #BlackLives

From EJB: I watched WOIO reporter Shanice Dunning's story about the testing Jim Riffle conducted around the Noble Road toxic dump and observed how anchors led up to her report. Below are my observations.
#1. WOIO is not "getting answers" for the residents. There's the perspective that reporters have been investigating which just ain't true. I emailed a news release to every news station and the Plain Dealer. There was nothing for a WOIO reporter to investigate or go get. The story and information were delivered to them by me. The reporter was assigned the story after assignment editors received my news release. Dunning simply showed up and was provided with information. I know news stations want to create the illusion that reporters are out their digging for the truth, but that perception is not supported by their acts or else you'd know more truths about the illegal dump that they learned on their own.
#2. The Noble Road residents did not "hire" Jim Riffle or his company. I introduced them. Jim's services were volunteered and he's paying for the first and continued tests. I want to stress the fact that he's doing this from the heart and not for profit. His time and mine are being donated.
To be fair to Dunning I'm going to note that the statements associated with my numbers #1 and #2 corrections were made by the anchors and not her. If you take away the inaccurate statements made by the two co-anchors, Dunning's story in substance is accurate.
I'm sharing the content of the email I sent to the local media just so you understand why this correction is necessary, especially the part about residents "hiring" Jim. I don't want to take anything away from his act of generous compassion.
I'm not seeking to discourage reporters from covering the story because it's important that word get out to the public. But I am a stickler for accuracy when I'm involved even behind-the-scenes, and especially when facts are presented to them in writing.
Below is the language I used in the email's subject to WOIO and the other media.
"East Cleveland residents to get free air pollution testing today who live near Noble Road dump site"
So in the subject of the email it is very clearly explained that the testing is "free." Free takes away any claim that Jim and his company were hired.
The headline and body of the news release is below.
HEADLINE: Homes and businesses near Noble Road dump site between East Cleveland and Cleveland will be tested today for deadly air polluting toxins
BODY OF NEWS RELEASE: There's an illegal dump site in East Cleveland next door to Cleveland wards 8 and 9 that's as toxic to the air being breathed by the inhabitants living, working, walking and driving by it as the contaminated drinking water in Flint, Michigan. The dump site is an air polluting environmental problem that's not going away simply because everyone from Governor John Kasich to Attorney General Richard Michael DeWine has chosen to ignore it.
Beginning at 9:30 a.m. today a nationally-recognized environmental expert, Jim Riffle, will collect samples from East Cleveland and Cleveland homes and businesses at ground zero and within a one mile radius of the dump site sitting on land between Noble, Euclid, Ivanhoe and E. 152nd Streets. The first homes he'll visit will be those lived in by Noble Road residents whose front and back yard proximity to the dump has made the air entering their lungs and the enjoyment they once had of their homes “hellish.”
Riffle has visited the air contaminating dump site with its entrance at 1705 Noble Road and examined ground and satellite pictures of the 4-story and estimated 1.5 million yards of waste. He said a daylong fire at the four-story tall trash site on December 26th further confirms his suspicions that environmentally-harmful contaminants are being spewed into the atmosphere by the winds and rains.
“I've seen photographs that identify garbage bags and suspect asbestos containing material (SACM) in debris co-mingled among the construction debris,” Riffle said.
“There is no possible way based on what I've seen and know that tests will reveal anything other than environmental contaminants coming from the dump site that are affecting people living, working, walking and driving by it,” Riffle said. “The contaminants affect you even if you're in your car and stopped at a traffic light.”
Riffle said he'll test for asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB's), mercury, volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOC’s), radiological emissions, asbestos, methane gas, and other contaminants. His equipment will also detect methane gas but those tests may have to be run in warmer temperatures.
Riffle said he'll conduct more than one set of tests at different intervals, and that his first test results will be completed within two weeks. The information is hoped to provide East Cleveland and Cleveland residents closest to the dump with a credible document to counter unauthenticated claims from the owner and city officials that the place is environmentally safe.
Riffle's Auburn Environmental has contracted services for over 20 years to major corporations like Dominion, Spectra Energy, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), General Motors and others to detect gas and environmental leaks from the ground and air via vehicles and helicopters. Riffle has coordinated residential property investigations related to pollution emissions from various sources, and his team of environmental scientists has performed leak surveys throughout the United States.
Riffle has performed environmental assessments of landfills in California, Ohio, and Texas, and has coordinated environmental contamination remediation on everything from the deadly HANTA virus and pathogenic bacteria that affect locker rooms and hospitals, to hazardous chemicals that leak from tanks and other vessels. He's an expert witness who's test results and opinions are sought and used in complex environmental-related litigation.
Former East Cleveland Mayor Eric Jonathan Brewer is coordinating the interaction between Riffle and Noble Road residents and other interested parties. He can be reached at 216-XXX-XXXX. Riffle can be reached by calling 330-283-5539. His email is jimriffle [at] auburn-environmental [dot] com

