Ohio EPA to Host Public Meeting Regarding St Bernard Landfill Waste Delineation Plan

OEPA schedules public meeting on Jan. 10, regarding methane gas migration from St. Bernard landfill.  See notice: St. Bernard CA 01-02-13

“Ohio EPA will host a public meeting on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, to offer area residents an opportunity to learn about the waste delineation plan that will be used to determine the landfill limits of the closed St. Bernard landfill. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the St. Bernard Municipal Building, 120 Washington Ave., St. Bernard.

As part of interim measures to address ongoing landfill gas migration issues at St. Bernard, the village has installed a gas interception trench. The waste delineation plan will determine if additional measures need to be taken to address landfill gas migration and possible waste removal.
During the meeting, consultants for the village will present the proposed delineation plan and answer questions from attendees. Ohio EPA staff also will be available to answer questions.”

2013 City Budget Update

The City Manager has released the proposed budget for 2013, and there is no doubt that green initiatives have made the cut. At least, for now. Specifically, the budget:

  • Does not cut funding for the Office of Environmental Quality. The OEQ has been the driving force behind the enhanced recycling program,  the green electricity aggregation contract negotiations, brownfield redevelopment programs (such as Compost Cincy), and many more. In fact, the budget includes funding for the creation of an “Energy Manager” in the OEQ, to manage the aggregation contract, seek additional opportunities for renewable energy development, and reduce electrical costs for Cincinnati electric customers.
  • Provides support for the Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance, which will improve residential building efficiency and local infrastructure, which will subsequently reduce energy costs and improve local air quality.
  • Reinstates Yard Material collection services. Also, includes allocations for semi-automated collection services that will reduce trash collection fees, improve recycling literacy, and more.

However, you can be sure that people will show up in numbers to oppose some of these budget measures. If we want these items to remain in the city budget, WE NEED TO BE THERE TOO.

There will be 2 hearings:

Dec. 6, 2012 – 6 p.m. City Hall Council Chambers 801 Plum St., Room 308 Cincinnati, OH 45202

Dec. 10, 2012 – 6 p.m. Corryville Recreation Center 2823 Eden Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45219

Will you help us support these programs? Sign up to attend one of the meetings, and we’ll send you more information:

Sign Up to Attend the City Budget Hearings and Support Green Projects!

This petition is now closed.

End date: Dec 10, 2012
Signatures collected: 0
0 signatures

Land Conservancy’s Annual Meeting Friday Nov 16 at 7pm at Miamitown’s Historic Town Hall

THE LAND CONSERVANCY’S Secrets of the Streams”  ANNUAL MEETING  FRI., NOV. 16 at 7PM at Miamitown’s Historic Town Hall

A presentation about the ongoing Great Miami River  Citizens’ Water Quality Monitoring Program 

For three years, citizens have been collecting water samples from tributaries to the Great Miami River. The data reveal that many streams are healthy, others threatened by urban runoff. 

Join us for a colorful photo journey through the dynamic headwater stream system of western Hamilton County. You’ll learn about water quality—and how our precious land and water resources are irrevocably intertwined. 

LandConservancy meets 11-16-2012

Compost Cincy Tour

Just a week after the State of the City Environment Forum had speakers who focused on ways the city could move towards zero waste, we had the opportunity to take some members on a tour of Compost Cincy. This was thanks to owner and CEO Grant Gibson being very willing to show us around the site. I’ve categorized some of the questions from our members below about the process. 

Grant Gibson shows members a fresh load and explains windrow composting.

How the process works

Windrow composting is a method of aerobic composting that combines food waste and celluloid organic matter (wood chips, etc) into rows. Bacteria and enzymes break down the matter into nutrient rich compost material that is tested and prepped for sales in local gardening and retail stores. Every few weeks, a large machine turns the rows of compost to allow oxygen to fuel the process. The breakdown occurs between 120 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

A thermometer shows the internal temperature of a windrow.

Diverted waste streams

Companies around the city, sourcing from food processing facilities to cafeterias, are very excited to have a place to send compost waste at a cost much lower than tipping fees at landfills. Xavier University and Proctor & Gamble are examples of some of their clients, while Mr. Gibson hopes to continue to add sources such as the University of Cincinnati.

Wood carbon sources are necessary from the process, and the facility is currently receiving most of their cellulosic biomass from local landscaping companies. “They’re happy about it. Until we opened, there were only drop-off facilities on the west side and east side. If you look at the 275 loop, we’re pretty much the bulls-eye of that circle, so we’re a more convenient location for a lot of them.”

A massive chipper machine breaks down landscape trimmings into sizes that allow for aerobic composting in windrows.

