WEBVTT

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(insects buzzing)

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- Well, the story of Cheshire is...

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They scared everybody.

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They just scared everybody out.

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But, you know, we tried to fight it.

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We just couldn\'t do it.

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You can\'t fight them big companies.

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When I think about how it used to be...

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Well, I try not to think
about that too much.

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- I am pretty much the
caretaker of Cheshire.

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I go through and cut all the grass.

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This is where I lived pretty
much my whole childhood.

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And of course we had
white fences in front,

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then right here behind
you there was Marvin.

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He had a little yellow
house facing this way.

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Sunny Smith was there.

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His was facing 554.

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Then you had the Hubury\'s,

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which was facin\' this way.

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Over here there was a garage.

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Then you got Harold Mack, Mary Phoenix.

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Harold Mack owned that
house over there, too,

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that was on the corner.

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And it was one.

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Two, three, four, five
houses down on this side

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past the stop sign.

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And over here there was one big house,

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which was Tom Reese\'s.

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Then we had the trailer.

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- Oh, it was busy.

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There was all kind of houses,

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and trailers, and everything.

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(mid-tempo instrumental music)

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Well, it\'s different than what
it used to be, I\'ll tell ya\'.

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There\'s just nobody here anymore.

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You know, it\'s hard not to miss \'em.

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(upbeat drumline music)

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- It is a pretty little place.

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It\'s a pretty town.

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There\'s about 90, 91 houses.

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There\'s a little over 200 population.

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You can see as you go through town,

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we have a lot of nice
trees, it\'s kept clean.

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It\'s a clean little town.

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A lot of Christian people.

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We have two nice churches here.

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No rough stuff.

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I moved to Cheshire in 1938.

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My dad moved here to teach,

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and I had just graduated from high school

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in Ashland, Kentucky.

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We used to come through Cheshire.

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We\'d go through here.

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And as we\'d come towards Cheshire,

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we\'d always jump up and look
because the trees were always

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kind of touched in the center

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of the highway through Cheshire.

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It made sort of a tunnel.

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(soft acoustic music)

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And there was something
about it that fascinated,

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there were three of us kids.

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I had a brother and a sister.

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We\'d jump up and say,
\"Oh, there\'s the tunnel.\"

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I never did dream that
I\'d ever live in Cheshire.

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- Moved here February the 4th
on my 14th birthday, 1936.

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Up here to Cheshire,
and snow up to my waist.

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You remember how high that
snow was that year, 1936?

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- No (laughs).

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- Yeah, we weren\'t too happy.

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None of us were because we
had never seen the place.

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Dad didn\'t even bring Mom up to look at it

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after he said he bought it.

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I thought we were stuck out
in the middle of no place.

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There\'s two houses across the street,

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three houses across the street from me.

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And then looked to me
like a mile up the road,

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which wasn\'t really, it was
just about a quarter of a mile,

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was the Swisher farm.

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My dad was a river man,

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and he worked for the High
River Dredging Company,

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and he was superintendent
overseeing all their barges,

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and their boats, and things like that.

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And then my oldest
grandson is a river man.

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- Well, when they first come our way,

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we were all just kind of
wonderin\' what it\'s all about.

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We\'d see \'em out measuring
this, that, and the other.

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And I looked across the street,

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and they were buyin\' the
place across from me,

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and I thought, I hope they don\'t get me,

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but they did buy the houses down below,

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there was quite a few houses.

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There was, I think it was about 15 houses

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and two businesses they had bought out.

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The first smokestack was the
one that was most exciting.

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I\'d sit on the step out here

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and watch that smokestack goin\' up and up.

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I said, oh, if that thing
falls, it\'s gonna fall on us.

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It just seemed like it was so high.

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We never thought of pollution back then,

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and to us, we didn\'t know
there would be pollution.

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We didn\'t think about it.

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- The plant is named

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for the late General James M. Gavin,

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who was a highly decorated hero

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who led airborne troops in World War II,

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and was a director of
American Electric Power

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from 1961 to 1980.

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Much like it\'s namesake,

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Gavin Plant is extraordinary.

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- The location was chosen for
two really obvious reasons.

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One, it was sitting on the Ohio River,

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so there was cooling water for the plant.

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And two, there was a coal
mine about ten miles away.

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So, if you\'re siting something like that

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that\'s exactly the kind
of place you\'d look for.

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And the fact that there happened to be

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a village sitting there,

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you wouldn\'t wanna let
that get in your way.

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(birds chirping)
(chiming)

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- When we first moved here we loved it.

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It was peaceful and it was quiet.

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And you know, actually we never even

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paid no attention to the power plant.

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There was no odors,

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there was nothing.

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We just did not pay no attention

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to the power plant being there.

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And then it seemed like
after we was here eight years

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was when we first started
noticing the odor,

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noticing things changing.

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One day we was comin\' out the door,

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and we come out here and we always

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sat here on the back porch
all the time, that\'s where...

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there or over at the picnic table,

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we always sat outside in the summer.

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And I was sittin\' in this chair,

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and I just happen to look up
and seen these bird tracks,

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and I thought, my lord.

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Now, you know the bird didn\'t walk

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upside down under the awning.

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And I thought, the only thing I can figure

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is maybe some kind of an acid or something

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the birds had walked in it, maybe.

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And then when they roosted there

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for a period of time overnight,

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then it ate through.

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So now that makes you wonder how fast

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it could eat eat through your
lungs if you was breathing it.

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Or if it was on your skin,

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how long it would take to burn it.

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So that was really worrisome.

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(wind blowing)

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I mean, you know, we\'ve
had people come in here.

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They check the soil,

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there was arsenic 20
inches deep in the soil.

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You know, that right there proves.

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(pensive instrumental music)

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- It took us awhile to
get over all of that loss.

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It was a long grieving process.

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And so, I guess that when we come back

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to the property or come back to the town,

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it\'s kind of like opening a wound.

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I just really didn\'t want to live under

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that cloud of pollution any longer,

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and I was tired of that fight.

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(phone ringing)

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Hello?

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Yes.

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We\'re having a plume touchdown.

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Yep, yep.

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Look over toward the high school.

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It\'s...

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Well, it\'s spreading, it\'s
coming over towards our house.

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Down 4th.

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- Probably since 10 AM July 3rd,

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a view of the plants plumes
from the west side of Cheshire.

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It appears to be traveling northeast.

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I just got home, and that minute
we was sittin\' on the steps

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and Herman came by and said,
\"You better get in the house.\"

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He said, \"There\'s blue
plume from the plant

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that\'s covering Cheshire.\"

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Well, we walked around
the side of the house

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and you couldn\'t even
see the neighbor\'s house

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across the street from
us, it was so thick.

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It was awful, and it smelt,
it had a funny smell to it.

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It was a musky, real funny smell.

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- So we stepped around the
side of the house to look,

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and it was just unbelievable.

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From our home, if you
would look down through

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you would see Scottie
Lucas\' home and the plant,

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but you couldn\'t see that.

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You couldn\'t see the park.

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- This is what the village

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of Cheshire residents are experiencing.

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- Look over there.

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- I know, it\'s bad.

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- Toward the...

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Gee, even down at the stacks.

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This is still not anything like
it was on July 16th of 2001.

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I mean, you... I\'m trying to think here.

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You could not even see that yellow house

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down there very much, you
know, the one right down there?

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You couldn\'t even see it.

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I mean, we were smoked in so
bad, headaches, eyes burning.

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Oh my gosh.

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\"Blue sulfuric clouds that spewed from

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an American Electric
Power plant last summer

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endangered the plant\'s neighbors,

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particularly those suffering from asthma.

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Air tests showed that
levels of sulfur dioxide

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in Cheshire and Ohio River Village

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next to the General James M. Gavin plant

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were more than 80 times
the national average

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for rural areas.

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And soon after the acidic
clouds began forming,

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residents reported breathing problems,

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burning eyes, headaches, sore throats,

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and white colored burns on
their lips and tongues.\"

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- You know, it didn\'t seem
like too long of a period

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after that happened was
when we started noticin\'

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dead birds for some strange reason.

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- Blisters I was gettin\'.

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- And Larry was gettin\'
blisters really bad.

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- On my arms, my legs.

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- So we knew then we had a problem.

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- I said, there\'s something goin\' on.

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I don\'t know what, but there\'s something.

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They just said that they had sold

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Cheshire out

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to American Electric Power.

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They were told the fallout from this plant

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right down here would kill people.

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- The blue plume would
likely be considered

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the final straw in this.

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This would be one of the larger
power plants in the country.

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It has 2,600 megawatts
of generating capacity.

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That\'d be enough to supply
more than two million homes.

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- What you see is the coal
pile we have at the facility.

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There\'s roughly a million
tons of coal on the ground

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at this point in time.

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We burn about seven
and a half million tons

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of coal a year here at this facility.

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If you look over here
you can see Unit One,

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the boiler room proper, the boiler area.

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You\'ve got the SCRs, latest
environmental control equipment

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we\'ve installed here at the facility.

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And down here you\'ve got the scrubbers,

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which were installed in the middle \'90s,

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that removes sulfur dioxide, SO2.

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And if you\'ll look, you\'ll see a treeline

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on the lower end of the property.

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Just across that treeline,

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obviously starts the village of Cheshire.

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- What happened with
the blue plume is that

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we installed a new piece of
environmental control equipment,

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and there was a surprise that happened.

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And this gets a little bit technical,

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but the amount of sulfur
trioxide that was created

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when it went swirling up
the stack of the plant,

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it got mixed in with the water vapor

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that\'s in the scrubber

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and formed a sulfuric acid mist,

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which was in the blue plume.

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But in certain weather conditions,

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it would touch down within a quarter

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to a half mile of the power plant.

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- They botched the cleanup,

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and that\'s what created the plume.

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The problem actually
came from a bungled job

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of putting in pollution control equipment,

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which should have made things better.

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But it turned out it made it worse.

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You know, it was pretty
clear that these two things

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should not be right next to each other.

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(insects buzzing)

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- Now, you wanna know what happened?

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Well, what you see here
is what you get (laughs).

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They called a meeting one night

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over there to the old school house,

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which is the village hall.

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They all thought they
was gonna make a killin\',

00:16:38.200 --> 00:16:40.534
I reckon, on their property.

00:16:41.617 --> 00:16:44.575
(mid-tempo acoustic music)

00:16:44.575 --> 00:16:46.242
- From the beginning, I began to think,

00:16:46.242 --> 00:16:50.409
well, maybe the answer here
is for the village to leave.