108-year old EC resident sounds clarion cry

 

From Jerry Strothers at EC 4112News.com :Private Emails that show how George Michael Riley Sr. came up with the concrete crusher scam he played on everyone at EC City Hall from Mayor to Council. They all fell for his scam and the people on Noble Road are paying the price for their lack of doing basic research on this dude just because he is white.
(CLICK THE PICTURE TO SEE THE EMAILS) 
George "Mike" Riley Sr. is trying to live the life at THE CARLYLE CONDOS OF Lakewood Ohio where he is charming lots of lonely women with money and laughing at everyone in East Cleveland Ohio. 
Thanks to the M&M Duo of Michael Smedley and Michael Cardilli he has set-up another business in EC and makes money using homeless men from the shelter downtown Cleveland. 
#44112News provides all of our research to the public for everyone to see what is really going on around town. Now we are waiting to see if Brandon King the acting mayor continues his relationship with Riley that led King to say that there is nothing wrong with the Noble Road Dump. At one time Brandon King said the residents on Noble Road were liars because there is no dust or dirt coming from the four story tall toxic dump.
Now, is there anyone out there ready to get the 1000 signatures to place Brandon King and the rest of Gary Norton Jr's people out on the street. That's right, Fire Them All and get some good people who can help bring our back alive. 
Interested people can contact #44112News at EC44112 [at] gmail [dot] com or TEXT (216) 324-4783.
Take a look at this email: http://44112news.com/…/George_Michael_Riley_Senior.email002…

Environmental Racism in East Cleveland -EJB requests

From Eric J Brewer:
 
I need your help in acquiring information about some of the players and events surrounding the illegal toxic dump on Noble Road.
#1. The U.S. Congress enacted a right to know law that required residents near proposed toxic dump sites to be notified. Were residents of East Cleveland and Cleveland Ward's 9 and 10 along Noble Road, Woodworth, E. 152nd Street to 5 Points and beyond, near Collinwood, around Euclid and Belvoir going up the hill, up Noble Road near Cleveland Heights delivered notices from the Ohio EPA, the Cleveland Division of Air Pollution Control or the City of East Cleveland about the toxic dump?
 
#2. Does anyone have or possess the time to obtain and email to me the Ohio EPA and Cleveland Division of Air Pollution Control's tests of the illegal toxic dump? If so please send the records to my email at ejon1953 [at] gmail [dot] com
 
#3. Does anyone have a relationship with George Elmaraghy? He's the smiling guy in glasses. He was an Ohio EPA official forced out of the job by Governor John Kasich's former director, Scott Nally. Nally is the bald guy. Elmaraghy was holding up licensing for coal miners who'd donated to Kasich. Nally gave him the order from Kasich to either resign or be fired after 39 years. It has been reported that Nally or “the governor's office” then assisted coal miners in preparing applications before the federal EPA. Elmaraghy was concerned about the impact of their mining processes on drinking water. Fucking up the environment ain't just happening to “us” here.
 
#4. The connection to Elmaraghy is important because I've learned through a reliable source that Geoge Michael Riley is the son and grandson of mining company owners. He's the guy who violated East Cleveland's landbank ordinance and opened the illegal dump. He's in the mug shot photo. I'd searched Kasich's campaign finance reports for his name to learn if Riley had donated to his campaign. Nothing showed up. After I learned he came from a mining company family, I wanted to learn the names of his parents and grandparents and siblings. The dump in an urban area is unusual. Laws were bent to make it happen. Kasich's silence is a concern. I want to know if there's a connection between him and Riley through money. Any information on this subject is appreciated. Inbox me because I understand its confidentiality.
#5. The testing information from Cleveland's Division of Air Pollution Control is important because it's under Mayor Frank Jackson and Cleveland city council. Cleveland is contracted with the state EPA to enforce air and water pollution standards locally. Does anyone know the type of tests Cleveland is equipped to conduct? It doesn't appear as if council created a process that requires a review and hearing before the Division of Air Pollution Control they legislate approves EPA licenses.
 
