Power firm buys acid-plagued village
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – A power company agreed Tuesday to pay $20 million to buy an Ohio River village that was plagued last summer by blue clouds of sulfuric acid gas from the utility’s nearby coal-burning plant. The 221 residents of Cheshire will have to move.
“Relocation will not be easy, especially for some whose families have lived in Cheshire for generations,” said Tom Reese, mayor of the hamlet 90 miles southeast of Columbus. “It will be sad indeed to see our village disappear.”
American Electric Power will buy about 200 lots from residents, who will give up their rights to sue the company over personal and property damage they claim they sustained from the emissions.
“AEP’s offer was one that residents found to be a very good resolution,” said Barry Neuman, the residents’ attorney. “They overwhelming approved of the settlement.”
Exactly how much money each resident will receive was not disclosed, but Neuman said residents agreed on a formula that will give them substantially more than they need to relocate.
“I believe the village ultimately will cease to exist as an incorporated entity,” Neuman said.
The Gen. James M. Gavin facility is the state’s largest coal-burning power plant. A $175 million pollution control system was installed last year to help the plant comply with a federal mandate that the Midwest cut nitrogen oxide emissions drifting into the Northeast.
However, chemicals from the system created a blue acid haze that fell on Cheshire more than a dozen times last June, July and August.
The plumes often appeared on hot, humid days when weather conditions pushed exhaust from the plant’s 830-foot smokestacks down into the village instead of dispersing it into the atmosphere. The exhaust turned blue as it fell, and the clouds disappeared within about an hour.
Residents reported burning eyes, headaches, sore throats and white-colored burns on their lips, tongues and insides of their mouths. Earlier this year, a federal report said the sulfuric clouds were not life-threatening but were harmful to those with asthma.
Since last summer, AEP has been searching for ways to stop the emissions. The company announced in January that it would spend $7 million to install three injection systems to stymie the sulfuric emissions.
Bill Sigmon, the company’s senior vice president, said buying the village will allow AEP to expand the power plant.
“This is a solution that meets the needs of all involved,” he said.