00:16:51.076 --> 00:16:52.992
- It became clear pretty quickly

00:16:52.992 --> 00:16:56.909
that there might be an
easy technology fix, too.

00:16:57.742 --> 00:17:01.534
And I think at one point
an AEP person even said,

00:17:01.534 --> 00:17:03.784
\"We\'re experimenting with these people.\"

00:17:03.784 --> 00:17:07.575
I mean, he made some kind
of very unusual comment

00:17:07.575 --> 00:17:09.409
for a company person.

00:17:09.409 --> 00:17:12.992
And I think for the
people who lived there,

00:17:14.242 --> 00:17:16.242
there was just no other way to avoid

00:17:16.242 --> 00:17:20.409
being exposed to this
stuff other than to leave.

00:17:20.951 --> 00:17:24.283
- It really was about the only choice.

00:17:24.283 --> 00:17:27.325
Our property values
were not worth anything.

00:17:27.325 --> 00:17:28.492
They were so many things there

00:17:28.492 --> 00:17:31.492
that my husband was allergic to.

00:17:31.492 --> 00:17:33.492
So we had no choice.

00:17:33.492 --> 00:17:37.076
- Okay, let\'s bring this meeting to order.

00:17:37.076 --> 00:17:39.534
- So we met there to tell everyone

00:17:39.534 --> 00:17:41.450
what the AEP offer was.

00:17:43.575 --> 00:17:47.742
- You know, that evening
when we went in over here

00:17:47.826 --> 00:17:51.283
to the meeting to see what it was about,

00:17:51.283 --> 00:17:55.367
somebody standing there
in the hallway said,

00:17:57.617 --> 00:18:01.784
\"This is really gonna be a
good night for you people.\"

00:18:03.409 --> 00:18:04.742
Well, it wasn\'t.

00:18:06.575 --> 00:18:08.826
- We explained it was 20 million dollars,

00:18:08.826 --> 00:18:11.867
and then we explained that
they would have to decide

00:18:11.867 --> 00:18:14.200
how to divide it up.

00:18:14.200 --> 00:18:16.701
- I think that Gavin is just too big

00:18:16.701 --> 00:18:19.367
and too powerful for us to fight.

00:18:19.367 --> 00:18:21.742
So, instead of fighting
when we couldn\'t fight,

00:18:21.742 --> 00:18:22.909
we\'re not big enough,

00:18:22.909 --> 00:18:25.617
so we decided to take the buyout.

00:18:49.951 --> 00:18:51.826
- Gigantic power plant in southeast Ohio

00:18:51.826 --> 00:18:54.450
pumps a huge toxic cloud over a village.

00:18:54.450 --> 00:18:56.034
There\'ve been neighbors complaining

00:18:56.034 --> 00:18:58.409
of blisters, sores, and burning eyes.

00:18:58.409 --> 00:19:00.367
But instead of suing,
the village of Cheshire

00:19:00.367 --> 00:19:03.659
has agreed to pack up and
leave with the utility giant

00:19:03.659 --> 00:19:06.701
paying home owners three times
the value of their homes.

00:19:06.701 --> 00:19:10.867
In return, they lose the right
to sue the utility company.

00:19:11.409 --> 00:19:14.325
- Any company that has houses along

00:19:14.325 --> 00:19:16.118
the fence line to their property,

00:19:16.118 --> 00:19:18.034
the company will always
be looking for ways

00:19:18.034 --> 00:19:22.034
to buy the property because
they want the buffer area there.

00:19:22.034 --> 00:19:26.076
- Our goal has never been to
eliminate the town, alright?

00:19:26.076 --> 00:19:27.867
We\'re about making sure that we\'ve got

00:19:27.867 --> 00:19:30.909
the right buffer zone
to run our operation,

00:19:30.909 --> 00:19:33.784
and then we wanna be a positive
influence in the community,

00:19:33.784 --> 00:19:36.784
alright, and build that if you will.

00:19:38.076 --> 00:19:40.450
- I think it\'s turned out
for the best for all parties.

00:19:40.450 --> 00:19:43.076
We have the land that
we need for our plant,

00:19:43.076 --> 00:19:44.784
and they seem to be happy,

00:19:44.784 --> 00:19:48.826
so it seems to be a winning
story for both sides.

00:19:55.575 --> 00:19:59.242
- You know, not everybody
wanted to do this.

00:20:00.409 --> 00:20:04.575
There\'s me, and Scottie Lucas
over there on the corner.

00:20:09.992 --> 00:20:14.159
And, well, there\'s four or
five of us here didn\'t move.

00:20:16.367 --> 00:20:19.492
I said, I\'m not goin\' anywhere because

00:20:19.492 --> 00:20:23.325
this is where often I
went to housekeepin\'.

00:20:25.867 --> 00:20:28.159
And I wasn\'t goin\' anywhere.

00:20:29.492 --> 00:20:31.742
And I didn\'t.

00:20:50.867 --> 00:20:52.242
- I don\'t want no part of it.

00:20:52.242 --> 00:20:55.283
I want it just the way it is.

00:20:55.283 --> 00:20:57.450
I\'ll stay right here, it\'s
my house, my property,

00:20:57.450 --> 00:21:00.118
and what I do on it is my business.

00:21:00.118 --> 00:21:01.784
It\'s not gonna be deserted,

00:21:01.784 --> 00:21:03.159
and if it is it wouldn\'t
make any difference.

00:21:03.159 --> 00:21:06.118
I\'m not afraid, I\'ve got
my dogs, I\'ve got my guns,

00:21:06.118 --> 00:21:10.034
and they\'re loaded and
I know how to shoot \'em.

00:21:11.159 --> 00:21:12.659
This is my weapon.

00:21:14.534 --> 00:21:17.283
I\'m a pretty good shot with a rifle.

00:21:17.283 --> 00:21:19.450
If somebody starts through
that door, I\'ll shoot \'em.

00:21:19.450 --> 00:21:20.951
I don\'t wanna kill \'em.

00:21:20.951 --> 00:21:22.159
And I\'d hate for them
to get through the door

00:21:22.159 --> 00:21:23.242
and get blood on my floor,

00:21:23.242 --> 00:21:27.409
but I guess that\'d be better
than it bein\' my blood, so.

00:21:28.076 --> 00:21:31.242
And there\'s a bullet
in it, see right there?

00:21:31.242 --> 00:21:32.742
So I don\'t have to cock it.

00:21:32.742 --> 00:21:35.159
There\'s a bullet right there.

00:21:35.159 --> 00:21:39.159
I will not sell out unless they force me,

00:21:39.159 --> 00:21:43.283
and of course they\'ll have
to come up with my price.

00:21:44.701 --> 00:21:47.367
My price is one million dollars.

00:21:48.492 --> 00:21:52.367
Now, there\'s really three
reasons that I\'m not selling out.

00:21:52.367 --> 00:21:56.450
One is I\'m not happy with
the way they treated me.

00:21:56.450 --> 00:21:58.492
I think they treated me wrong.

00:21:58.492 --> 00:22:02.659
I have been here, an old
homesteader, longer than anyone.

00:22:02.951 --> 00:22:05.450
Another is I\'m sentimental.

00:22:05.450 --> 00:22:08.325
Another is I\'m too old to move.

00:22:08.325 --> 00:22:10.534
It would be hard for me to move.

00:22:10.534 --> 00:22:12.701
(phone ringing)

00:22:14.034 --> 00:22:14.867
Hello.

00:22:16.034 --> 00:22:18.867
Odella\'s in the hospital?

00:22:18.867 --> 00:22:20.118
Intensive care?

00:22:21.034 --> 00:22:23.784
What I\'ve said over at the salon?

00:22:24.867 --> 00:22:27.367
Is she upset over selling out?

00:22:28.118 --> 00:22:29.492
They\'re wanting to put, I\'ve heard,

00:22:29.492 --> 00:22:33.659
a loading dock right here
on my property for coal.

00:22:34.742 --> 00:22:36.826
If you look over on the river bank,

00:22:36.826 --> 00:22:38.200
and you see a little old right up woman

00:22:38.200 --> 00:22:41.575
standing over there, white
palms and white teeth,

00:22:41.575 --> 00:22:42.909
that\'d be me.

00:22:42.909 --> 00:22:47.076
I\'ll be black with all
this coal dust on me.

00:22:47.283 --> 00:22:51.159
They really wanna dump
their coal dust right here.

00:22:51.159 --> 00:22:53.034
And that\'s another thing.

00:22:53.034 --> 00:22:57.200
They told me that they would
buy me out and let me stay

00:22:57.242 --> 00:22:59.492
like some of the rest of them.

00:22:59.492 --> 00:23:01.242
There\'s too many stipulations.

00:23:01.242 --> 00:23:04.492
I\'m not gonna stay here in their property

00:23:04.492 --> 00:23:06.784
and abide by all their rules.

00:23:06.784 --> 00:23:08.450
I\'m not gonna do it.

00:23:15.450 --> 00:23:19.492
It\'s nice. You see the
rows and all, how nice?

00:23:19.492 --> 00:23:20.701
Well there\'s Charlie\'s grave,

00:23:20.701 --> 00:23:22.575
the flowers are still on it.

00:23:22.575 --> 00:23:24.409
Everything looks good.

00:23:27.325 --> 00:23:29.742
I\'m gonna put my lipstick on.

00:23:31.409 --> 00:23:32.659
I don\'t hassle with mirrors,

00:23:32.659 --> 00:23:35.325
I\'ve had this face for 83 years.

00:23:47.159 --> 00:23:49.909
But I\'ve had people come to
me since this has happened

00:23:49.909 --> 00:23:53.534
and told me that they were
proud that I stood my ground.

00:23:53.534 --> 00:23:55.325
And some of them\'s come to me and said,

00:23:55.325 --> 00:23:56.992
\"We wish we had done it.\"

00:23:56.992 --> 00:23:57.909
And I say, \"Why didn\'t you?\"

00:23:57.909 --> 00:23:59.118
And they said, \"Well, we was afraid.\"

00:23:59.118 --> 00:24:01.200
I said, \"Afraid of what?\"

00:24:04.867 --> 00:24:07.367
I can almost hear Charlie
rollin\' over in his grave

00:24:07.367 --> 00:24:09.617
because if Charlie could look down,

00:24:09.617 --> 00:24:12.992
I know he would say,
\"Boots, I\'m proud of you,

00:24:12.992 --> 00:24:14.867
that you held your ground with \'em.\"

00:24:14.867 --> 00:24:17.617
Because he wouldn\'t want me sold.

00:24:22.242 --> 00:24:24.409
- Psalm 77, redeemed.