#6. Does anyone have information about Craig Butler? He's the Ohio EPA director Kasich appointed after Nally “abruptly” resigned in January 2014. He's the non-smiling guy wearing glasses. Butler is under fire for how he mishandled lead in water notifications to residents in Sebring outside Youngstown. The lead in their drinking water became poisonous. He was notified in November 2015. He didn't respond to January 2016. EPA employees were fired but not prosecuted. U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan has called for Butler's resignation. He seems to be a “tool” of Kasich's who'd do his bidding. If you got the dirt I need it. Inbox or email me. ejon1943 [at] gmail [dot] com
 
Thanks to Randy Cunningham of the Sierra Club. We've got some big announcements to make about the illegal Noble Road toxic dump. Jim Riffle says the reports will be available any day.
 
I'm amending now my thoughts about U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge's September 2015 letter to the residents of Noble Road where she assured them the site had been tested for asbestos and was in full compliance. She followed up with the EPA in an October 2015 letter that basically said “wait a fuckin' minute.” She didn't use those words, of course, but the implication was clear that she had second thoughts. I'll share more about her letter later. She did good.
And yes. I've been warned to watch my back.

Media Blackout on Noble Rd -Cuy Cty Land Bank Dump

from Eric J Brewer:

So the Plain Dealer's editors want to give criminally derelict Ohio EPA officials credit for closing the Noble Road dump because of their wonderful inspectors.

If the inspectors found toxins a week earlier, why did they make the decision the day after OEPA Director Craig Butler got a voicemail from me? Why'd they wait if it was so urgent? Why didn't Butler close it in 2014 when a Cleveland Division of Air Pollution Control inspector under Mayor Frank Jackson's supervision was told of and identified "fugitive dust?" Why didn't Butler order tests of the "fugitive dust" like he was asked by U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge in October 2015?

I point out these distinctions so you can know how deficient the Plain Dealer's reporters are in covering issues of importance to our community. It's not just the PD. It's all the media. If they can't exploit the Descendants of Slaves and make us look like we lack intelligence and are violent "thugs" our issues and struggles are irrelevant. We are "used" by the media not "empowered" by it, and the smiley-faced black reporters working for these editorial racists do nothing but receive their paychecks and party at "mixers" hosted by Harry Boomer.

http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2017/01/ohio_epa_closes_an_illegal_dum.html#incart_river_home

Russ Mitchell at WKYC responds to Eric Brewer

Hi Eric…
I think I have an old number for you. Wanted to thank you for the spirit of your note. You are right…we should have aired the story yesterday, it’s important…especially given that we were the only station to attend the news conference. Barring being preempted for Inaugural parade coverage, we are doing the story tonight at 6.
Thanks…
Russ

http://www.wkyc.com/news/local/cuyahoga-county/epa-shuts-down-controversial-dump-site-in-east-cleveland/389464239

Russ. When I got the first report from Jim Riffle and he explained the health impact on the people nearby, and those in the surrounding areas, I got this sinking feeling in my chest like someone close to me had died. When I drove the area and saw the proximity to Collinwood High, and saw that the stadium the kids played in was right behind the dump, I became enraged. EN-FUCKING-RAGED and I'm still feeling that way.

Imagine kids involved in accelerated breathing, and black parents and families in the stadium taking deep breaths of this toxic death everytime they proudly cheered their athletic sons.

These toxins are killers. They're all highly carcenogenic. Imagine glass particles from fiberglass and the crushed windows being picked up and scattered into the air in abnormally large sizes. That's what's in the report. Imagine tar being burned and vaporized through crushing and carried by the air as particles. It gets in your lungs and or the moist tissue inside your body ... you get cancer. It touches your skin ... you get cancer. They're called PAH's or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and they're deadly.

These people are mass murderers and their victims will die slow deaths. I served 4 years in the U.S. Air Force in medical administration. I worked for the Commander of the School of Aerospace Medicine as an administrative clerk and learned a great deal from the military libraries about epidemiology. I worked in the epidemiology division.

