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IN THE SHADOW OF THE COGNIS STACK:
A NEIGHBORHOOD CHRONICLE
Cincinnati's Clean Air Act
In June of 2004, the Cincinnati City Council reinstated the Cincinnati Clean Air Act, also known as "Title X." The Cincinnati Clean Air Act prohibits air nuisances within the City. Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services investigates complaints and the City of Cincinnati is authorized by the ordinance to impose fines or take harsher measures to ensure compliance.
After Title X was passed, ECO launched our Air Quality Action Project to inform communities about their rights under the ordinance. ECO has educated communities across Cincinnati through mailings, publications, presentations, canvassing, and tabling events as to their rights under the Cincinnati Clean Air Act. Outreach provided by ECO and its community partners reached over 6,000 Cincinnati residents in 2005.
ECO's Public Awareness Campaign
In ECO's public awareness campaign and the initiative of neighborhood leaders precipitated a wave of public response. Dozens of those complaints have been traced back to Cognis Inc., a chemical company in Winton Place which produces chemicals by rendering crop and livestock byproducts.
Cognis is the second largest source of toxic air pollutants in Hamilton County and has attracted numerous odor complaints from the neighboring community for over a decade. The Cincinati Law Department reported that about half of all Title X-Cincinnati Clean Air Act complaints generated within Cincinnati in 2005 originated in the Winton Place neighborhood and were associated with the Cognis facility. As a result of citizen pressure as well as pressure by ECO and by City and County authorities, the potential for significant improvements has been set in motion.
The Labor Situation at Cognis
Since February 7, 2004 , Cognis workers with USW Local Union 14340 have been out on strike.
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"These hard working employees just want to be assured that if this Company is sold, that they would be treated at
least as good as a piece of equipment. They want to be assured that they are not going to be discarded, that the
day after any sale they will still have a job to support their families." [Quote from USW Local Union Representative]
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ECO stands in solidarity with the union. We want union workers back on the job
December, 2005: What's next?
Ambient air testing by Ohio EPA was initiated at Lanxess, a manufacturing facility just a few miles outside Cincinnati, in response to community complaints and a "Good Neighbor Campaign" organized by Ohio Citizen Action. This December, Ohio EPA revealed the results of its recent Addyson Air Quality Study showing that Lanxess has been releasing unhealthy levels of toxic air pollutants. As a result, a nearby gradeschool has had to close. This once again raised the question: Are the emissions from Cognis harming our health? Two schools nearby to Cognis were evacuated due to air-borne pollutants this year. ECO is preparing a summary document of health complaints and questions registered by residents close to the Cognis facility.
Campaign Chronology
2005 September, October: A Continuing Nuisance in the Neighborhood
Citizen Complaints submitted to Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services Air Quality HotLine
September 2005 through October 4, 2005
10/04/05 A very strong ozone odor is present.
10/03/05 A boiler at Cognis is spewing black smoke that smells bad.
10/02/05 Complainant smelled a soapy smell; her throat is sore.
9/30/05 Boiler #1 is belching out whiteish greyish smoke. It has been happening for 7-10 minutes
9/29/05 Smoke and ash is coming from No. 1 boiler for about the last 10 minutes; grey cloud is visible
9/28/05 Rancid fatty odor
9/25/05 A really gross and disgusting odor is present from Cognis. Something should be done about it.
9/25/05 A real strong tallow smell is present along Este Avenue .
9/24/05 A strong smell of ozone is present outside the Cognis plant gates.
9/24/05 A rendered fat odor is in the air. Seems to happen on weekends in the morning.
9/24/05 Smelling Cognis heavy-duty today.
9/15/05 #1 boiler is belching out black smoke.
9/15/05 Ozone smell present coming from Cognis.
9/11/05 Smelling the same fatty acid odor
9/10/05 Smelling the same fatty acid odor. Would like a response.
9/3/05 Complainant states the main boiler #1 at Cognis has lost power. Emitting a nice big cloud since 10:15PM this evening and still ongoing.
2005 September Hamilton County Dept. of Environmental Services received a letter from Cognis detailing their timeline for resolving odor problems. By the end of 2005, Cognis agrees to upgrade procedures and to improve pollution control equipment to better control odors. By the end of 2006, they have agreed to make engineering changes to their operations to better control odors.
Cincinnati City Council passes Resolution 60-2005 "Expressing the support of the Council of the City of Cincinnati for quality manufacturing jobs" and urging "the United Steelworkers and Cognis Corporation to return to the bargaining table and negotiate in good faith until such a settlement is reached."
RED LETTER DAY:
2005 August , Cognis meets with the Winton Place Community Council and interested community members to present their odor abatement plan. This meeting will be held at the usual time and place for Council meetings and was well attended. d
2005 July, AFLCIO Workers out on strike hold a mock funeral complete with hearse mourning the Death of Integrity at Cognis
2005 June , Cognis arranged an odor monitoring training at their headquarters which was attended by ECO staff, Mike Harmon of the Office of the Solicitor for the City, Tom Wittekind of the Hamilton County DOES, a member and guest of Cognis' Citizens Advisory Panel, and the Chair of the Winton Place Community Council. Citizen representatives from ECO and the Winton Place Community Council Chair asked for Cognis to be more responsive to community needs. They attributed the poor community attendance at this meeting to the fact that it was held at Cognis Headquarters and on the same evening as the Winton Place Community Picnic. Cognis responded by scheduling a more appropriate community meeting for August.
2005 May , Cognis contractor Webster Environmental Associates presented an overview of their project to Cognis Citizen Advisory Panel and to City Attorney Mike Harmon. ECO staff attended the presentation as a guest of the Citizen Advisory Panel.
AFLCIO holds a Solidarity Picnic for Cognis workers and their families.
2005 April, Hamilton County DOES sent copies of their report on the status of the complaints to all complainants. Cognis contracted with Webster Environmental Associates, an environmental consulting firm specializing in odor control services. Webster began work to conduct a comprehensive odor study to assist Cognis in identifying which emissions sources are creating off-site odors.
The project is to include:
2005 March, Cognis management meets with Tom Wittekind of Hamilton County DOES and Mike Harmon of the City of Cincinnati Law Department to discuss a rash of complaints. Cognis is required to address the complaints and is informed that enforcement under the Cincinnati Clean Air Act was under active consideration.
In response, Cognis Corporation took the following actions to help prevent additional odor complaints:
ECO and USW submit a formal complaint to PUCO (Public Utilities Commission of Ohio on problems with leaking trucks and spillage at the Cognis facility. As a result, Cognis instituted new operational procedures requiring inspection of trucks leaving the plant, cleanup of any product on the outside of trucks, and signing off on the loads by personnel to ensure that incidences of truck leakage will not reoccur.
2005 February, United Steelworkers Local goes out on strike.
2004 July, City of Cincinnati reinstates Title X, the Cincinnati Clean Air Act, prohibiting environmental nuisances within the city limits.
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