00:24:24.409 --> 00:24:28.159
And the word said,
\"Redeem your faith,\" amen?

00:24:30.242 --> 00:24:32.701
♫ Great is my joy

00:24:32.701 --> 00:24:35.409
♫ Now long as I go

00:24:35.409 --> 00:24:38.034
♫ I\'m redeemed

00:24:38.034 --> 00:24:40.784
♫ I\'m redeemed

00:24:40.784 --> 00:24:43.200
♫ All the way homeward

00:24:43.200 --> 00:24:45.992
♫ My praise shall flow

00:24:45.992 --> 00:24:49.200
♫ I have been redeemed

00:24:52.617 --> 00:24:55.450
♫ Gracious indeed

00:24:55.450 --> 00:24:58.242
♫ My savior to me

00:24:58.242 --> 00:24:59.992
♫ I\'m redeemed...

00:24:59.992 --> 00:25:01.951
- My one nephew asked me, he said,

00:25:01.951 --> 00:25:06.118
\"You know, if they had moved
your house away from here

00:25:08.784 --> 00:25:10.617
would that make you feel better?

00:25:10.617 --> 00:25:11.951
Just to have your house moved?\"

00:25:11.951 --> 00:25:14.534
I said, \"It\'s not the
house I\'m in love with.\"

00:25:14.534 --> 00:25:17.450
♫ Oh I\'m redeemed
♫ Yes I\'m redeemed...

00:25:17.450 --> 00:25:20.159
- It\'s just that lookin\'
around and seein\' the river,

00:25:20.159 --> 00:25:23.325
and seein\' the old stomping grounds

00:25:23.325 --> 00:25:25.325
where Charlie and I stomped for years,

00:25:25.325 --> 00:25:28.742
and we had a garden, had a
strawberry patch down there

00:25:28.742 --> 00:25:30.575
loaded with strawberries.

00:25:30.575 --> 00:25:34.534
♫ I have been redeemed...

00:25:34.534 --> 00:25:37.617
- There are just so many
things, sentimental,

00:25:37.617 --> 00:25:41.450
I guess memories. I
think about those things.

00:25:41.450 --> 00:25:44.992
♫ Glory glory
♫ Christ is mine...

00:25:44.992 --> 00:25:46.784
- If they would move the house,

00:25:46.784 --> 00:25:49.367
there wouldn\'t be any memories.

00:25:50.242 --> 00:25:51.450
When I look out the window,

00:25:51.450 --> 00:25:53.118
there wouldn\'t be any memories.

00:25:53.118 --> 00:25:56.367
♫ I have been redeemed

00:25:57.575 --> 00:25:58.409
- Amen.

00:25:59.283 --> 00:26:00.951
- Amen, our Father and Lord in Heaven.

00:26:00.951 --> 00:26:02.283
- Praise the Lord.

00:26:03.325 --> 00:26:05.118
- Give the Lord a good hand.

00:26:05.118 --> 00:26:07.367
(clapping)

00:26:09.826 --> 00:26:13.992
(wind blowing)
(chiming)

00:26:20.992 --> 00:26:22.200
- So it\'s really an old house.

00:26:22.200 --> 00:26:26.118
I think it was 1919,
1920, something like that.

00:26:27.492 --> 00:26:30.200
I think that down the
road it\'s gonna be hard

00:26:30.200 --> 00:26:34.076
for me to accept that I
can\'t tell my children

00:26:34.076 --> 00:26:37.450
the way my parents told
me, to show me the house

00:26:37.450 --> 00:26:39.784
that we lived in and we
was born and raised in

00:26:39.784 --> 00:26:41.784
because actually I don\'t think our house

00:26:41.784 --> 00:26:43.867
will be here to show \'em.

00:26:46.909 --> 00:26:50.659
I figured there will be a lot
of strange things going on

00:26:50.659 --> 00:26:52.826
because once they buy they
can do anything they want to,

00:26:52.826 --> 00:26:54.742
it\'s theirs, like, right now it\'s theirs.

00:26:54.742 --> 00:26:56.575
The house I\'m stayin\'
in right now is mine,

00:26:56.575 --> 00:26:59.701
but (laughs) I can take
it with me if I want to,

00:26:59.701 --> 00:27:03.450
but the ground itself
already belongs to AEP.

00:27:12.076 --> 00:27:15.159
(Music - Elvis Presley,
\"Can\'t Help Falling In Love\")

00:27:19.118 --> 00:27:21.701
♫ Wise men say

00:27:25.534 --> 00:27:29.659
♫ Only fools rush in

00:27:33.283 --> 00:27:37.034
♫ But I can\'t help

00:27:38.867 --> 00:27:41.701
♫ Falling in love

00:27:42.617 --> 00:27:44.867
♫ With you

00:27:47.867 --> 00:27:51.784
♫ For I can\'t help

00:27:53.325 --> 00:27:57.492
♫ Falling in love with you

00:28:05.034 --> 00:28:06.409
(clapping)

00:28:06.409 --> 00:28:08.076
- Thank you very much
ladies and gentlemen.

00:28:08.076 --> 00:28:08.909
God bless you.

00:28:08.909 --> 00:28:10.325
Hey, I want everybody to give Shelby

00:28:10.325 --> 00:28:11.367
a hand for her birthday.

00:28:11.367 --> 00:28:13.659
Today is Shelby\'s birthday,
and she\'s, how old are you?

00:28:13.659 --> 00:28:16.242
- Four.
- She\'s four years old today.

00:28:16.242 --> 00:28:19.909
(clapping)
Thank you.

00:28:19.909 --> 00:28:21.325
- Give a word of blessing and thanks

00:28:21.325 --> 00:28:23.076
to the King of Kings.

00:28:24.450 --> 00:28:26.242
Our Heavenly Father, we\'re thankful Lord

00:28:26.242 --> 00:28:28.992
that you\'ve given us a
beautiful day here today,

00:28:28.992 --> 00:28:31.325
and Lord, we\'re thankful
for the family community

00:28:31.325 --> 00:28:34.242
that we have here, Lord, in Cheshire.

00:28:34.242 --> 00:28:35.617
We\'re thankful we have you to share

00:28:35.617 --> 00:28:38.159
our thoughts and our
feelings with, and good Lord,

00:28:38.159 --> 00:28:39.867
we are thankful for one another

00:28:39.867 --> 00:28:41.492
and for your great love for us.

00:28:41.492 --> 00:28:45.159
Do bless this food today, and
most of all, the fellowship.

00:28:45.159 --> 00:28:47.118
In Jesus\' name, amen.

00:28:47.118 --> 00:28:47.951
Thank you.

00:28:55.283 --> 00:28:57.242
- That\'s not even the door
handle that was on there.

00:28:57.242 --> 00:28:58.534
Now why would they take off the old one

00:28:58.534 --> 00:29:00.283
and put on a new one?

00:29:01.951 --> 00:29:03.826
You know that closet in the front room?

00:29:03.826 --> 00:29:06.492
They\'ve taken the old handle off,

00:29:06.492 --> 00:29:09.118
and put another handle on there.

00:29:09.118 --> 00:29:11.076
Now why would they do that?

00:29:11.076 --> 00:29:12.659
- Took the old handle off
and put a new one on it?

00:29:12.659 --> 00:29:13.742
- Yeah.

00:29:14.909 --> 00:29:16.409
- Well, Lord, honey,
I don\'t have any idea.

00:29:16.409 --> 00:29:17.742
That\'s kind of dumb is my thought.

00:29:17.742 --> 00:29:19.118
- Unless they just didn\'t want AEP to know

00:29:19.118 --> 00:29:21.242
that they was takin\' stuff.

00:29:22.034 --> 00:29:23.034
But I have.

00:29:29.992 --> 00:29:32.826
The last day here was the saddest.

00:29:36.534 --> 00:29:40.076
Because we knew we\'d
not live here no more.

00:29:40.076 --> 00:29:43.200
But it\'ll be okay. I keep telling Larry,

00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:44.701
it\'s gonna be okay.

00:29:44.701 --> 00:29:45.742
Be careful.

00:29:45.742 --> 00:29:47.450
- Gee-whiz.

00:29:47.450 --> 00:29:48.784
- See over here?

00:29:48.784 --> 00:29:50.242
If we could turn the clock back,

00:29:50.242 --> 00:29:53.701
we\'d turn it back to before Gavin started,

00:29:53.701 --> 00:29:57.659
before it was even here is
what we would need to do.

00:29:57.659 --> 00:30:00.159
- We\'re just leavin\' our life.

00:30:30.992 --> 00:30:34.742
(pensive instrumental music)

00:32:04.450 --> 00:32:07.951
(soft instrumental music)

00:32:45.034 --> 00:32:48.784
(pensive instrumental music)

00:34:28.867 --> 00:34:32.367
♫ This world is not my home

00:34:32.567 --> 00:34:35.567
♫ I\'m just a-passing through

00:34:35.567 --> 00:34:38.984
♫ My treasures are laid up

00:34:38.984 --> 00:34:41.984
♫ On earth what shall I do?

00:34:41.984 --> 00:34:46.151
♫ The angels beckon me
from heaven\'s open door

00:34:47.934 --> 00:34:52.059
♫ And I cannot feel at
home in this world anymore

00:34:57.142 --> 00:35:01.309
- Starting right here,
we are the forgotten few.

00:35:01.642 --> 00:35:03.101
We\'re the ones that were left out

00:35:03.301 --> 00:35:06.592
of the big buyout in Cheshire.

00:35:06.592 --> 00:35:08.009
There are those who say because

00:35:08.009 --> 00:35:09.676
we are not included in the deal

00:35:09.676 --> 00:35:12.050
we\'re just doin\' this out
of jealousy, or spite,

00:35:12.050 --> 00:35:13.800
or whatever trying to mess up the deal

00:35:13.800 --> 00:35:15.592
that they\'re making
for the entire village.

00:35:15.592 --> 00:35:18.175
And that\'s not the case at all.

00:35:20.134 --> 00:35:21.800
Because after the village is long gone,

00:35:21.800 --> 00:35:24.217
we\'re still gonna have to live here.

00:35:25.800 --> 00:35:27.592
When it came to buyout time,

00:35:27.592 --> 00:35:31.092
those who were not inside
the corporation limit

00:35:31.292 --> 00:35:32.792
were forgot about.

00:35:34.959 --> 00:35:37.334
I\'m standing here watching
the big steam cloud up.

00:35:37.334 --> 00:35:40.876
That\'s about as high as I
ever see the steam going.

00:35:41.076 --> 00:35:42.992
And then it just drops.