This is an environmental catastrophe and the fucking Plain Dealer is treating criminals like saviours. And you guys send a camerman out and cover a fucking dog over black people. Sorry brother. That shit ain't going down without the public getting afull understanding of the atrocity. These are our airwaves.

So, we have St. Louis roots. We were raised in a city where slaves were sold on the courthouse steps. I attended Assumption Catholic High School with the grandsons of the Irish Catholic Democrats who voted the town white and went to the black neighborhoods in 1917 and burned over 100 homes and businesses, and murdered over 300 of our people. The Nash's of Nash Funeral Home lived in East Boogie back then. My Dad worked for them while he drove for Bi-State, possibly with your Uncle. Some of us have got to fight for our people no matter how we're disparaged by those who want to keep the truth hidden.

A dog's health over the health of thousands of black people? Come on brother. Both of us are the Descendants of Slaves. We gotta accept this shit?

Hey Eric…

You’re right. That’s why I sent you that note. I’m not sure why it fell between the cracks yesterday but I as I told you, it shouldn’t have. You should know that when I pressed our people this am after your note, they didn’t know either. And they agreed with you..and me…that we should do this story today. I promise you there was nothing personal or malicious involved…but again, it shouldn’t have happened. I thank you for the spirt of your e-mails and your passion about this.

Don’t blame you for being upset when you drove by the area. That’s insane and insulting to all…including me. This actually reminds me of a story 25 years ago in ESL. The “dumpers’ tried to convince everyone all was safe. It wasn’t.

Thanks again.

With respect,
Russ

 

 

From EJB: 

 

 

Your help is needed in applying a lot of pressure on the Ohio Department of Health for an immediate public health emergency response to the life-threatening information about the toxic dump Jim Riffle's report identified. They need to know how important this issue is to us, and to know that we're being very aggressive in our response to new information that deadly toxins are slowly killing the inhabitants of East Cleveland, Cleveland, Cleveland heights, South Euclid and Euclid.

Beginning with the letters "ODH" below is an email I forwarded to Ohio Department of Health Director Richard Hodges about the Noble Road toxic dump. His email is DIRECTOR [at] odh [dot] ohio [dot] gov

Place in the subject: Respond to Brewer's about Noble Road toxic dump

Let him know you support the requests I made. Express your concern about the dump. Tell him you want an immediate state response. If you know or someone you know has experienced a mysterious illness let him know.

Today is Sunday. Fill-up his email message inbox. Here's ODH's telephone number. 614-466-3543. Let them hear from you.

My email to Hodges begins below.

ODH Director Richard Hodges,

I'm East Cleveland's former mayor and I asked environmental engineer Jim Riffle to donate his time to test dust samples and use his infrared photographic equipment to learn if deadly toxins existed at a construction and demolition debris landfill next to residential homes. Mr. Riffle's tests identified traces of the following that exceed federal EPA safety limits. I've attached a copy for your review.

Some of the toxins are as follows:

- Methane gas
- Hydrogen sulfide
- Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
- Chromium
- A variety of benzenes
- Large glass particles

Residents are already dying of mysterious cancers. They've been stricken with unexplained illnesses. The toxins are airborne and affecting nearly 100,000 residents of East Cleveland, Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, South Euclid and Euclid.

Despite knowledge of the deadly toxins, the Ohio EPA under Director Craig Butler has taken no steps to alert residents. Director Butler and Mayor Frank Jackson, who leads Cleveland's Division of Air Pollution Control, failed to obey federal "right to know" laws to alert residents of the potential of deadly toxins before they illegally licensed the dump. I've attached an ordinance enacted by the City of East Cleveland council that authorized the property to be "prepared for redevelopment." Unlawful and concealed acts committed by the former mayor and two members of council secretly allowed the dump operator to open.

I alerted Director Butler of Mr. Riffle's test results on Monday, January 16, the day this nation celebrates a holiday in remembrance of Rev. Martin Luther King. Director Butler assigned OEPA deputy director Kurt Princic to contact me. I verbally shared the same information with the deputy director that I'm sharing with you, less the narrative as it was not yet ready. Director Butler decided to shut down the dump immediately as Deputy Director Princic acknowledged that the toxins found were concerning.

