For the reasons outlined below, we, the residents of, and visitors to Westerville, Blendon Township and NE Columbus, Ohio, alongside the citizen-led group known as Citizen Pollution Watch, fully support our local leaders in their efforts to improve our community with the implementation of the Westerville Road Area (Redevelopment) Plan.

Towards this end Citizen Pollution Watch has launched a community wide "Support the Plan" yard sign campaign, and is submitting this accompanying petition to leaders, regulators, property owners and facility/plant owners associated with the 270/Westerville Road industrial site.   

The Westerville Road Area Plan was developed in 2015 by local leaders of Blendon Township and Westerville.  Its aim is to improve the corridor of Westerville Road from I-270 south to Paris Court, an area they determined was deteriorating, due, in part, to a large industrial site contained therein.  A key component of this community improvement plan is the redevelopment of this industrial site known as the 270/Westerville Road industrial site. 

Therefore, we petition the leaders, regulators, property and facility owners, associated with the 270/Westerville Rd. industrial site, to take the necessary steps that will help our leaders succeed in their efforts to fully implement this community improvement and advancement plan.  More specifically, we petition leaders and property and facility owners to work together to ensure that the emitting plants/facilities operating at the 270/Westerville Road industrial site (the asphalt plant, concrete/cement plants, concrete/asphalt crushing plants, yard waste composting facility) are relocated and replaced with the retail stores, offices, hotel, green spaces, etc., as outlined in the Westerville Road Area Plan. 

We, the undersigned, do, hereby, fully support the Westerville Road Area Plan, and the redevelopment and transformation outlined therein.  We fully support more jobs and less pollution that such a transformation would create; We support more stability that the plan will create.  We support a healthier and more beautiful community that the plan would create.  AND, we fully support transforming this dirty, dusty, odorous and loud area into a cleaner, lovelier, healthier, pedestrian friendly and useful area that our community can use and be proud of, now and in the future:   

1. WHEREAS, business surveys conducted by Blendon Township show that "(a)n issue raised by several of those interviewed is the dirt and dust coming from the mulch and cement businesses located west of Westerville Road. The dirt and dust is a constant nuisance for everyone in the area.  Several people complained of the mulch business producing foul odors, especially after a heavy rain, with the runoff usually heavy and very dirty.”

2. WHEREAS, business surveys conducted by Blendon Township officials show that “(s)everal key properties within the study area are contributing to the overall deterioration of the corridor.  Excessive noise, foul odors, and heavy amounts of dust are creating an atmosphere that is not conducive to operating businesses. Additionally, these nuisance properties are detracting from the overall aesthetic and character of the area, and the Township should be aggressive in neutralizing their effects.”

3. WHEREAS the 270/Westerville Road industrial site includes not one, but several emitting facilities, including but not limited to: 

•  A 600,000 ton a year asphalt production plant (Scioto Materials, co-owned by Kokosing Materials and Shelly Materials)
• A recycled asphalt crushing plant
• A 3 million ton a year reclaimed concrete crushing plant (Metro Materials)
•  2 concrete production plants (Anderson Concrete & Top Cat Concrete)
• A class IV yard waste composting facility (Kurtz Bros)
• Diesel trucks, dusty/aggregate piles, dirt roads, above ground and underground chemical storage tanks, etc.; and

that collectively emit tons upon tons of air emissions each year, including but not limited to:

• Volatile Organic Compounds including but not limited to hazardous air emissions,  metal carcinogens, etc.
• Nitrogen Oxide
• Sulfur Dioxide
• Carbon Monoxide
• Particulate matter
• Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; and

4. WHEREAS, the EPA has documented that asphalt production plants emit hazardous and carcinogenic emissions, and the American Lung Association reports that breathing particle pollution may trigger illness, hospitalization and premature death; and

5. WHEREAS, concrete crushing is known to emit silica, a known human lung carcinogen; and

6. WHEREAS, large composting facilities can create particles called organic dust (bioaerosols) that can include live or dead bacteria, fungi, viruses, allergens, bacterial endotoxins, antigens (molecules that can induce an immune response), toxins (toxins produced by microorganisms), mycotoxins (toxins produced by fungi), glucans (components of cell walls of many molds), pollen, plant fibers, etc., and these bioaerosols are known to cause symptoms and/or illness, including a wide range of adverse health effects and infection, AND an association has been found in residents regarding distance to an outdoor composting facility and respiratory symptoms and general health complaints; and 