00:35:44.951 --> 00:35:46.784
It\'s going up into the atmosphere,

00:35:46.784 --> 00:35:47.909
and it\'s just floating...

00:35:47.909 --> 00:35:51.617
- Tell me how that\'s just
affectin\' the village of Cheshire.

00:35:51.617 --> 00:35:52.617
- We know better.

00:35:52.617 --> 00:35:56.118
- Because look how many miles that covers.

00:35:57.692 --> 00:35:59.234
- There\'s a line down there, see,

00:35:59.234 --> 00:36:01.442
and the pollution can\'t come across.

00:36:01.442 --> 00:36:03.359
(laughing)

00:36:03.359 --> 00:36:04.984
- What I don\'t understand is how

00:36:04.984 --> 00:36:08.567
they can automatically
say that the pollution

00:36:08.567 --> 00:36:12.734
stops at the village city limits
or whatever you want to say

00:36:14.026 --> 00:36:17.276
because we have lived here all our lives.

00:36:17.276 --> 00:36:20.567
- Now we\'re not even
considered part of Cheshire.

00:36:20.567 --> 00:36:24.234
We just got that address and
that zip code, and that\'s it.

00:36:26.525 --> 00:36:28.276
- This is the first time
we\'ve all been together

00:36:28.276 --> 00:36:30.859
since the buyout was announced.

00:36:34.151 --> 00:36:36.067
We do a lot of talkin\'.

00:36:40.859 --> 00:36:42.567
- I got a call from Paul Stinson,

00:36:42.567 --> 00:36:46.442
who is the president of
Citizens Against Pollution.

00:36:46.442 --> 00:36:49.984
And he said that his group was not being

00:36:49.984 --> 00:36:52.109
represented by the village because

00:36:52.109 --> 00:36:54.192
he lived outside the village.

00:36:54.192 --> 00:36:57.109
And Paul lived about a quarter mile away,

00:36:57.109 --> 00:36:59.109
so he was still very close to the plant.

00:36:59.109 --> 00:37:03.067
In fact, he could see
it from his backyard.

00:37:03.067 --> 00:37:07.234
- The outlying area was totally left out.

00:37:08.817 --> 00:37:10.692
When it came to buyout time,

00:37:10.692 --> 00:37:14.192
those who were not inside
the corporation limit

00:37:14.192 --> 00:37:15.650
were forgot about.

00:37:16.109 --> 00:37:16.942
- Hi.

00:37:16.942 --> 00:37:17.775
- How you doin\', Paul?

00:37:17.775 --> 00:37:19.442
- Doin\' fine, Doug, how are you?

00:37:20.026 --> 00:37:23.234
We welcome you to our camp meeting

00:37:23.234 --> 00:37:25.817
of Citizens Against Pollution.

00:37:25.817 --> 00:37:27.192
- And the other problem with the deal

00:37:27.192 --> 00:37:29.026
that was made with the village

00:37:29.026 --> 00:37:31.609
was it was just a plain buyout.

00:37:31.609 --> 00:37:33.442
It didn\'t solve the problem.

00:37:33.442 --> 00:37:37.609
It didn\'t require the company
to take any corrective action.

00:37:37.609 --> 00:37:41.318
So these people were
essentially left behind

00:37:41.318 --> 00:37:43.067
without a remedy.

00:37:43.067 --> 00:37:44.567
- We\'ve formed a group because

00:37:44.567 --> 00:37:46.400
it doesn\'t make any
difference how much land

00:37:46.400 --> 00:37:50.109
American Electric Power buys or occupies

00:37:50.109 --> 00:37:51.525
around that power plant,

00:37:51.525 --> 00:37:54.942
that junk still comes
out of the power plant.

00:37:55.692 --> 00:37:58.483
It\'s gonna take every single one of us

00:37:58.483 --> 00:38:02.609
banded together to fight and win.

00:38:04.692 --> 00:38:07.276
- We had reports showing
that they had been

00:38:07.276 --> 00:38:11.442
emitting 100,000 pounds per
day of sulfuric acid mist.

00:38:12.234 --> 00:38:14.234
- That is a big plant violation.

00:38:14.234 --> 00:38:15.942
- The government says if you emit

00:38:15.942 --> 00:38:18.692
more than 1,000 pounds
per day, it\'s so serious

00:38:18.692 --> 00:38:21.525
that you have to report it
immediately to the government

00:38:21.525 --> 00:38:23.692
so that they can take corrective action.

00:38:23.692 --> 00:38:25.692
And here, they\'re emitting
a hundred thousand,

00:38:25.692 --> 00:38:28.276
which is 100 times that amount.

00:38:28.276 --> 00:38:29.775
Thank you, Paul.

00:38:29.775 --> 00:38:31.692
Good evening everyone.

00:38:31.692 --> 00:38:34.775
These were people who were
very clearly being harmed,

00:38:34.775 --> 00:38:36.483
and they didn\'t wanna leave, you know.

00:38:36.483 --> 00:38:38.400
They were not interested in a buyout.

00:38:38.400 --> 00:38:39.650
They wanted to stay,

00:38:39.650 --> 00:38:42.609
and they wanted someone to
fix the problem for them.

00:38:42.942 --> 00:38:45.901
Coal is a very visible commodity.

00:38:45.901 --> 00:38:47.734
You can see what harm it does.

00:38:47.734 --> 00:38:50.775
You can see the way that
it cuts off mountain tops,

00:38:50.775 --> 00:38:53.359
you can see the way it pollutes the sky,

00:38:53.359 --> 00:38:57.192
you can see the way these
blue haze clouds come down

00:38:57.192 --> 00:39:00.192
and threaten your local environment.

00:39:05.026 --> 00:39:06.525
That\'s your power.

00:39:07.775 --> 00:39:10.276
The more you can focus on that,

00:39:10.276 --> 00:39:14.359
the more you can sharpen it,
make it palpable, make it real,

00:39:14.359 --> 00:39:16.942
the better chance we have
of convincing a court

00:39:17.142 --> 00:39:20.184
that what they\'re doing here is wrong.

00:39:21.059 --> 00:39:22.600
- \"Hi, we are a group of citizens

00:39:22.600 --> 00:39:25.267
working for clean air for our community.

00:39:25.467 --> 00:39:27.634
We launched balloons on August the 26th.

00:39:27.634 --> 00:39:30.009
If you find this card,
please write the location

00:39:30.009 --> 00:39:31.800
at which you found this card,

00:39:31.800 --> 00:39:35.967
and return it to us as soon
as possible. Thank you.\"

00:39:35.967 --> 00:39:39.384
And then \"where found\"
at the bottom, yeah.

00:39:40.842 --> 00:39:42.426
- We gonna let this loose now?

00:39:42.426 --> 00:39:44.800
- No, no, we\'re all supposed
to let them loose at one time.

00:39:45.175 --> 00:39:46.092
- Oh.

00:39:46.925 --> 00:39:48.134
- Coal can never be clean because

00:39:48.134 --> 00:39:50.175
it has too many contaminants in it,

00:39:50.175 --> 00:39:52.092
and they have to go somewhere.

00:39:52.092 --> 00:39:55.426
So it\'s a constant cycle of pollution.

00:39:56.718 --> 00:39:58.426
- We\'re gonna keep
a-stammerin\' and hollerin\'

00:39:58.426 --> 00:40:00.384
until we get something
done about this air.

00:40:00.384 --> 00:40:01.426
- If they wanna hear some stories,

00:40:01.426 --> 00:40:03.676
we\'ve got some to tell \'em.

00:40:04.718 --> 00:40:05.800
- Count of three.

00:40:05.800 --> 00:40:06.800
One.

00:40:06.800 --> 00:40:07.676
Two.

00:40:07.676 --> 00:40:08.551
Three.

00:40:08.551 --> 00:40:10.634
- Go, go, go, go!

00:40:17.217 --> 00:40:20.050
- Up it goes.
- They\'re goin\' up, boy.

00:40:20.050 --> 00:40:22.259
One of the greatest misconceptions is that

00:40:22.259 --> 00:40:25.301
Citizens Against Pollution is after money.

00:40:25.301 --> 00:40:28.134
The lawsuit that we filed,

00:40:28.134 --> 00:40:32.301
there\'s a not a member of
CAP who will get a penny.

00:40:32.426 --> 00:40:36.592
Win, lose, or draw, it\'s not
over money for us as a group.

00:40:38.800 --> 00:40:42.967
It is to stop the pollution
coming out of the pipeline.

00:40:43.259 --> 00:40:45.925
- Oh, oh, go up further.

00:41:22.092 --> 00:41:25.009
- We live across from AEP Gavin Plant.

00:41:25.009 --> 00:41:27.842
This is our third year
that we\'ve been here.

00:41:28.509 --> 00:41:31.009
Kind of like beachfront
property without the beach.

00:41:31.009 --> 00:41:33.050
You look out and see the smoke stacks,

00:41:33.050 --> 00:41:35.175
and it\'s not a very pretty view.

00:41:36.050 --> 00:41:39.092
But the whole street here,
everybody\'s here still.

00:41:39.092 --> 00:41:41.759
They weren\'t bought out,
because I think at the time

00:41:41.759 --> 00:41:45.384
they didn\'t think that it
effected anybody this far away.

00:41:45.384 --> 00:41:47.134
But it does. I think it does,

00:41:47.134 --> 00:41:49.467
or we wouldn\'t be able to smell it.

00:41:51.509 --> 00:41:53.467
I really just think that\'s how it is.

00:41:53.467 --> 00:41:55.967
I would probably be the last
person to fight anything

00:41:55.967 --> 00:41:57.509
just because my husband works

00:41:57.509 --> 00:41:59.718
on the river for a coal company.

00:41:59.718 --> 00:42:02.217
So, it\'s the last thing I want to see

00:42:02.217 --> 00:42:05.384
for any part of the plant to be shut down.

00:42:05.384 --> 00:42:06.967
Anybody that moves into this region

00:42:06.967 --> 00:42:09.509
knows what you\'re getting into.

00:42:09.509 --> 00:42:10.759
- You get it?

00:42:10.759 --> 00:42:11.592
Let\'s go.

00:42:12.509 --> 00:42:16.259
Everybody that drives
through smells it and sees,

00:42:16.259 --> 00:42:17.634
but you don\'t really know the long-term

00:42:17.634 --> 00:42:18.759
effects of any of it.

00:42:18.759 --> 00:42:20.259
And I think it is getting worse.

00:42:20.259 --> 00:42:22.551
I really do believe it\'s getting worse.

00:42:23.551 --> 00:42:25.134
Alright, I\'m gonna give you this.