Mr. Riffle has already provided one of ODH's employees with a copy of his test results for examination. I'm coordinating a community response. People are outraged, fearful and concerned. I am asking ODH to immediately mobilize public health officials to engage in the following:

1. Mass education
2. Testing
3. Remediation
4. Long term monitoring

I cannot stress enough the urgency of this request. Mr. Riffle has advised me that as the weather warms the methane gas buildup will increase and so will the carcinogenic hydrogen sulfide gases. Fires have already been a regular occurrence on the site.

OEPA Director Butler has allegedly ordered the owner to remove the debris within two weeks. My experts have estimated that there is approximately 2 million yards of construction and demolition debris that was authorized to be dumped in East Cleveland by Cuyahoga County landbank officials. There is no possible way the dump will be cleaned in that time, and there is now no motivation for the owner to employ individuals to watch for fires that are sure to come. When gases combust and fires erupt, the toxins, particularly the PAH's, will become even more airborne. Site cleanup could take as long as six months.

The dump is nearly next door to Collinwood High School and the public school's stadium is right behind the highly toxic site. A charter school and senior home are less than 500 feet away from the dump. I will restate that the toxic dump sits directly in the backyards of residential homes in a densely-populated neighborhood. Imagine toxic smoke filling-up the apartment of permanently bed-ridden senior citizens at Helen S. Brown Tower on Noble Road. Another 20-story high-rise, Crystal Towers, is 500 feet up the street. There are only two stairwells in Crystal Towers that could fill with smoke and prevent escape by residents. Imagine student athletes, band members an their families gathered at the stadium to cheer, and breathing in large volumes of this toxic hell.

I'll express the community's outrage to this extent. They want the responsible officials criminally prosecuted for this mass murder. My language may be inflammatory but it's mild in comparison to the wrath of the affected people with whom I've been communicating.

I implore you quite literally to drop every other priority, place this one at the highest level of your attention, and mobilize the ODH quickly to connect with Ohioans who've already been betrayed by derelict public officials. I am available to assist in any productive way I can.

Respectfully,
Eric Jonathan Brewer

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Has anyone wondered how so many houses and buildings ended up in an illegal and toxic 5-story dump in East Cleveland? It would appear the majority came from the Cuyahoga County landbank led by Gus Frangos with Cleveland Heights Mayor Cheryl Stephens. I would classify them as George Michael Riley's criminal co-conspirators.

I've learned from several construction industry locals that Frangos and Stephens have given George Michael Riley well over 125 homes to demolish in the past year. Riley's company is called Red Rock Demolition and Reclamation, but it's not just Riley that Frangos and Stephens authorized to dump at the site. All of the landbank's demolition contractors were encouraged to dump in East Cleveland behind homes by Frangos and Stephens.

I met an an attorney this afternoon who's firm may be interested in filing criminal, compliance and civil complaints against the parties whose misconduct places more than 100,000 lives at risk. My estimates grow the more I become aware of the affected area.

Here's my spin on the county landbank. It has to be shut down. Our tax dollars support it. Our tax dollars shouldn't be used by these corrupt officials to fuck us. If we're going to have a landbank, it has to come under official "people" oversight.

James Rokakis came up with this bullshit county landbank and put his boy, Frangos in charge. Rokakis pushed the third party tax lien sales that fucked 10's of thousands of Cuyahoga County property owners out of their properties. Anything that bears Rokakis' name should be viewed as a scam that somehow lines his pockets.

These are just some of the culprits behind the toxic and deadly dump in East Cleveland. This ain't over until the site is cleaned and the health of the affected people is being treated and monitored.

Dump Update - CH attorney looking at lawsuit

The letter below was emailed from me today to the Ohio EPA's Director, Craig Butler. Former East Cleveland Mayor Darryl Pittman and I have been discussing a legal strategy for the residents. He's an attorney with a background in environmental law. I have meetings with law enforcement authorities scheduled. Wait until I share Mayor Frank Jackson and council's role in this. Here's a link to the council members on the health and human services committee who are responsible for overseeing air pollution control.http://www.clevelandcitycouncil.org/…/health-and-human-serv…

I've shared a very limited aerial view of the affected area. You know as well as I do that the wind doesn't limit itself to borders or discriminate against us air breathers. My letter starts below. Butler's email is a public record. craig [dot] butler [at] epa [dot] ohio [dot] gov

Ohio EPA Director Craig Butler,

If your spokeswoman wants to claim it took 27 inspections for highly-trained air pollution enforcers to figure out that a construction and demolition debris landfill was not a recycling facility, go for it. It's an answer that only makes Governor John Kasich and Mayor Frank Jackson appear to be more criminally-negligent and derelict in the performance of official air pollution enforcement duties.

