 
OEC in the News
The OEC wants you, the public, to know more about the state of your air, land and water resources. That’s why we are in frequent contact with the news media.
- Read current press releases
- See media coverage of OEC & environmental issues
- Reporters: Contact an environmental expert
First Energy to close six coal-fired power plants
The Ohio Environmental Council is praising First Energy Corp. for its plan to permanently close six coal-fired power plants, including four along Ohio's Lake Erie coast.
Together, the six power plants have the capacity to generate nearly 2,700 megawatts of electricity-enough to light over 600,000 homes.
"First Energy has made the right decision, and not just for its bottom line," said Nolan Moser, Clean Air Director and Staff Attorney for the Ohio Environmental Council.
Read full press release
Deep-shale 'fracking' comes to Ohio's pristine Grand River watershed
Citing concerns over the first deep-shale drilling operation in Ohio's pristine Grand River watershed, the Ohio Environmental Council and partner conservation groups are calling on state regulators to tighten controls on drilling for oil and gas in Ohio to better protect water, wildlife and property.
The groups want the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) to strengthen state rules to protect water resources by:
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broadening the distance that oil and gas drillers are required to test for water quality before and after drilling;
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expand the list of chemicals for which drillers must test for possible water contamination before and after drilling;
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expand the testing to also include water quantity to test for any changes to water flow from a water well or waterway.
Read full press release
OEC comments on Ohio's recent change to exclude wetlands from being classified as agricultural for tax purposes
The Ohio Environmental Council sent a letter to Ohio Tax Commissioner Testa questioning the Department's recent interpretation to exclude the Wetland Reserve Program from the Current Agricultural Use Value. Read about the change here and here.
From the letter by David R. Celebreeze, OEC's Director of Air & Water Special Projects, and Cathryn Loucas, OEC's Staff Attorney:
"It is our understanding that as of October 2011, the Department of Taxation would no longer recognize the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) and Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) as meeting the requirements of Ohio Revised Code 5713.30(A)(1) and (2). It appears this change would penalize landowners for up to three previous years who have put their land into the WRP or WHIP. Changing the rules mid-game seems inequitable and gives a perverse incentive to land owners not to enroll in these vital conservation programs."
Read OEC's letter to the Tax Commissioner
Columbus Dispatch article
Out-of-state Pollution Profiteers Fail to Tell Coal's Full Story
On Wednesday, December 15, out-of-state coal industry advocates testified before the Ohio House Public Utilities Committee in the latest oversight hearing regarding Ohio's energy policies. Throughout the testimony, the coal industry spun an incomplete story of coal's impact on Ohio's economy, environment, and the health of our families and communities.
Today, the Ohio Environmental Council (OEC) challenged assertions from coal industry representatives that painted an incomplete and misleading picture of Ohio's energy policies.
Read press release
Call for Congressional Commitment to Improve America's Wastewater Infrastructure
Each year 20 million Americans become sick from drinking contaminated water and another 3.5 million Americans become sick from swimming in contaminated waters.
Although it's been more than 30 years since the Cuyahoga River was engulfed in flames and more than 40 years since the passage of the Clean Water Act, today over 10 billion gallons of untreated sewage is dumped into Lake Erie and water resources across the state each year. Furthermore, over 41 billion gallons of untreated sewage was dumped into the Great Lakes in 2009 from just five cities: Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, Milwaukee and Gary, Indiana. Ohio and the Great Lakes states are not alone in this problem. The report released today by AFSCME notes that 860 billion gallons of untreated sewage contaminates US waters1 every single year.
Read full comments
Top 10 Toxic-Tainted Toys Exposed
Consumers Beware: Stocking Stuffers May Be Laced with Poisonous Chemicals
More than 30 years of environmental health studies have led to a growing consensus that chemicals used to manufacture thousands of consumer items are connected to the incidence and prevalence of many diseases and disorders in the U.S.
And a primary source of exposure to these toxic chemicals comes from daily contact with items that most of us do not give a second thought - including plastic toys, children's jewelry, strollers, kids' bath products, and other items that may lurk beneath countless Christmas trees this holiday season.
Read full press release
Environmental groups tell House Committee: Recharge Ohio's economy with renewable energy sources and energy efficiency
Columbus, OH - As the Ohio House continue hearings on Ohio's current energy policy, environmental groups provided testimony today with a simple message: energy efficiency and renewable energy in Ohio are saving are money, creating jobs, and protecting the environment.
Nolan Moser, representing the Ohio Environmental Council and other environmental stakeholders, reminded the joint committee members that in 2008, when Senate Bill 221 was enacted in an overwhelmingly bipartisan manner, the state's Energy Efficiency Resource Standard (EERS) and Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) were established. Since put in place, these policies have actually provided a cost-savings for consumers on their electric bills while creating pollution-free energy.
Read complete testimony
Groups Call for Federal Farm Bill that Balances Federal Budget with America's Needs
The Ohio Farmers Union, Association of Second Harvest Food Banks, Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association, and Ohio Environmental Council are teaming up to urge bold changes to federal agriculture policy. Their goal is to reform the Federal Farm Bill with a fiscally sound plan to:
- Grow America's agricultural production.
