I've been thinking we need an overall Ohio EPA / Pollution Policy Thread here, so let's kick it off with the first major policy statement from the agency's new administration.

 

Ohio EPA wants top polluters to fix 'dirty state'

Strickland: Tighter standards may be needed if voluntary plan doesn't work

Wednesday,  September 19, 2007 3:31 AM

By Kevin Mayhood

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Ohio has long been among the nation's leading polluters -- a tradition that needs to end, the state's top environmental enforcer said yesterday.

 

"Even five years ago, I thought: That can't help. Not from a public-health perspective, not for economic development. Nobody wants a reputation of being a dirty state," said Chris Korleski, director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency...

 

Dispatch reporter Mark Niquette contributed to this story.

 

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http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2007/09/19/epa.ART_ART_09-19-07_B4_S17UOQT.html?sid=101

Creek or pit for slurry?

State EPA weighing mine company's request

Wednesday,  September 19, 2007 3:27 AM

By Spencer Hunt

 

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Environmental advocates are worried that the state is doing little to stop a mining company from turning an eastern Ohio stream into a polluted lagoon.

 

Casey Run, home to a host of wildlife, drains into the Ohio River.

 

The Ohio Valley Coal Co. wants to replace the stream with a 1.85-billion-gallon lagoon for slurry, the water used to wash freshly mined coal. The 2-mile-long stream is west of Alledonia in southern Belmont County...

 

[email protected]

http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2007/09/19/toxicmud.ART_ART_09-19-07_B1_7H7UNL6.html?sid=101