00:42:25.134 --> 00:42:26.384
Go ahead and put it in there.

00:42:26.384 --> 00:42:27.883
Just sit down now.

00:42:32.301 --> 00:42:33.800
As far as her asthma goes,

00:42:33.800 --> 00:42:36.592
it may be connected, it
may not be connected.

00:42:36.592 --> 00:42:39.050
I really have no way of knowing.

00:42:39.050 --> 00:42:41.134
Yeah, go ahead and put it on.

00:42:47.925 --> 00:42:50.259
Is it gonna change anything?

00:42:50.259 --> 00:42:54.009
Do we move away to somewhere
else that has something else?

00:42:54.592 --> 00:42:57.092
I think everywhere you go
there\'s going to be something,

00:42:57.092 --> 00:42:59.800
I really do, because you see
it on the news all the time.

00:42:59.800 --> 00:43:03.134
Everybody\'s complaining
about different factories

00:43:03.134 --> 00:43:05.718
or different plants or
something in the water.

00:43:05.718 --> 00:43:07.676
I don\'t know that you\'re
safe anywhere you go.

00:43:07.676 --> 00:43:10.551
I think there\'s always gonna be something.

00:43:12.759 --> 00:43:14.426
Yeah? Sounds better.

00:43:17.301 --> 00:43:19.800
- This is a pretty color, see?

00:43:25.342 --> 00:43:27.384
- My granddaughter has asthma.

00:43:27.384 --> 00:43:30.301
She lives across the
road from Gavin Plant.

00:43:30.301 --> 00:43:32.718
The smell over there is really bad.

00:43:32.718 --> 00:43:36.342
She coughs, wheezes, has to go inside.

00:43:36.342 --> 00:43:37.718
Some days it\'s to the point that

00:43:37.718 --> 00:43:40.050
they have that smell in their house.

00:43:44.092 --> 00:43:45.551
The blue plume is not over,

00:43:45.551 --> 00:43:49.718
and there is people that have
pictures of this blue plume.

00:43:51.509 --> 00:43:53.342
If the plant has been in compliance

00:43:53.342 --> 00:43:55.759
then why has all of this come up?

00:43:57.967 --> 00:43:59.551
And why are we still havin\' issues

00:43:59.551 --> 00:44:01.883
with the smell and the dust?

00:44:03.634 --> 00:44:07.467
(pensive instrumental music)

00:44:20.759 --> 00:44:24.301
This is the part that hasn\'t
been power-washed yet,

00:44:24.301 --> 00:44:25.384
and that\'s the difference.

00:44:25.384 --> 00:44:27.883
We think it\'s acid rain.

00:44:27.883 --> 00:44:30.759
And our outdoor furniture, it\'s awful.

00:44:30.759 --> 00:44:34.592
It grows black stuff,
like on the back patio.

00:44:41.842 --> 00:44:44.009
The smell is really bad today.

00:44:44.009 --> 00:44:45.925
It\'s like a sulfuric smell.

00:44:47.175 --> 00:44:48.426
I can taste it.

00:44:50.592 --> 00:44:52.009
And it\'s strong today,

00:44:52.009 --> 00:44:53.759
and it\'s a clear day.

00:44:57.134 --> 00:44:58.509
And if you\'re out very long,

00:44:58.509 --> 00:45:01.259
it\'ll end up burning your eyes and throat.

00:45:02.800 --> 00:45:06.967
This whole mountain is what
they call a flash wasteland.

00:45:10.883 --> 00:45:12.967
This is where they bring all their waste,

00:45:12.967 --> 00:45:14.509
and just stack it up.

00:45:14.509 --> 00:45:16.342
They\'re takin\' down whole mountain tops

00:45:16.342 --> 00:45:18.967
to fill in with this flash.

00:45:18.967 --> 00:45:23.092
They want to make this higher and wider.

00:45:23.092 --> 00:45:24.718
And on the other side over there,

00:45:24.718 --> 00:45:26.467
there\'s a flash pond.

00:45:27.467 --> 00:45:30.342
We\'re probably within 300 yards.

00:45:37.301 --> 00:45:40.259
Since the buyout and the Citizens
Against Pollution battle,

00:45:40.259 --> 00:45:43.592
I don\'t think that there\'s
been any improvement.

00:45:54.342 --> 00:45:56.509
We do hear a lot from people,

00:45:56.509 --> 00:45:58.259
\"Why don\'t you move?\"

00:45:59.426 --> 00:46:02.217
This is a very complicated issue because

00:46:02.217 --> 00:46:06.217
my husband is an employee
of American Electric Power.

00:46:06.217 --> 00:46:08.217
He\'s been there 30 years.

00:46:08.217 --> 00:46:10.800
And my son\'s AEP, he works on the river.

00:46:10.800 --> 00:46:14.718
So it is one of the biggest
employers in this area.

00:46:14.718 --> 00:46:17.676
We just want clean air and clean soil.

00:46:29.467 --> 00:46:33.301
In the last three, four
years, it\'s gotten worse.

00:46:33.301 --> 00:46:34.342
I grew up in Cheshire.

00:46:34.342 --> 00:46:35.592
- The past three or four years?

00:46:35.592 --> 00:46:38.509
- Oh yeah, it\'s really gotten worse.

00:46:38.509 --> 00:46:40.718
The last two, really bad, yeah.

00:46:40.718 --> 00:46:43.426
- It\'s horrible, we can smell
it when we\'re driving home.

00:46:43.426 --> 00:46:44.551
- Yeah, it\'s bad.

00:46:44.551 --> 00:46:46.676
It comes in their house.

00:46:46.676 --> 00:46:47.883
- What\'s great tonight is that

00:46:47.883 --> 00:46:50.384
there\'s a lot of people in the room

00:46:50.384 --> 00:46:52.842
for an area that there\'s
not a lot of people around,

00:46:52.842 --> 00:46:57.009
and a lot of people left
because of the buyout from AEP.

00:46:57.217 --> 00:46:59.800
We still have people here
that are obviously concerned.

00:46:59.800 --> 00:47:01.050
They want to know what\'s going on,

00:47:01.050 --> 00:47:03.467
they want their voices heard.

00:47:04.301 --> 00:47:06.009
- Okay. Well, good evening

00:47:06.009 --> 00:47:08.509
and welcome to Ohio\'s EPA\'s public hearing

00:47:08.509 --> 00:47:11.092
regarding a proposed
expansion and a draft for

00:47:11.092 --> 00:47:14.634
wastewater and discharge permit
renewal and modification.

00:47:14.634 --> 00:47:16.301
The purpose of this public hearing

00:47:16.301 --> 00:47:18.718
is to accept comments
on the official record

00:47:18.718 --> 00:47:21.967
regarding the draft
permit issued by Ohio EPA

00:47:21.967 --> 00:47:24.259
to allow a vertical and lateral expansion

00:47:24.259 --> 00:47:25.967
of the existing landfill,

00:47:25.967 --> 00:47:30.134
including the installation
of new treatment ponds.

00:47:30.175 --> 00:47:31.718
On behalf of Ohio EPA,

00:47:31.718 --> 00:47:32.800
I would like to thank everyone

00:47:32.800 --> 00:47:34.842
for taking the time to attend today

00:47:34.842 --> 00:47:37.301
and for participating in the process.

00:47:37.301 --> 00:47:40.759
- The expansion will increase the landfill

00:47:40.759 --> 00:47:42.925
by about 150 acres.

00:47:44.342 --> 00:47:47.759
It\'ll increase the facility
by about 45 million

00:47:47.759 --> 00:47:49.718
cubic yards of waste.

00:47:49.718 --> 00:47:52.676
And it\'s designed to
accept bottom ash, fly ash,

00:47:52.676 --> 00:47:55.967
flue gas desulfurization sludge, or FGD,

00:47:55.967 --> 00:47:58.634
and wastewater treatment solids.

00:48:00.050 --> 00:48:04.050
The landfill needs to be
designed to prevent leaks.

00:48:04.050 --> 00:48:07.800
So, if I was to poke
a hole in this bottle,

00:48:07.800 --> 00:48:09.842
you know, it\'d start leaking.

00:48:09.842 --> 00:48:11.342
Well, if someone was to poke a hole

00:48:11.342 --> 00:48:13.551
in the plastic liner of this facility,

00:48:13.551 --> 00:48:14.842
the same thing could happen.

00:48:14.842 --> 00:48:16.800
It would start leaking.

00:48:16.800 --> 00:48:19.092
There\'s a lot of quality
control that goes into

00:48:19.092 --> 00:48:21.301
building the plastic
liner in a landfill system

00:48:21.301 --> 00:48:23.175
to prevent it from leaking.

00:48:23.175 --> 00:48:26.592
Facilities in Ohio have
been found leaking,

00:48:26.592 --> 00:48:28.967
primarily old facilities that didn\'t have

00:48:28.967 --> 00:48:30.967
the high-tech bottom liner systems

00:48:30.967 --> 00:48:33.092
like this facility does.

00:48:33.718 --> 00:48:36.759
- Okay, each outfall
is expected to produce

00:48:36.759 --> 00:48:40.175
a flow level of 390,000 gallons per day.

00:48:40.175 --> 00:48:44.050
We will have them monitor for chloride,

00:48:44.050 --> 00:48:47.301
sulfate, arsenic, selenium, and copper.

00:48:50.342 --> 00:48:54.134
And here is 10, and then 11 up here.

00:48:54.134 --> 00:48:56.509
So those are the new pond discharges

00:48:56.509 --> 00:48:59.384
that we will incorporate into this permit.

00:49:00.217 --> 00:49:03.050
- Is the water gonna
increase any flow anymore,

00:49:03.050 --> 00:49:05.967
or is this gonna maintain
what it is right now?

00:49:05.967 --> 00:49:08.050
- I would say it would be about the same

00:49:08.050 --> 00:49:11.384
because it\'s... you know, the rainfall

00:49:11.384 --> 00:49:14.551
striking that area is there now.

00:49:14.551 --> 00:49:17.759
- Now, if AEP is gonna let more water out,

00:49:17.759 --> 00:49:21.759
they need to get rid of the
beaver so it goes to the river.

00:49:21.759 --> 00:49:24.092
Because right now there\'s a few of us,

00:49:24.092 --> 00:49:27.551
three or four houses, when
it rains we cannot get out.

00:49:27.551 --> 00:49:30.259
Because I know that\'s why
the gentleman over here

00:49:30.259 --> 00:49:32.384
asked the question about
how much more water.

00:49:32.384 --> 00:49:34.426
They have a church down there.

