Though it is about a purely local issue, I have a nomination for one of the stupidest statements made in the Western Hemisphere this week.

Some background: there has been a proposal to build a coke plant in the Toledo area. The location abuts both the City of Toledo and Lake Erie. Needless to say, environmental issues are important considerations. Coke plants are notorious emitters of both sulfur dioxide and mercury.

Learning that a modern coke plant built in 1998 near Chicago has been cited by the EPA 10 times for violating pre-construction estimates of sulfur dioxide emissions. The mayor of Oregon, Ohio (where the plant will be located) told The Blade that she wasn't concerned about environmental issues because:

But she said it hasn't changed her high opinion of what she saw - and what she didn't smell.

She and Ken Filipiak, Oregon city administrator, said they were impressed by Indiana Harbor's lack of odors during full operation.

Yeah, because you can smell toxic levels of mercury--if it doesn't smell bad, it must be safe. If I lived in Oregon, I'd be angry that my mayor made decisions about major pollutant-emitting developments by smelling them.

And, she claims that the citations, based on the coke plant failing to meet the standards that the builders promised when permits were issued (i.e. the developer lied to get his shiny new toy built), are equivalent to "speeding tickets". Of course, the Toledo-area is supposed to take on trust the promises of the builder that this new plant will be cleaner that the one that has been consistently violating the promises made to the residents of Indiana.

"In theory" the plant should have no emissions at all. Of course, in reality (apparently not a locale Oregon's mayor spends much time in):

Figures reported by Indiana Harbor show the coke plant emitted 719 pounds of mercury in 2001 and 669 pounds of mercury in 2000, the two most recent figures available. Those numbers are slightly less than the 755 pounds of mercury discharged in 2001 by Detroit Edison Co.'s coal-fired power plant in Monroe, one of the nation's largest power stations.

Mercury is bad. And I'm going to be extremely pissed off if this thing gets built just a few miles from my house. Feel free to accuse me of Not-In-My-Backyardism, but I'm a dad, and when you are a did, NIMBY-ism isn't a character flaw, it's your job.
12:28:56 PM  #