About
the organizer
Susan Knight
Water Sentinel
Ohio Chapter
5150 Wyoming Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45215
(513) 761-4003
fax (513) 761-4988
susieknight@juno.com
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Steel factory pollution threatens waterways
 Middletown,
Ohio, located about 20 miles north of Cincinnati, is home to about
50,000 people. It is also home to AK Steel Corp, which operates
steel plants in five states. Several AK plants have had serious
environmental problems including polluted streams, soil and groundwater.
The Middletown plant has had its share of problems.
In 2000, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sued AK's Middletown
facility for violations of the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act.
Federal officials have alleged 204 specific violations of the plant's
water discharge permit over the past decade. The Sierra Club has
petitioned the court to intervene in the federal suit.
According to the U.S. EPA, there have been at
least 40 spills of toxins into Dicks Creek and the Great Miami
River. The spills of oil, cyanide, benzene, waste acid and other
toxins have been as large as 1 million gallons, and have killed
at least 23,524 fish. Dicks Creek is currently contaminated with
high levels of PCBs, chemical compounds linked to cancer. The Sierra
Club's Sentinels project is conducting highly specialized PCB monitoring
in the stream.
Air particulate pollution (soot) and chemical fumes from AK Steel
are also causing a public nuisance to the nearby neighborhoods.
For more than 25 years, the plant has emitted up to 8 million pounds
of these particulates annually into the skies over Middletown. The
Sentinels and ECO: Environmental Community Organization are also
performing air-quality sampling near the plant, in an effort to
determine what hazardous substances may be in the plant's smokestack
emissions.
The Sentinels are part of the Good Neighbor Campaign, a partnership
of groups working to clean up AK's Middletown plant, including the
United Steelworkers of America, ECO, Ohio Citizen Action, Rivers
Unlimited, Friends of the Great Miami and United Neighbors Against
Dirty Air. But to date, the giant steelmaker has flatly refused
to meet with its neighbors or to open a dialogue regarding its corporate
conduct.
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There are lots of ways to help Ohio Sentinels!
Volunteer opportunities are available! To get involved, call
the Sierra Club at (513) 761-4003, or contact Susan
Knight.
Show your support for the Good Neighbor Campaign. Put an
"AK Come Clean" yard sign in front of your home.
Call the Sierra Club at the number above for free yard signs,
stickers, postcards and/or T-shirts.
Write Richard Wardrop, CEO of AK Steel, and let him know
that you are concerned about AK's disregard for neighbors'
environmental concerns and the community's health:
Richard Wardrop, CEO, AK Steel Corp.
703 Curtis Street
Middletown, OH 45043
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Photo: Children at play near the AK Steel plant.
Photo by Rachael Belz.
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