00:49:34.426 --> 00:49:37.883
It gets flooded out too often.

00:49:37.883 --> 00:49:40.384
- Okay, let\'s get that on the record.

00:49:40.384 --> 00:49:43.134
Right now we are off the
record for this portion.

00:49:43.134 --> 00:49:44.842
Any other questions?

00:49:45.242 --> 00:49:46.784
- Is anything they\'re gonna do gonna help

00:49:46.784 --> 00:49:48.951
the odor that it puts off?

00:49:50.742 --> 00:49:53.118
- That odor...

00:49:53.118 --> 00:49:54.617
- Can you describe the odor for us

00:49:54.617 --> 00:49:55.575
so we can answer that question?

00:49:55.575 --> 00:49:56.701
- Sulfur.

00:49:56.701 --> 00:49:59.367
- Sulfur. No, it\'s not gonna help.

00:49:59.367 --> 00:50:02.034
- The odor is bad. It burns my nose,

00:50:02.034 --> 00:50:04.534
my throat, burns my eyes.

00:50:04.534 --> 00:50:08.242
She\'s asthmatic, has to go in the house.

00:50:08.242 --> 00:50:11.992
It\'s a problem, and it\'s
not being addressed.

00:50:14.034 --> 00:50:17.534
- That\'s an issue we can think about more.

00:50:21.892 --> 00:50:23.017
- Questions weren\'t answered,

00:50:23.017 --> 00:50:24.559
my question wasn\'t answered.

00:50:24.559 --> 00:50:26.767
I got looks, but no answer.

00:50:26.767 --> 00:50:28.975
- Well, we need to get out
of question and answers then

00:50:28.975 --> 00:50:31.226
and get to the point, because
this is a waste of time.

00:50:31.226 --> 00:50:33.642
- Well, you keep asking questions.

00:50:33.642 --> 00:50:35.559
- Yeah, but you make
your decision tomorrow.

00:50:35.559 --> 00:50:36.892
What\'s the point?

00:50:36.892 --> 00:50:38.975
- We don\'t make our decision tomorrow.

00:50:38.975 --> 00:50:41.518
- That\'s when the comment period closes.

00:50:41.518 --> 00:50:44.683
- We had one day. We
was given one day notice

00:50:44.683 --> 00:50:48.101
to submit our complaints, our concerns.

00:50:48.101 --> 00:50:51.600
- Comments must be received
by 5:00 PM, February 7th.

00:50:51.600 --> 00:50:53.683
- I see that the comment
period, if I\'m not mistaken,

00:50:53.683 --> 00:50:57.434
opened up on November 29th and
we\'re having a hearing today,

00:50:57.434 --> 00:50:59.559
which if I\'m not mistaken is the 6th.

00:50:59.559 --> 00:51:01.683
What was the reason for not
having a hearing maybe earlier

00:51:01.683 --> 00:51:03.267
so people could get some more technical

00:51:03.267 --> 00:51:04.642
information ahead of time?

00:51:05.042 --> 00:51:06.417
- Because of scheduling issues.

00:51:06.501 --> 00:51:07.334
(laughing)

00:51:07.792 --> 00:51:08.918
- Okay.

00:51:09.083 --> 00:51:10.167
(laughing)

00:51:12.501 --> 00:51:13.334
- Okay.

00:51:13.334 --> 00:51:15.542
- But if you wanted to type something up

00:51:15.542 --> 00:51:18.250
and send it tomorrow, that works as well.

00:51:18.250 --> 00:51:21.292
- I think this has brought
up the old memories

00:51:21.292 --> 00:51:23.918
of them buying out the
village of Cheshire,

00:51:23.918 --> 00:51:27.000
and leaving all these people
out here by the landfill.

00:51:28.042 --> 00:51:31.667
- The first person to
testify is Mr. Taylor.

00:51:34.834 --> 00:51:36.834
- My name is Roy Taylor.

00:51:38.834 --> 00:51:39.792
- Could you spell it?

00:51:39.792 --> 00:51:41.209
- I live over on Ash Lane...

00:51:41.209 --> 00:51:43.792
Right about right here.

00:51:43.792 --> 00:51:45.375
I have worked up there,

00:51:45.375 --> 00:51:48.876
and there\'s been times after
I retired from up there

00:51:48.876 --> 00:51:52.292
that you could drive out
554 in the summertime

00:51:52.292 --> 00:51:54.959
and it\'s like a fog out there.

00:51:54.959 --> 00:51:58.167
And it\'s all comin\' from there.

00:51:58.167 --> 00:52:01.167
They add another hundred and
somethin\' feet on top of it,

00:52:01.167 --> 00:52:04.042
it\'s just gonna blow further.

00:52:04.042 --> 00:52:06.459
So, that\'s all I have to say.

00:52:08.876 --> 00:52:10.751
- Thank you, Mr. Taylor.

00:52:14.167 --> 00:52:16.375
- Coal fired power
plants around the country

00:52:16.375 --> 00:52:19.459
dump over five billion
pounds of toxic chemicals

00:52:19.459 --> 00:52:23.083
into our rivers, lakes,
and streams every year.

00:52:23.083 --> 00:52:25.834
That\'s over half of the
total number of pollutants

00:52:25.834 --> 00:52:28.584
dumped into our waters by any industry.

00:52:28.584 --> 00:52:30.584
These toxic chemicals
being dumped by coal plants

00:52:30.584 --> 00:52:32.167
include dangerous brain poisons

00:52:32.167 --> 00:52:34.626
like mercury, arsenic, and lead,

00:52:34.626 --> 00:52:37.334
that put the health of our kids
and pregnant women at risk,

00:52:37.334 --> 00:52:39.375
and they add an unwelcome danger to eating

00:52:39.375 --> 00:52:41.250
what our fishermen catch.

00:52:43.542 --> 00:52:46.417
- It\'s very hard to control and eliminate

00:52:46.417 --> 00:52:49.042
the problem of coal\'s pollution because

00:52:49.042 --> 00:52:52.209
you\'re just moving it
from one place to another.

00:52:52.209 --> 00:52:54.000
It\'s the same thing with the coal ash.

00:52:54.000 --> 00:52:56.959
Once the scrubbers take
the sulfur out of the air,

00:52:56.959 --> 00:52:58.459
they transfer it to a landfill

00:52:58.459 --> 00:53:00.209
where it leaches into the ground water.

00:53:00.209 --> 00:53:01.918
Or they put it in fly ash,

00:53:01.918 --> 00:53:03.417
and it picks up by the wind

00:53:03.417 --> 00:53:05.918
and blows into people\'s yards.

00:53:05.918 --> 00:53:08.167
There\'s just multiple pathways by which

00:53:08.167 --> 00:53:10.334
these people are affected.

00:53:13.250 --> 00:53:15.417
- The Ohio EPA, in proposing to renew

00:53:15.417 --> 00:53:17.834
the Clean Water Act permit for the plant,

00:53:17.834 --> 00:53:20.834
has not made any attempt
to evaluate what the best

00:53:20.834 --> 00:53:23.000
available technology is that the company

00:53:23.000 --> 00:53:25.542
should be using to reduce
or eliminate pollution

00:53:25.542 --> 00:53:28.959
from its bottom ash pond and FGD landfill.

00:53:28.959 --> 00:53:32.209
And Ohio EPA must live up
to its legal responsibility

00:53:32.209 --> 00:53:35.626
to protect us from harmful
pollution from the Gavin Plant.

00:53:36.459 --> 00:53:40.417
- Well, we have a voice,
but not a very strong voice.

00:53:40.417 --> 00:53:44.292
You can just keep lettin\'
your feelings be known,

00:53:44.292 --> 00:53:46.959
and that\'s about all you can do.

00:53:48.959 --> 00:53:51.042
- I think a critical question is,

00:53:51.042 --> 00:53:53.417
why isn\'t the EPA
protecting this community?

00:53:53.417 --> 00:53:56.209
Why are they just allowing things like

00:53:56.209 --> 00:54:00.375
this coal ash pile to be
almost doubled in size?

00:54:01.000 --> 00:54:02.459
So when the coal industry comes in,

00:54:02.459 --> 00:54:04.334
when the utilities come
in that are reliant

00:54:04.334 --> 00:54:08.292
on these coal plants, they
throw around a lot of weight,

00:54:08.292 --> 00:54:11.876
and we see those
repercussions when you have

00:54:11.876 --> 00:54:15.417
the EPA not taking care of
communities like Cheshire.

00:54:16.125 --> 00:54:20.000
- The FGD and bottom ash and
stuff has got to go somewhere.

00:54:20.083 --> 00:54:23.250
So, we\'re not gonna stop it.

00:54:23.292 --> 00:54:26.209
It\'s up to the EPA and everybody else,

00:54:26.209 --> 00:54:30.375
but eventually the plant
will get their way.

00:54:30.709 --> 00:54:32.792
They always have and they always will.

00:54:32.792 --> 00:54:34.459
That\'s why they bought the billy town.

00:54:34.459 --> 00:54:35.876
To get their way.

00:54:38.501 --> 00:54:40.834
- Unfortunately, the EPA approved

00:54:40.834 --> 00:54:45.000
American Electric Power\'s
proposal largely as it is.

00:54:55.334 --> 00:54:57.167
- There we go.

00:54:57.167 --> 00:55:01.042
Okay, so Roy, that\'s
the mountain up there,

00:55:01.042 --> 00:55:04.918
which is covered with green
and dirt to this side.

00:55:04.918 --> 00:55:09.083
But basically all that FGD is
what makes up that mountain.

00:55:09.459 --> 00:55:10.292
- Yessir.

00:55:10.292 --> 00:55:11.751
- That\'s the Gavin Landfill.

00:55:11.751 --> 00:55:13.834
- Gavin Landfill.

00:55:13.834 --> 00:55:16.250
- And there\'s a haul truck.

00:55:16.250 --> 00:55:18.042
Probably got, what, FGD in it?

00:55:18.042 --> 00:55:20.501
- He could be hauling the bottom ash.

00:55:20.501 --> 00:55:21.459
- Bottom ash, maybe.

00:55:21.459 --> 00:55:25.626
- See, there\'s a lot of bottom
ash stacked in there too.

00:55:26.083 --> 00:55:27.375
- And I see other trucks comin\' off,

00:55:27.375 --> 00:55:29.918
and I see the dust flyin\'
when they come through.

00:55:29.918 --> 00:55:32.125
That\'s the FGD dust that you guys were in.

00:55:32.125 --> 00:55:32.959
- Yeah.

