CLEVELAND — “Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson has returned from a fact-finding trip to Japan, ready to import technology that would turn garbage into electricity.
But he’s getting a cold reception from critics. Ohio Citizen Action and other watchdog groups say emissions from a ‘gasification’ plant proposed for the city’s Ridge Road waste-transfer station could be as dirty as the fallout that comes from burning coal.
…While Cleveland says the plant would operate well within EPA emissions guidelines, Sandy Buchanan, executive director of Ohio Citizen Action, said documents obtained from the city show it would still rank as one of the region’s largest sources of soot and particulate matter and the largest source of mercury.
‘These are significant pollution numbers,’ Buchanan said. ‘This is not a green facility.’
Jackson’s spokeswoman, Andrea Taylor, challenged Buchanan’s assertion. She said the figures cited by the Ohio Citizen Action leader would be the maximum allowed under the city’s permit. Actual emissions would be far less.
Buchanan said the documents also suggest the city would run the plant at less than full capacity in a deliberate attempt to keep certain pollutants just under thresholds for tighter regulation. Tien said operating projections take into account down time for maintenance and repair.”
— Thomas Ott, Cleveland Plain Dealer
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