7. WHEREAS, the 270/Westerville Road industrial site is located in and/or adjacent to the very populated neighborhoods of Blendon Township, NE Columbus, and Westerville, Ohio (Franklin County) and operates adjacent to Alum Creek (a water of the state), AND approximately a quarter mile upgrade from the Huber Ridge public water supply wells; and

8. WHEREAS, this industrial site is located close to several schools, soccer fields, parks, etc. where children spend time outside, and will be regularly exposed to these potentially dangerous emissions, AND close to condos, apartments, retail stores, restaurants and other businesses; and

9. WHEREAS, the citizens of Westerville, Blendon Township and Columbus (who live within a ~3-mile radius of the industrial site) have filed 270 odor, noise, dust, etc. complaints between April 2018 and October, 2021, and CPW has submitted an additional 9 pages of citizens' concerns to local leaders regarding this industrial site; and

10. WHEREAS, these citizen complaints and concerns outline symptoms such as dizziness, headaches, body weakness, burning noses, throats and chests, increased stress, depression, anxiety, etc. that citizens associate with the odors, noise, dust, etc. they associated with this industrial site; and

11.  WHEREAS, complaints outline a diminished quality of life due to living near this industrial site; and

12.  WHEREAS, it is documented, via citizen complaints, that people/families have: moved away, withdrawn their children from a school near the site, stopped shopping at local businesses in the area, and chosen not to move to Westerville, etc., due to this industrial site 

13.  WHEREAS, teachers from Huber Ridge Elementary School have expressed concerns about the odors from this industrial site and its impact on their students and outdoor recess; and

14.  WHEREAS, a North Carolina Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League conducted a study that found a decrease of 56% in property values for houses within one mile of an asphalt plant; and

15.  WHEREAS, much of the 109-acres at this industrial site contain large aggregate and mulch storage piles that provide limited opportunity for jobs, and the redevelopment of the industrial site will offer the opportunity for many more needed jobs to the community (ie: that many of the acres of aggregate piles could be replaced with hotel, retails stores, etc.); and

16.  WHEREAS, Citizen Pollution Watch (the citizen led group working on this issue) has uncovered many air, water, and zoning violations by the emitting businesses operating at this industrial site, and have taken these to the proper regulatory authorities where violation notices have been issued; and

17.  WHEREAS, in the recent past, the state of Ohio has brought suit against companies operating at/affiliated with this site for major air violations, and the companies have either been found guilty, or, settled out of court by signing a Consent Degree; and 

18.  WHEREAS, the Friends of Alum Creek, in their 2020 Investigative Water Study of Alum Creek adjacent to the industrial site, found indications of environmental quality degradation downstream from the industrial site, potentially harmful impacts from the site on Alum Creek, and higher levels of oil near the industrial site; and

19.  WHEREAS, it is arguably more appropriate to position such highly emitting plants/facilities in a transitory location (ie: along a highway), VS in populated residential neighborhoods and close to retail and other businesses; and

20.  WHEREAS, the future of asphalt and concrete production is portable plants, as more of our country is becoming urbanized, ie: it is becoming nearly impossible to find non-populated areas to set up permanent emitting plants--Portable plants will ensure that no one neighborhood is exposed to potentially dangerous emissions, noise, dust, odor, truck traffic, etc. on a consistent and long-term basis; and

21.  WHEREAS, Citizen Pollution Watch is not the first, but the second citizen-led effort to relieve suffering reportedly related to this industrial site; Citizens for Clean Air was the first effort and it formed back in ~2004 to deal with foul air reportedly related to another asphalt plant at the site; and

22.  WHEREAS, our community has borne the pollution burden from this industrial site for the past 20+ years, and environmental justice calls for all communities to bear the pollution burden for these products (asphalt, concrete, mulch) that we all use;

We, alongside the citizen-led group known as Citizen Pollution Watch, fully support our local leaders in their efforts to improve our community with the implementation of the Westerville Road Area (Redevelopment) Plan including the transformation and redevelopment of the 270/Westerville Road industrial site.