Conducting proper inspections and testing isn't the Ohio EPA and City of Cleveland's Division of Air Pollution Control only problem. You were untruthful to U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge and another member of Congress when your failure to perform testing beyond “asbestos” resulted in a false written claim that it didn't exist. Air pollution tests weren't needed for the Ohio EPA's inspectors to know construction and demolition debris landfills are dangerously toxic. Noble Road residents learned that in the Executive Summary they received from Jim Riffle's Auburn Environmental last week.

“It is well known that construction and demolition (C&D) debris processed at similar sites contains tons of waste including concrete, asphalt, metal, wood, fiberglass, and drywall that produce contaminants that damage the environment and cause deleterious health effects.”

So what your spokeswoman, Heidi Griesmeier, confirmed to the Plain Dealer's Jim McCarty is that enforcement officers under yours and Jackson's administrative oversight reported drywall and gypsum co-mingled among what's now an estimated 2 million yards of building and housing materials during 27 visits in two years. On their first visit they were trained to know wet and crushed drywall created hydrogen sulfide gas that creates sulferic acid when mixed with rain, and that the water becomes deadly acidic.

You know that today, as I write, well over 100,000 residents of East Cleveland, Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, South Euclid, Euclid and beyond have been drenched with and breathed in acid rain during these last few warm rainy days. It means you and the Jackson administration have let them be drenched with acid rain for nearly two years despite having knowledge in 27 inspector visits that Ohioans were slowly being poisoned and burned to death inside and outside their bodies.

You've offered the despicably incompetent excuse that inspectors under yours and Jackson's supervision tried vainly during 27 visits to convince Arco employees to separate what's now 4-stories of toxic death. You're claiming the Ohio EPA tried to help Arco officials comply with federal laws you violated by licensing them, and that they never intended to obey. I haven't seen 27 inspection reports. I've only seen 7. Consider this a public records request for all 27. But in the 7 I've seen inspectors explained to you as a reviewing official that Arco's operators were concealing the identities of dumpers by not maintaining dumping records as early as August 2014.

What you should be asking the Ohio Highway Patrol or the Bureau of Criminal Investigations to learn is whether any of the inspectors were bribed. Residents who spoke to state and Jackson administration inspectors said the investigations of the public employees were always brief and perfunctory. They'd go inside the trailer. Hang out for a few minutes and leave.

Think about it. 27 state and Jackson administration inspections. The inspectors downplayed the presence of a pollutant that's “well-known” to exist at construction debris landfills. They choose not to test the “fugitive dust” they detected that's known to contain every toxin Riffle's report identified.

It's my understanding from the Ohio EPA's website that a state-of-the-art testing laboratory is under your supervision, so the tests were easy to order and were not. And after 27 reports and a test concluding that no absestos is on the site, you abruptly decided to close Arco after receiving only a voicemail message from me about a report you claim not to have seen. Have you even thought about asking the Bureau of Criminal Investigations to investigate the inspectors?

Arco owners are alleged to have collected more than $20 million from their illegal activities in two years. The mayor's “girlfriend” contacted me with information that he was giving her $700 a week in cash on a $40,000 a week salary. This is government. You'd be a naïve fool to think that officials might not have been compromised after 27 inspections couldn't reveal that a construction dump wasn't a recycling facility.

I have only two concerns regarding your role in the Noble Road toxic dump you and the Jackson administration licensed. How long will it take to cleanup behind your negligence? Do you intend to alert more than 100,000 residents of East Cleveland, Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, South Euclid, Euclid and beyond that you and the Jackson administration let the air they're breathing be poisoned? If you don't I will.

Only the most criminally-negligent of appointed public officials would not act aggressively at first knowledge of deadly non-compliance to protect human health and lives. You did this same malicious cover-up shit to the residents of Sebring. You have failed your appointing authority in Governor Kasich. You have failed Ohio. You have the failed the residents of East Cleveland and beyond just like you failed the residents of Sebring. Your negligence has brought death and a living hell to our state and you need to resign or be fired.