Mr. Gibson hinted that there may be opportunities with the city to reinstate the city curbside yard material pickups, and has been in some discussions with them. He raised concerns that new types of broadleaf pesticides being used for yard treatment leave residue on grass clippings that don’t break down during his composting process, and could persist in his final product. This could potentially make his compost product toxic to trees where the compost is spread, so he stated very clearly that he won’t accept any type of grass clippings.

Runoff

“We’ve graded the slope of the site to collect runoff into a retention pond,” referring to a lined pond which collects highly nutrient rich liquids during rain events. The lined pond is sufficient for runoff, and discharge into the sewer system may only be necessary during a rare 100-year rainfall event.

A lined retention pond collects runoff from the windrows.

What’s under the site?

The old dump site was recently redeveloped as part of OEQ’s brownfield redevelopment initiative, which secured a consent not to sue from the EPA with regards to any possible hazardous waste that may exist underneath the site.

“We had to make sure that we didn’t disturb what’s down there. We had to show how we were going to do that.” Records of what went into the dump are virtually non-existent, as Grant explained that it had literally been just place for people to dump, not a landfill which would have been lined.

Methane does not seem to be an issue at this site, as it has been at other nearby abandoned fill sites. This is a local concern that references the Elda Landfill, which was seeping methane into many local homes, causing illness and creating an explosion hazard.

Regardless, Compost Cincy makes sure they don’t open that can of worms. “When we dug the pond, I literally had to sit and watch every scoop and make sure that nothing was exposed. If something had shown up, we  would have literally had to put it into a sealed dumpster, and haul it off to the landfill.”

Overall, we were very happy to see the new site, and wish Mr. Gibson and the folks at Compost Cincy the best of luck with their exciting new business.

Have more questions about Compost Cincy? Post them below, and we’ll add them to this post.

Show your support for curbside yard materials collection here!

Reinstate Yard Material Collection Services!

Dear Council Members,

Now that Compost Cincy has created a low-cost option for composting yard materials, reinstating the yard material collection service just plain makes sense. This would help reduce landfill space and tipping fees which are reflected in city operating costs. I fully support reinstating this service and am looking forward to your action on this matter.

Thank you,

Share this with your friends:

 

State of the City Environment Forum Scheduled

Last year, the Cincinnati Green Group (a coalition of residents including members from ECO), held a candidates forum at Northside Tavern to ask City Council Candidates about environmental issues. If you were there, you remember that we packed the house and asked candidates for the first time about fracking. You may also know that we now have arguably the greenest city council this city has ever seen. Miss last year’s forum? You can download a video of it here, thanks to Media Bridges.

A packed house at last year's candidate forum. Photo credit: Ohio Citizen Action

After all that success, the group is gearing up to have another event this year – “The State of the City Environment,” Wednesday, Oct. 10 at 6:00 pm, again at Northside Tavern. This year, we’ve landed WVXU’s Ann Thomson as our facilitator, and are ready to focus on city-wide zero waste strategies, as well as giving the audience an opportunity to ask Council Members about environmental issues.

Mark Fisher from the Cincinnati Zoo, and Neil Seldman from the DC-based Institute for Local Self-Reliance will guide us through a discussion about what the city can do next to move towards zero waste.

Mark your calendars, and RSVP here!

Compost Cincy Highlights Effectiveness of Office of Environmental Quality

Cincinnati now is the home to the first compost facility located in a major metropolitan area. The new facility is located on the former Center Hill Landfill site, and is called “Compost Cincy.”

A truck delivers compostable food scraps. Source: Compost Cincy

Since beginning operations in July, the site is outrunning their projected success, and getting even more attention than originally expected, according to Grant Gibson. Compost Cincy is already receiving organic waste from Walmart, Kroger, Proctor and Gamble, and several local restaurants, according to the website. The rich product is manicured to produce a commercial grade compost mulch.

Their rapid success is no surprise, since according to a Hamilton County Solid Waste District Waste Characterization Study, 19.1% of typical household waste in Hamilton County is compostable. This presents large potential savings for the typical Cincinnati resident should composting become available for curbside pickup. Cincinnati previously realized the tipping fees and costs associated co-mingling yard materials, and made changes which reduced the costs of waste collection services.

Map shows the location of the Center Hill brownfield redevelopment site

Center Hill is a one of many Brownfield Restoration Projects being pursued by Cincinnati’s Office of Environmental Quality (OEQ). By facilitating the redevelopment of such sites, it is creating new business opportunities such as this one , as well as opportunities for waste stream diversion and reduced tipping fees which will reduce landfill sizes and trash collection fees. According to Grant Gibson from Compost Cincy, “The OEQ has been a major help for us in this process.”

ECO members will be touring Compost Cincy late this September. If you are interested in joining us for the tour, please contact us at: info@env-comm.org

New No Frack Forum

Join ECO and others across the county to stop dangerous natural gas fracking !

