Reducing Air Toxics in Cleveland

Case Background
In June 2002, the Cleveland Air Toxics Working Group reached consensus on over a dozen projects that will reduce the risk of exposure to air toxics for children, families, and adults in two of Cleveland’s urban neighborhoods. The agreement is the culmination of almost two years' work by twenty-five dedicated Cleveland citizens, organizations, and businesses, and government agencies.

“I think this will be a big pay-off for Cleveland,” Amy Simpson of Ohio Public Interest Research Group (Ohio PIRG) told the Cleveland Plain Dealer shortly after consensus was reached. “Several of the projects are innovative, cutting-edge and will help Cleveland businesses be cutting-edge, and that can only be good for Cleveland and its businesses.”

This project is a unique effort by the U.S. EPA to encourage voluntary actions for air toxics reduction above and beyond current regulatory requirements. In initiating this pilot project as part of the overall national Urban Air Toxics Strategy, the agency has achieved reductions that are measurable, sustainable over time, and replicable elsewhere in Cleveland and in cities across the U.S.

The CBI Approach
In order to support the work of stakeholders, CBI conducted a convening report with the assistance of Dr. Sanda Kaufmann of Cleveland State University. CBI facilitated working group and subcommittee meetings. They helped the group decide on ground rules, invent options, prioritize preferred projects, and ultimately, to decide on projects to implement. Dr. Kaufman provided important links to the local community, co-facilitated meetings, and helped link Cleveland State University to the effort. Dr. Juliana Birkhoff of Resolve, took on a unique role rarely provided by other projects’ funding. She evaluated the project from start to finish, providing valuable on-going feedback to participants and CBI during the process.

Outcomes
At the outset, the group helped initiate family sign-ups for the smoke-free home pledge, held a hazardous home-material collection day, implemented Tools for Schools in four Cleveland schools, and provided clean diesel circulator buses in two inner city neighborhoods. The new projects selected by the Working Group include $150,000 for retrofits for Cleveland School buses, over $100,000 for a county-wide air toxics inventory, and some $50,000 for Cleveland schools to help further reduce air toxics exposure for children in the area’s public and parochial schools. Stakeholders sought to link these projects to existing national programs to ensure that they could be implemented quickly and efficiently. National programs in Cleveland include Tools for Schools, Design for the Environment’s Pollution Prevention for Autobody Shops, and county toxics inventories.

The Cleveland project is one of many CBI has facilitated in order to create concrete, environmental benefits for communities. Many who have observed consensus building over the last twenty years are concerned that it may not actually translate into increased environmental quality. However, the Ohio Air Toxics project proves otherwise. This project did not simply plan, study, or analyze air quality improvements; rather, it focused specifically on direct, tangible actions that reduce air toxics.

For more information on CBI’s experience with environmental projects, please contact Managing Director Patrick Field.

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