If Governor Kasich and Attorney General Richard Michael DeWine don't hold you accountable, I know more than 100,000 extremely angered East Cleveland-area residents will call for your criminal prosecution once your death-dealing derelict deeds are fully-known.

And for the record, tell Griesmier not to lie on me to the media again. I spoke to Kurt Princic and Jennifer Kurkos from your office on Tuesday, January 17. They asked for the report and were told it wouldn't be completed until Thursday, January 19. The state didn't pay for it. The state wasn't the client. The residents were the client. The client gets the report first.

Princic got a text from me with an invitation to join the residents and media to hear Riffle's findings. There was no refusal. Princic didn't bother to attend the news conference or communicate with me afterwards. If the information was important, you should have assigned your employee to meet with us. Perhaps he had enough sense to stay away from toxic air. Only a fool would want to breathe that shit.

Get your story together. There's over 100,000 East Cleveland area residents who are coming for your career and they're going to get it. Instead of you being "cheered," the real people are "jeering" you.

Sincerely,
Eric Jonathan Brewer

 

 

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From Eric J Brewer :  Pay attention folk. The rats are turning on each other. Cleveland Heights Mayor Cheryl Stephens says here she's concerned about the illegal dump in East Cleveland and blames recalled and disgraced ex-Mayor Gary Norton. I've heard he's now working for Cleveland Clinic.

But Stephens works for the county landbank led by ex-Cleveland councilman and ex-county treasurer James Rokakis who's employees awarded demolition contracts to companies dumping hundreds of toxin-contaminated homes in an illegal dump behind residential homes in East Cleveland. The Ohio EPA's inspections reveal the illegal dump operator wasn't recording the identities of the landbank's contractors. I've been informed that landbank officials are telling demolition contractors to illegally dump on vacant landbank properties all over Cleveland.

Here's the scheme that's been shared with me. Arco was charging $7 a cubic yard to dump. It cost $12 and more at legitimate construction and demolition debris landfills. Investigating authorities, curious citizens and reporters should learn if Rokakis, Gus Frangos, Stephens and other landbank officials were awarding bids with the $12 dump fee and sending demolition contractors to Arco to save the $5; and then splitting the $5 between themselves.

There's close to 2 million cubic yards of waste. At $5 multiplied by 2 million that's $10 million. I'm aware that Rokakis and Frangos lobbied to get demoltion costs per house increased from $10,000 to $12,000. I paid an average of $6000 to $7500 on East Cleveland demolition contracts.

I don't blame Cleveland Heights officials for their concern. But the person they'd better begin investigating is their own mayor

Remembering Gerry Strothers as media tries to smother EJB

Tenacious East Cleveland Citizen Journalist Gerald Strothers Has Died

Posted By  on Tue, Jul 18, 2017 at 2:27 pm

 GERALD ORLANDO STROTHERS
  • Facebook: Gerald Orlando Strothers

Local activist and citizen journalist Gerald Strothers, who founded the East Cleveland news site 44112News, has died. 

Strothers was a tenacious reporter intent on exposing the corruption and lies of East Cleveland City Hall, in particular those of former Mayor Gary Norton. More recently, Strothers devoted enormous time and energy to reporting on the ongoing environmental catastrophe at the Noble Road dump site

Strothers was a relentless documentarian, attending city meetings with camera always out and trained on the action. He was a thorn in the side of elected leaders and he wrote with an informal, no-nonsense panache.

Additionally, he was a valuable and urgent voice on East Cleveland issues, pleading for broader coverage and providing important background for less knowledgeable reporters. He was always generous with me and Eric Sandy as we pursued stories in East Cleveland. Without dedicated local reporters like Strothers, neglected communities like East Cleveland will continue to live in darkness.  Strothers did his work neither for fame nor money, but for the belief that citizens have a right to know what their leaders are up to. He was, as he said, "fighting the good fight." 

 

On Facebook, it was said that Strothers died of a heart attack. He moved to Pennsylvania last year, he told Eric Sandy, in part because of health problems he'd acquired from proximity to Noble Road. 

Thanks for everything, Jerry. You'll be missed. 