00:55:35.209 --> 00:55:38.209
That\'s where I worked at right there,

00:55:38.209 --> 00:55:42.375
and it\'s built up a lot since
I\'ve left from over there.

00:55:43.876 --> 00:55:47.042
And they\'re gonna put another
100 feet on top of it,

00:55:47.042 --> 00:55:49.542
so it\'s really gonna get high.

00:55:53.918 --> 00:55:58.083
- Well, when I first went on
the hill it was just beginning.

00:55:58.167 --> 00:56:00.834
There was a complete, deep hole.

00:56:00.834 --> 00:56:03.375
I mean, it was a really big hole,

00:56:03.375 --> 00:56:06.167
and that\'s where they started dumpin\'.

00:56:06.167 --> 00:56:09.626
We had operators, laborers, and teamsters.

00:56:10.542 --> 00:56:12.626
And the operators would smooth

00:56:12.626 --> 00:56:14.751
the FGD and load the trucks.

00:56:14.751 --> 00:56:18.542
The teamsters would haul
it to where it had to go.

00:56:18.542 --> 00:56:22.709
My role as secretary was to
do a lot of the paperwork

00:56:22.792 --> 00:56:26.959
for AEP, reports, and just
did whatever was necessary.

00:56:27.584 --> 00:56:30.209
I painted the office one time.

00:56:30.209 --> 00:56:32.501
Nothing was... we just
did things together.

00:56:32.501 --> 00:56:34.167
We worked as a team.

00:56:36.292 --> 00:56:38.459
It was just really special.

00:56:38.459 --> 00:56:39.792
We got so close.

00:56:40.751 --> 00:56:43.000
We took care of each other.

00:56:44.083 --> 00:56:47.042
I mean, we had what some people would call

00:56:47.042 --> 00:56:50.792
these big Harley Davidson
rough and tough guys

00:56:50.792 --> 00:56:54.334
that were the sweetest
most wonderful people

00:56:54.334 --> 00:56:56.042
that I\'ve ever worked with.

00:56:56.042 --> 00:56:59.918
So yeah, it was a wonderful
job. I loved my job.

00:56:59.918 --> 00:57:01.042
It was a well-paying job,

00:57:01.042 --> 00:57:02.417
it was a dependable job.

00:57:02.417 --> 00:57:04.167
It worked year-round.

00:57:06.334 --> 00:57:07.751
- I was grateful.

00:57:08.626 --> 00:57:11.250
It doesn\'t come up very often at all

00:57:11.250 --> 00:57:14.083
to have a union job close to home.

00:57:16.626 --> 00:57:19.375
And, you know, you can retire on.

00:57:22.250 --> 00:57:24.626
- I didn\'t pay too much
attention to it, I mean

00:57:24.626 --> 00:57:26.876
after you get to where
you\'re here all the time.

00:57:26.876 --> 00:57:29.876
It\'s just like the
railroad track actually,

00:57:29.876 --> 00:57:33.167
you just get to where you
don\'t pay no attention to it.

00:57:33.167 --> 00:57:35.292
Well, it was after I was workin\' up there,

00:57:35.292 --> 00:57:36.209
and they...

00:57:37.584 --> 00:57:39.959
And we started gettin\' sick,

00:57:39.959 --> 00:57:42.792
and we started losin\' our friends.

00:57:42.992 --> 00:57:46.701
And I mean, that\'s not the
only friends I\'ve lost.

00:57:46.701 --> 00:57:50.325
They\'ve been a lot of
people up and down this road

00:57:50.325 --> 00:57:52.409
that\'s dying with cancer.

00:57:54.784 --> 00:57:57.034
- I went to work one day,

00:57:57.034 --> 00:57:59.992
and I was fine as far as I knew.

00:57:59.992 --> 00:58:01.659
I got home that night,

00:58:01.659 --> 00:58:05.617
and I hadn\'t been home very
long till I started throwing up.

00:58:05.617 --> 00:58:07.659
And I thought I had the flu or something,

00:58:07.659 --> 00:58:11.701
but I couldn\'t stop. It just
kept comin\' and kept comin\'.

00:58:11.701 --> 00:58:12.867
And I told my husband,

00:58:12.867 --> 00:58:14.659
\"You\'re gonna have to
take me to the doctor.\"

00:58:14.659 --> 00:58:16.575
So he took me to the emergency room

00:58:16.575 --> 00:58:20.742
where I was admitted
immediately. And they did tests,

00:58:20.826 --> 00:58:24.951
and when they did they found
an extremely large tumor.

00:58:27.076 --> 00:58:30.742
I was diagnosed with
stage 4 ovarian cancer.

00:58:34.325 --> 00:58:35.159
- How\'s...

00:58:37.409 --> 00:58:39.909
How\'s Carlos gettin\' along?

00:58:39.909 --> 00:58:43.534
- The last time I talked to him
he had the feeding tube out,

00:58:43.534 --> 00:58:44.742
and he was doin\' pretty good.

00:58:44.742 --> 00:58:45.701
He\'s out in his workshop.

00:58:45.701 --> 00:58:48.118
Said he\'s not doin\' much
on the woodworking now,

00:58:48.118 --> 00:58:49.951
does a little bit.

00:58:49.951 --> 00:58:52.200
He\'s been through a lot
real fast for somebody

00:58:52.200 --> 00:58:53.992
that didn\'t even know it was comin\'.

00:58:53.992 --> 00:58:56.534
It kind of hit him blind-sided.

00:58:57.409 --> 00:59:00.909
- We were contacted by Iva Sisson.

00:59:00.909 --> 00:59:03.534
She told me that for a number of years

00:59:03.534 --> 00:59:07.034
her friends and co-workers were dying off,

00:59:07.909 --> 00:59:09.659
but they never put the story together.

00:59:09.659 --> 00:59:12.784
They couldn\'t tell because
they were dying of cancers,

00:59:12.784 --> 00:59:14.575
but different forms of cancers.

00:59:14.575 --> 00:59:17.992
One would have pancreatic,
one would have throat,

00:59:17.992 --> 00:59:19.450
one would have a heart problem.

00:59:19.450 --> 00:59:23.617
- My first supervisor died
of cancer, brain and lung.

00:59:25.118 --> 00:59:27.909
My second supervisor, which
was a young man full of life

00:59:27.909 --> 00:59:29.909
and had everything to live for,

00:59:29.909 --> 00:59:31.909
he died of brain cancer.

00:59:33.409 --> 00:59:35.826
I had another supervisor,
he\'s still living,

00:59:35.826 --> 00:59:38.826
but he has skin and prostate cancer.

00:59:40.325 --> 00:59:43.409
I had a supervisor that is there now,

00:59:44.742 --> 00:59:48.409
he has had to have
surgery for colon cancer.

00:59:51.283 --> 00:59:52.701
Every one of \'em.

00:59:54.118 --> 00:59:57.909
And then there was one
fella that I worked with --

00:59:57.909 --> 01:00:00.450
and like I said, they
all were dear to me --

01:00:00.450 --> 01:00:03.034
and his name was Stevie Watson.

01:00:04.325 --> 01:00:06.909
Stevie called me and he said...

01:00:10.325 --> 01:00:13.159
\"I\'ve been diagnosed with cancer.\"

01:00:14.159 --> 01:00:17.450
And I knew, it was like
somebody slapped me in the face.

01:00:17.450 --> 01:00:20.283
I knew, I said, this is
it. It can\'t go on no more.

01:00:20.283 --> 01:00:21.867
It\'s got to stop.

01:00:21.867 --> 01:00:24.492
Nobody else should have
to go through this.

01:00:26.450 --> 01:00:28.534
- The volume of people became so great

01:00:28.534 --> 01:00:31.826
in this small company dying from cancer

01:00:31.826 --> 01:00:35.742
that they finally put it
together that this may well be

01:00:35.742 --> 01:00:37.784
related to what they\'ve been exposed to,

01:00:37.784 --> 01:00:39.409
causing them to die.

01:00:39.951 --> 01:00:44.118
- That\'s when I decided
I\'ve got to do something.

01:00:44.242 --> 01:00:46.659
And I went and seen a lawyer.

01:00:47.617 --> 01:00:50.242
I explained to him what was goin\' on,

01:00:50.242 --> 01:00:51.575
and here we are.

01:01:10.742 --> 01:01:14.867
- By the time we filed this
lawsuit, August 8th, 2014,

01:01:15.575 --> 01:01:19.409
six had already died by
the time we got there.

01:01:24.909 --> 01:01:26.450
- When you lose a lot
of friends like that,

01:01:26.450 --> 01:01:28.325
that you\'ve been with and worked with

01:01:28.325 --> 01:01:32.118
for quite a few years,
and that many of them...

01:01:34.951 --> 01:01:38.118
and good friends, it makes you wonder.

01:01:39.909 --> 01:01:43.242
- Okay, well, we\'re gonna
go on the camera here.

01:01:45.367 --> 01:01:48.617
- Is it fair to say
that you were breathin\'

01:01:48.617 --> 01:01:51.492
the coal waste dust in on a regular basis,

01:01:51.492 --> 01:01:54.159
basically every shift
that you worked out there?

01:01:54.159 --> 01:01:57.325
- Oh, yes. If it wasn\'t in dust form...

01:02:00.701 --> 01:02:03.742
...it would be in vapor form,

01:02:03.867 --> 01:02:06.242
I\'d call it a vapor form, like fog.

01:02:07.159 --> 01:02:09.034
- And that\'s the type
of material that you all

01:02:09.034 --> 01:02:10.909
were hauling out there
at the Gavin Landfill?

01:02:10.909 --> 01:02:12.659
Is that correct?

01:02:12.659 --> 01:02:13.617
- Yeah.

01:02:17.034 --> 01:02:18.909
- Is it fair to say that sometimes

01:02:18.909 --> 01:02:22.992
this smokey material is
swirling so far around

01:02:22.992 --> 01:02:25.575
that you can\'t hardly
see a man or a woman?

01:02:25.575 --> 01:02:27.159
- Yeah, that\'s true.

01:02:28.283 --> 01:02:30.409
- Can you give us an idea as to what

01:02:30.409 --> 01:02:32.534
that was like for you,
working in that spot?

01:02:32.534 --> 01:02:35.450
- You was there for 10 hours a day.

01:02:36.492 --> 01:02:39.867
And really, when I was on the \'dozer,

01:02:39.867 --> 01:02:43.867
the \'dozer had a halfway
decent air conditioner.

01:02:43.867 --> 01:02:46.867
But when you was in the
bottom ash pushin\' it,

01:02:46.867 --> 01:02:47.992
it didn\'t make no difference,

01:02:47.992 --> 01:02:49.242
the doors closed and everything,

01:02:49.242 --> 01:02:52.659
that stuff still found a
way to get in with you.