- Sustain the basic nutritional needs of the millions of Americans who continue to struggle to put food on the table during the Great Recession.
- Nurture America's emerging sector of organic and sustainable agriculture producers.
- Conserve America's precious soil and water resources.
Read full press release.
OEC praises Gov. Kasich for "Beginnings of a Promising Clean Energy Vision"
The Ohio Environmental Council is praising Ohio Governor John Kasich's promise to include clean energy technologies in his forthcoming energy policy.
At the conclusion yesterday of a two-day energy and economic summit he hosted to help inform the development of a new energy policy for Ohio, Kasich praised energy efficiency and renewable energy as important parts of Ohio's energy solution.
Read press release
Sudden resignation of Ohio Consumers' Counsel provokes uncertain future for average Ohio consumer
The sudden resignation of Ohio's embattled consumer watchdog, Janine Migden-Ostrander, is provoking questions about the State of Ohio's future commitment to vigorous representation of the 4.5 million residential consumers of gas, phone, water, and electric services in Ohio.
Read press release
VICTORY for Ohioans in Lake Erie Public Trust Case
Supreme Court Reaffirms 1878 Decision Holding That State's Trust Over Lake Erie Extends to the 'Natural Shoreline'
After a half decade legal fight - a fight where: Lakeshore property owners sued the state of Ohio and ODNR; where Ohio Environmental Council (OEC) and National Wildlife Federation (NWF) had to intervene to protect the rights of the public to walk the shore; where the ODNR left the case, but Ohio Attorney General remained to defend the case for the 11 million people of Ohio; and where the lower courts ruled that the boundary of the Public Trust is where the water meets the land at any given moment in time - The Ohio Supreme Court today returned the shoreline (and the law) to status quo.
Read more
State Senator proposes legislation on fracking moratorium
On August 7, Ohio Senator Michael Skindell proposed a moratorium (Ohio Senate Bill 213) on horizontal hydraulic fracturing (aka fracking) of oil and gas wells until the United States EPA completes its study of fracking's potential risks to drinking and ground water resources posed by HHF and the Ohio Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management issues a report analyzing how Ohio's rules address issues raised in the USEPA report.
The Ohio Environmental Council believes that it is altogether reasonable, appropriate, and urgent to call a timeout on Ohio's black gold rush.
Shale drillers may face new air-pollution limits
Energy companies eager to tap natural gas and oil from Utica and Marcellus shales in Ohio soon could face air-pollution limits on their new wells.
However, a coalition of environmental groups, including the Ohio Environmental Council and the Center for Health, Environment and Justice say the proposed permit has several loopholes that would help companies avoid installing pollution filters.
David Celebrezze of the Ohio Environmental Council said energy companies should install the best anti-pollution technology available, period. "We see that as a giant loophole you could fit a drilling rig through," he said.
- Read complete story in the Columbus Dispatch
- Read comments submitted (here and here) to US EPA on the draft model general permit by the OEC and other groups
Rep. Antonio introduces legislation to keep drill bits out of our Great Lake
On the heels of Governor John Kasich's veto of House Bill 231, legislation outlining Ohio's participation in the Great Lakes Compact, another elected official has stepped forward to defend one of Ohio's greatest natural treasurers-Lake Erie.
State Representative Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) today introduced House Bill 304, legislation that prohibits the Director of the Department of Natural Resources from issuing any permit or making any lease to take or remove oil or natural gas from and under the bed of Lake Erie.
Read more.
Gov. Kasich vetoes legislation that would drain Lake Erie
On July 15, Ohio Governor John Kasich unexpectedly vetoed an industry-backed bill that threatened to allow factories and other industrial facilities to withdraw millions of gallons of water from Lake Erie and inland waterways that drain to it, without government oversight.
Read more about the veto.
Great Lakes Compact Bill Overlooks Science, Leaving Our Streams, Rivers, and Lake Erie at Risk
Environmental-conservation organizations, small businesses, lawyers and scientists from across Ohio, collectively known as the Coalition for Sustainable Communities, agree that legislation introduced recently in the Ohio House and Senate to implement the Great Lakes Compact falls far short of the comprehensive, science-based approach required and necessary to protect the surface and ground water that sustain Lake Erie and its related wildlife, industry and related jobs.
House Bill 231 (Wachtmann-R) and Senate Bill 170 (Grendell-R) recently were introduced in their respective chambers. While both bills have the support of certain industry interests, the Coalition for Sustainable Communities points out that the bills leave approximately 80 percent of Ohio's streams wholly unprotected.
Read:
Legislature approves bill to allow drilling in state parks
Legislation approved by the Ohio Senate to open Ohio's state parks to oil and gas exploration is a bad deal so tilted in favor of the oil and gas industry that the public and park managers may have little say over how their state parks are managed.
The Senate's near party-line 22-10 vote coupled with a similar, near party-line 54-41 vote last month in the Ohio House of Representatives all but assures final approval by Governor John Kasich. The House is expected to approve changes made by the Senate to the bill (House Bill 133) when the House meets next Tuesday.
Read more:
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