 

Tags: 

CLE and CUY county continue to operate like mobsters

Make a quick buck - hire contractors who skim by dumping toxins in the BIG Creek watershed that empties in the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie.

 

Thank you Joe Pagonakis for being the only media person covering these crimes:

http://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/cle-police-uncover-massive...

Update: EJB on dump

The vast majority of the nearly or more than 1000 homes dumped at the Arco site on Noble Road in East Cleveland came from the Cuyahoga County landbank. I've read where 2097 homes were demolished by the private organization. Demolition contractors the "private" organization awarded contracts to were told by Jim Rokakis and Gus Frangos to use the Noble Road dump in East Cleveland that George Michael Riley was operating. There are demolition contractors who'll say Riley was introduced to them during an open meeting by Frangos.

The math behind the relationship is interesting. George Michael Riley and Christine Beynon were charging demolition contractors $7 per ton to dump in the illegal "urban" landfill. Certified construction and demolition debris landfills charge between $12 and $18 per ton or more. That's what it would cost at Boyas Excavating, a reputable landfill.

The Cuyahoga County landbank's bid specifications priced the cost of dumping at $12 a ton. There is a federal investigation currently underway of the Cuyahoga County landbank that also included the late Judge Ray Pianka. He suffered a heart attack shortly after meeting with federal agents.

Cuyahoga County Sheriff Clifford Pinkney's raid of the Arco site gives the county control of the company's manifest. It's a requirement of state and federal laws that landfill operators keep a record of every truck that dumped at the site. I'm being very "general" now in my analysis. Don't beat me up on the details if you've got knowledge.

With the manifest in Pinkney's possession it suggests a possible criminal investigation by Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney Michael O'Malley. It also provides an opportunity for federal agents to have access to the records if the county and U.S. government are cooperating.

The records should identify every contractor who either drove or sent a truck to the site to dump the homes Rokakis and Frangos were sending to East Cleveland; and that's where I see shit getting very interesting.

The demolition contractors aren't going to protect Rokakis, Frangos or any other county landbank official if there's been some shit in the game. A raid suggests there's a lot of shit in the game. Now the sheriff has the name of every contractor and so do federal agents if Pinkney is sharing.

Think about it. Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish announced he was cutting $17 million from demolition spending that was going to the county landbank on October 30th. Today is November 2 and the illegal dump where Rokakis and Frangos sent demolition contractors to dump landbank houses is raided by the sheriff who works for Budish. It's kind of sickening that Rokakis and Frangos could ask for $17 million with all the gotdamned trouble these two fucks caused a lot of people.

I don't think it's a coincidence that Budish said "fuck you" to Rokakis and Frangos getting access to $17 million three days before his hand picked sheriff raided their boy, Riley's, old place. Actually, he's doing the county and taxpayers a favor with the raid and withholding $17 million. Some of the illegal dumps around the city contain landbank houses dumped on landbank land. Rokakis and Frangos are just plain scoundrels.

Whether it's O'Malley or U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman, or Budish; somebody's on Rokakis and Frangos' asses.

http://www.cleveland.com/…/cuyahoga_county_plans_to_take_ba…

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From Westside Alerts on FB:

The Cuyahoga County landbank's bid specifications priced the cost of dumping at $12 a ton. There is a federal investigation currently underway of the Cuyahoga County landbank that also included the late Judge Ray Pianka. He suffered a heart attack shortly after meeting with federal agents.

Please read this. Corruption is so common they didn't even try to hide it.

Term Limits people.

 

Greedy $@# bastards

  Former East Cleveland Mayor Eric J. Brewer:

"I don't think it's a coincidence that Budish said "fuck you" to Rokakis and Frangos getting access to $17 million three days before his hand picked sheriff raided their boy, Riley's, old place. Actually, he's doing the county and taxpayers a favor with the raid and withholding $17 million. Some of the illegal dumps around the city contain landbank houses dumped on landbank land. Rokakis and Frangos are just plain scoundrels."

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2018/01/state_approves_another_35_mill.html

Armond Budish could care less about the lives of black folks living in East Cleveland.   The evil Cuyahoga Land Bank continues to demolish homes untarnished by the environmental racism of their practices. Where is Mike Riley??  The State of Ohio "hopes" to recoup the tax money spent on this colossal mess?  Fat chance - this is environmental racism by design.