01:02:52.659 --> 01:02:54.242
- So you carried that
material home with you?

01:02:54.242 --> 01:02:55.450
- Carried it home with us.

01:02:55.450 --> 01:02:56.659
- In your truck, in your vehicle?

01:02:56.659 --> 01:02:58.534
- Truck, your vehicle, whatever you had.

01:02:58.534 --> 01:02:59.701
- And into your home?

01:02:59.701 --> 01:03:00.992
- Pants, shoes?

01:03:00.992 --> 01:03:01.951
- Pants, shoes.

01:03:01.951 --> 01:03:02.867
- Lunch bucket?

01:03:02.867 --> 01:03:04.242
- Everything.

01:03:04.242 --> 01:03:05.283
- On your carpet.

01:03:05.283 --> 01:03:06.742
- On the carpet.

01:03:06.742 --> 01:03:08.617
- What happens when
you vacuum that carpet,

01:03:08.617 --> 01:03:10.367
when that stuff\'s in there?

01:03:10.367 --> 01:03:13.617
- It comes up into the
sweeper and makes a dust.

01:03:13.617 --> 01:03:16.992
Really, we didn\'t know it at the time,

01:03:16.992 --> 01:03:20.076
but our whole family was breathin\' it.

01:03:20.076 --> 01:03:21.701
- You exposed your family,

01:03:21.701 --> 01:03:23.742
but you didn\'t know it was dangerous.

01:03:23.742 --> 01:03:26.159
- Didn\'t know. Nope. Did not.

01:03:27.826 --> 01:03:30.118
- Now this is the Gavin
Plant itself, right?

01:03:30.118 --> 01:03:32.200
- That\'s the Gavin Plant.

01:03:33.575 --> 01:03:35.784
And that\'s the conveyors right there

01:03:35.784 --> 01:03:38.951
that takes the stuff up over the hill.

01:03:40.742 --> 01:03:43.367
- When we then learned
what\'s in that stuff,

01:03:43.367 --> 01:03:47.492
and you can look on the internet
at all the FGD studies --

01:03:47.617 --> 01:03:50.617
arsenic, cadmium, selenium, boron,

01:03:52.575 --> 01:03:56.450
mixed with the coal waste, causes cancer.

01:03:58.617 --> 01:04:00.034
We had these men evaluated,

01:04:00.034 --> 01:04:03.242
we just didn\'t go off
loosely and file a lawsuit.

01:04:03.242 --> 01:04:06.867
We had forensic physicians
to analyze them,

01:04:06.867 --> 01:04:09.409
and they concluded that\'s what\'s causing

01:04:09.409 --> 01:04:11.867
these people to die.

01:04:11.867 --> 01:04:14.784
- And did AEP provide
you with any respirators

01:04:14.784 --> 01:04:16.951
or other type of protective
equipment, you know,

01:04:16.951 --> 01:04:20.867
coveralls, tyvek suits,
goggles, anything like that?

01:04:20.867 --> 01:04:22.534
- No, not ever.

01:04:22.534 --> 01:04:24.325
Safety glasses and hard hats,

01:04:24.325 --> 01:04:25.992
that\'s what you get.

01:04:29.159 --> 01:04:31.867
- When I started working,
AEP would come down

01:04:31.867 --> 01:04:33.034
and hold safety meetings.

01:04:33.034 --> 01:04:35.409
And we were assured that
there was nothing dangerous

01:04:35.409 --> 01:04:37.784
about this stuff, it was
nothing to worry about.

01:04:37.784 --> 01:04:39.951
That\'s why I would go
out on my lunch hour,

01:04:39.951 --> 01:04:41.617
and I\'d walk on it.

01:04:42.325 --> 01:04:44.409
And when the wind blew...

01:04:45.367 --> 01:04:47.492
...it would blow the FGD that was dry,

01:04:47.492 --> 01:04:51.283
and it was just like a sandstorm.

01:04:53.492 --> 01:04:55.283
But you believed them,

01:04:55.283 --> 01:04:59.450
you didn\'t think that this
was anything dangerous.

01:05:00.701 --> 01:05:02.867
Nobody ever asked us or told us

01:05:02.867 --> 01:05:05.701
we needed to do anything for protection.

01:05:05.701 --> 01:05:09.409
- They had been assured
by the experts, AEP,

01:05:09.409 --> 01:05:13.409
that their product -- their
flue gas desulfurization,

01:05:13.409 --> 01:05:17.409
the chemicals in it, the
coal waste -- was safe.

01:05:17.409 --> 01:05:19.617
And when they\'re assured it\'s safe,

01:05:19.617 --> 01:05:21.742
and that\'s the only job around,

01:05:21.742 --> 01:05:23.367
and their child\'s in college

01:05:23.367 --> 01:05:25.867
or their food on the table,

01:05:25.867 --> 01:05:28.283
it was easy just to go ahead.

01:05:29.492 --> 01:05:32.575
So they suffer in silence sometimes.

01:05:34.242 --> 01:05:37.409
- To me, going back to the landfill...

01:05:40.450 --> 01:05:43.951
It\'s just a sour note for me, I dont know.

01:05:46.159 --> 01:05:48.659
I never did think it was safe,

01:05:50.617 --> 01:05:53.034
but you do what you gotta do.

01:05:56.118 --> 01:05:58.367
You gotta feed your family.

01:06:02.951 --> 01:06:05.909
- Now, you\'ve seen a
number of your co-workers

01:06:05.909 --> 01:06:08.784
pass away in recent years.
- Yes, I have.

01:06:08.784 --> 01:06:10.283
- Stevie is one of them you mentioned.

01:06:10.283 --> 01:06:11.450
- Stevie.
- You knew Stevie?

01:06:11.450 --> 01:06:15.200
- Yes, I did. Me and
Stevie was good friends.

01:06:18.409 --> 01:06:22.575
- Life becomes going to
funerals with families

01:06:22.784 --> 01:06:25.200
watching families, wondering who\'s next.

01:06:25.200 --> 01:06:27.826
- Yeah, that\'s what it comes down to.

01:06:27.826 --> 01:06:29.492
- How does that make you feel?

01:06:29.492 --> 01:06:32.325
- It don\'t make me feel good.

01:06:32.325 --> 01:06:35.409
Because I know everyone\'s got to die,

01:06:37.076 --> 01:06:38.492
but not this way.

01:06:40.701 --> 01:06:44.242
I\'ve seen Stevie, and that\'s not the way.

01:06:45.701 --> 01:06:49.118
That\'s not the way life\'s supposed to be.

01:06:50.159 --> 01:06:53.325
(slow acoustic music)

01:06:57.951 --> 01:07:00.409
- Nothing can ever make things right.

01:07:00.409 --> 01:07:02.034
They can\'t go back and
fix what they should have

01:07:02.034 --> 01:07:04.200
took care of in the beginning.

01:07:06.200 --> 01:07:09.409
But maybe somebody will see to it

01:07:09.409 --> 01:07:13.076
that they take care of the
families that they destroyed.

01:07:17.617 --> 01:07:20.409
- These are real-live people
lookin\' at you in the eye,

01:07:20.409 --> 01:07:23.659
and wanting justice for their families.

01:07:26.325 --> 01:07:30.492
We trust in the jury system
that they\'ll rule on the truth.

01:07:34.826 --> 01:07:37.701
Whether it\'s profit over people,

01:07:37.701 --> 01:07:41.283
we won\'t know till we do
discovery in this case.

01:07:42.867 --> 01:07:47.034
In the end, the \"why\"
that they were not warned

01:07:48.076 --> 01:07:49.283
won\'t matter.

01:07:49.951 --> 01:07:54.076
That they should have
been warned will matter.

01:07:54.076 --> 01:07:56.909
These people are bearing the labors

01:07:56.909 --> 01:07:58.909
of creating our electricity.

01:07:58.909 --> 01:08:01.409
We owe them the protective clothing.

01:08:02.283 --> 01:08:05.951
(slow acoustic music)

01:08:05.951 --> 01:08:08.034
- When I drive by the plant now,

01:08:08.034 --> 01:08:10.867
I see Stevie, and Davie, and Bobby,

01:08:10.867 --> 01:08:13.659
and all the people that
have gone before me.

01:08:13.659 --> 01:08:16.450
And I see the people that are suffering.

01:08:16.450 --> 01:08:18.409
I see the people that left Cheshire,

01:08:18.409 --> 01:08:20.325
that were bought out,

01:08:20.325 --> 01:08:24.283
and I think of all the
lives that have been ruined

01:08:24.283 --> 01:08:26.575
because money talks.

01:08:29.826 --> 01:08:31.325
It isn\'t all about money.

01:08:31.325 --> 01:08:33.076
It\'s about taking care of people,

01:08:33.076 --> 01:08:35.659
and treating them with
respect and dignity.

01:08:35.659 --> 01:08:37.575
That\'s what it\'s about.

01:08:42.118 --> 01:08:44.951
(insects buzzing)

01:08:50.450 --> 01:08:54.492
- How does it feel living in Cheshire now?

01:08:54.492 --> 01:08:56.409
- Nobody here, you mean?

01:08:57.283 --> 01:09:01.409
Well, it don\'t feel very good

01:09:01.409 --> 01:09:05.242
but, you know, this wasn\'t our fault.

01:09:11.575 --> 01:09:15.742
I said, \"I\'m gonna stay
here, I\'m not leavin\'.\"

01:09:17.701 --> 01:09:21.200
Then after I\'m gone,
they\'ll knock it down.

01:09:22.951 --> 01:09:27.034
It makes me sad, but I
can\'t do nothin\' about it.

01:09:30.034 --> 01:09:33.118
- Are you the last one of
your friends left here?

01:09:33.118 --> 01:09:33.951
- Yes.

01:09:35.118 --> 01:09:36.992
They\'re all gone but me...

01:09:37.992 --> 01:09:38.909
...my friends.

01:09:43.118 --> 01:09:46.701
I\'m not happy about it, but...

01:09:51.242 --> 01:09:53.492
...gotta do what you gotta do.

01:09:58.617 --> 01:10:01.867
- Can you describe what the town was like?

01:10:03.242 --> 01:10:05.659
- When we first moved here?

01:10:11.450 --> 01:10:12.242
Well...

01:10:13.826 --> 01:10:15.575
Tell you the truth...

01:10:25.534 --> 01:10:27.742
You know, I can\'t remember.

01:10:31.409 --> 01:10:34.325
(soft instrumental folk music)