Air Pollution
First Notice of Violation by USEPA to SunCoke Haverhill: Coke plant foes cite Haverhill emissions
Oxford Press, Sunday, March 15, 2009
Alleged emissions violations at SunCoke Energy's Haverhill, Ohio, facility have cast a shadow of doubt for some over the company's capability to operate responsibly at their new Middletown plant currently under construction.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sent a notice of violation to SunCoke for allegedly emitting excess sulfur dioxide from its P901 Haverhill plant. The facility is similar to the one to open in Butler County.
Read More: http://www.oxfordpress.com/n/content/oh/story/news/business/2009/03/15/m...
How Does Butler County Air Quality Stack Up Nationally?
And this is BEFORE SunCoke builds its proposed plant....
http://www.scorecard.org/env-releases/cap/county.tcl?fips_county_code=39017#air_rankings
OK, so we know Butler County is in the top 10% band in the nation for pollution. Who is responsible for most of it? Click through the different types of air pollution with the drop down on this page:
USA Today Smokestack Effect story on Middletown
USA Today has an ongoing investigative story entitled The Smokestack Effect. On December 30, 2008, SunCoke Watch was on the front page of the issue with a story on Amanda Elementary and the concerns of locating the proposed SunCoke coke plant, which would emit approximately 2,700 tons of pollution in the air adjacent to the school.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2008-12-29-newschools_N.htm
Students risk breathing toxic air
No standards, little monitoring here or across US
By Blake Morrison and Brad Heath • USA Today • December 8, 2008
ADDYSTON - The growl of air-monitoring equipment has replaced the chatter of children at Meredith Hitchens Elementary School in this suburb along the Ohio River.
The Three Rivers Local School District closed Hitchens three years ago, after air samples outside the building showed high levels of chemicals coming from a plastics plant across the street. The Ohio EPA concluded the risk of getting cancer was 50 times higher than what the state considers acceptable.
The air outside 435 other U.S. schools - including at least three others in Bond Hill and Elmwood Place - appears to be even worse, according to an eight-month investigation by USA Today.
READ MORE
USA Today's interactive report lets you find the ranking of pollution at your school.
Download Cincinnati Enquirer's pdf "Smokestack Effect" showing local schools at risk in the top 1%, including Amanda Elementary and Mayfield Elementary in Middletown.
Air Pollution Linked to Deaths From Lung Cancer
Risk for Other Diseases is Increased As Well
Article date: 2002/03/06
American Cancer Society
Air pollution – mainly from vehicles, industry, and power plants – raises the chances of lung cancer and heart disease in people exposed to it long term, according to a report in the March 6 Journal of the American Medical Association (Vol. 287, No. 9: 1132-1141).
