Upcoming meetings re clean up of toxic Hilton Davis site

Ward 3 City Council member Donna Laake asked us to post the following information she recently received from the Hilton Davis Committee of the Pleasant Ridge Community Council:

Upcoming meeting in the State Capitol: Representatives of the Hilton Davis Committee will go to Columbus on Thursday, July 22, 2010 to meet with representatives of the Ohio EPA and the Governor’s office to request-once again-a complete cleanup of Hilton Davis. We will be joined by officials from the City of Cincinnati, including Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls and Council Member Laure Quinlivan.

We need you to contact your state representatives! Before the July 22nd meeting-we need as many people as possible to mail or call our state elected officials to voice concerns about the Ohio EPA’s proposed cleanup plan. We need our state representatives to help convince the Ohio EPA to require Eastman Kodak to remove the 50 years of toxic waste from Hilton Davis, not just cover it up. Your call or message can be very brief; just ask them to urge the Ohio EPA to require a complete cleanup of Hilton Davis. Some talking points follow.

1. Hilton Davis is not located in an industrial area or open space. It is surrounded by thousands of residential properties in Pleasant Ridge, Norwood, Golf Manor and Bond Hill. Allowing Kodak to cover up 50 years of toxic waste would pose health risks for these residents.
2. At 80 acres, the Hilton Davis site is the largest property in Pleasant Ridge and one of the largest in Cincinnati. Allowing Kodak to leave toxic waste will likely keep this site as an industrial site forever and a toxic waste dump forever. Our community and city deserve better. The state of Ohio can require Kodak to clean it up so that we can do better. Eastman Kodak owns the property and all of the assets and liabilities that go with it. It should be held responsible for properly cleaning up-not covering up-the toxic waste. If Kodak does not do it, then the taxpayers of Cincinnati and Ohio will likely have to pay for it in the future.
3. The Ohio EPA has a duty to protect public health, the environment and welfare and to enforce a 1986 court-order consent decree that requires the owner of the Hilton Davis site to clean it up. We - the taxpaying citizens of Cincinnati and Ohio - deserve nothing less.
4. Kodak is an out-of-state corporation that leases out the Hilton Davis site and employs no one there.
5. Pleasant Ridge and neighboring Norwood are vibrant neighborhoods in Cincinnati with excellent schools, active churches, great restaurants and businesses and engaged citizens. We have a bright future and we do not want Hilton Davis to impede on it.

Upcoming meeting in Pleasant Ridge with environmental activists: Lois Gibbs will speak on Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. at Pleasant Ridge Presbyterian Church. Pleas write this event in your calendar. Ms. Gibbs is well-known for her community organizing in Love Canal, NY in the 1970’s, after it was learned that the community was built on a toxic waste site. Her efforts led to the creation of the U.S. EPA Superfund, which is used to locate and clean up toxic waste sites throughout the U.S. Ms. Gibbs founded and serves as executive director of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, which seeks to form strong local organization sin order to protect neighborhoods from exposure to hazardous wastes. We are very fortunate to have her in Pleasant Ridge.

If you have any questions you can e-mail Donna Laake at dlaake@fuse.net.

Contact info:

Governor Ted Strickland
(614) 466-3555
amanda.wurst@governor.ohio.gov

Senator Eric Kearney
(614) 466-5980
SD09@maild.sen.state.oh.us

Representative Alicia Reece
(614) 466-1308
district33@ohr.state.oh.us

Caroline Schirmer
Secretary to Clerk of Council
Norwood, Ohio
cshirmer@norwood-ohio.com
513-458-4594