Information is available on the newly launched Southwest Ohio No Frack Forum !

Kings Run – MSD changes plan

MSD has updated its plans for Kings Run Combined Sewer Overflows. More details can be found at the MSD website in the Lower Mill Creek Partial Remedies Report, page 74.

High levels of bacteria have been found in Kings Run.  The Kings Run overflow discharges at least 100 million gallons of untreated sewage to Kings Run in a typical year, according to their latest modeling.

FIXING THE FUTURE: BUILDING A JUST and SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY

FIXING THE FUTURE: BUILDING A JUST and SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY
Posted on November 28th, 2011
Woman’s City Club and the Social Justice Committee of First UU Church join the Office of Environmental Quality and Sierra Club to present:

FIXING THE FUTURE:

BUILDING A JUST and SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY

A monthly Friday night program of films and speakers that challenge the idea that we must choose between a strong economy and a healthy planet.

Friday, December 2, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

First Unitarian Church

536 Linton Street, Cincinnati, 45219

Drs. Heather Reynolds and Dave Rollo from Bloomington, Indiana will explain how, as the costs of our carbon-based economy rise, and the production in traditional energy sources fall, we are called upon to build other, more resilient support systems.

“Peak Oil and Building Community Resilience”

We know that unending growth cannot take place on a finite planet. Yet our leaders tell us growth is needed in order to create jobs. When oil prices start to rise and production fails to keep up with worldwide demand, how will we and our automobile-based economy cope? We must learn to view the current economic crisis less as a problem than as a opportunity and a condition to which we must adapt ourselves individually and collectively. We are called upon to build other, more resilient supports of our common life. We must find ways to build a new economy that operates within the Earth’s budget of energy and resources.

SPEAKERS

Dr. Heather Reynolds: Assoc. Prof, of Biology, Indiana University, Ph.D.in integrative biology from the University of California, Berkeley and a M.S. in plant ecology from the University of Connecticut. Heather is a member of the speaker’s bureau for the Center for Advancement of the Steady State Economy. Dr. Reynolds will explain the failures of our current economic system and describe the changes to it we must make in order to achieve environmental sustainability and provide jobs to all who want to work.

Dave Rollo: As a member of the Bloomington Indiana City Council, Dave sought to bring sustainability policies into local government. His policy initiatives include the creation of the Bloomington Commission on Sustainability, the city’s Green Building Ordinance and Authorship of the Council Resolution Supporting the Kyoto Protocol and the creation of the Bloomington Peak Oil Taskforce. His work on energy policy and community adaptation to energy decline has been featured in numerous publications.

For more information, contact Jeanne Nightingale jnightingale@fuse.net-471-6622 or Heather Zoller heatherzoller@me.com 859-442-0011

Cincinnati’s Office of Environmental Quality on the Chopping Block

The future of the City of Cincinnati’s Office of Environmental Quality is on the line…

IF you believe that it is a huge mistake for the City to pull the plug on it’s aggressive effort to implement its Green Cincinnati Plan – and to save millions of tax dollars through energy conservation and state of the art recycling – you have an opportunity to let your voice be heard.

This Monday, August 1, the City Manager will present his proposed budget cuts to Council’s Budget & Finance Committee at 11 am at the Madisonville Community Center (5329 Stewart Ave.).  You will have an opportunity to sign up to speak for 2 minutes to share your concerns.

Letter from City Manager Milton Dohoney to City empolyees

From: Dohoney, Milton
Sent: Friday, July 29, 2011 3:53 PM
To: #CIN.City Mailing List
Subject: Budget issues

Due to our ongoing fiscal situation, it is necessary to make the next set of moves now in order to further prepare for the coming budget challenge.

Today I am transmitting a document to the Budget & Finance Committee to elaborate on the decisions that have to be made.  This Monday I will be speaking before the Committee.

I have met with the departmental leadership and sent a message to individuals within the affected departments.  While these moves by no means resolve our problems, they give us a beginning toward addressing our 2012 deficit of $33 million.  Any long lasting cuts we make now allow us to realize more savings from day one in 2012.

I cannot say with certainty how these recommendations, listed below, will be received by Council but we are moving on them out of economic necessity:

·         Department cuts totaling $5.1 million;
·         Dissolving the Office of Environmental Quality;
·         Dissolving the Department of Community Development and merging with the Department of Planning and Buildings;
·         Moving the Business Development Division of Community Development into Economic Development Division; and
·         Pursuing a COPS grant coupled with a layoff of 44 police officers.

These moves will provide some financial help in both 2011 and 2012, but it will still require some tough decision making in the budget that will be voted on this December.

These are difficult time, but we must persevere.

Milton Dohoney, Jr.
City Manager

Tell City Council what you think !