EcoCit CL -Volume 2. Number June 1994 Editor/Writer: David ,Beach Inside WiJ,ojspure? Dilemmas of enviromhentally correct funding ' o Revisiting our freeway past: Ellrlyplans for Cuyahoga County's freeway system - o Degrading water to max'? o The geography of nowhere comes to Northeast :Ohio ,0 Good words , The only way we can talk about , sustrunability'and equityintbe breath ispy contemplating a progressive narrowing ofth. gap in Jiving standards bel\\'eenthe poorest andcthe wealthiest; Tbeopposite wealth is not poVerty butsufficiellcy. This is _ _ criti9al. iSllot a of' ."sacrifice and deprivation. It is a means of working out diffen,ht ways of achieving satisfactionm our own lives. But ibat will not happen without a different vision cifwhat we, ad; doing here on Earth .. . • ," Jonathon British Green party , How simple our basic needs ... A little food, air, water, Sun, shelter"warmth and sleep. How lightly might-the earth,bear Humankind forever. ··Quaket saying Our metro planning organization struggles to define the transportation future . , Dramatic debates about our region's future take place every week _ at the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA). • Can the billion-dollar Dual Hub be justified? • Will the highway guys keep their sacred pots of money? • Will air pollution funds be wasted on traffic lights? • Will Desert Storm come'to our local roads? We sit through the NOACA meetings and sift ,througb all the reports and documents. On pages 4-7 we bring you updates on the key issues debated by regional transportation planners in recent months.
Transcript
EcoCit CL -Volume 2. Number ~ June 1994
Editor/Writer: David ,Beach
Inside
WiJ,ojspure? Dilemmas of enviromhentally
correct funding ' o
Revisiting our freeway past: Ellrlyplans for Cuyahoga County's
freeway system -o
Degrading water to th~ max'?
o The geography of nowhere comes to Northeast :Ohio
,0
Good words , The only way we can talk about ,
sustrunability'and equityintbe sam-~ breath
ispy contemplating a progressive narrowing
ofth. gap in Jiving standards bel\\'eenthe poorest andcthe wealthiest; Tbeopposite o~
wealth is not poVerty butsufficiellcy. This is _
_ criti9al. ~ufficiency iSllot a m~tter of' ."sacrifice and deprivation. It is a means of
working out diffen,ht ways of achieving
satisfactionm our own lives. But ibat will not happen without a different vision cifwhat
we, ad; doing here on Earth ...
•
," Jonathon p(jrr~,tt British Green party
, How simple our basic needs ...
A little food, air, water,
Sun, shelter"warmth and sleep. How lightly might-the earth, bear
Humankind forever. ··Quaket saying
Our metro planning organization struggles to define the transportation future
. ,
Dramatic debates about our region's future take place every week _ at the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA).
• Can the billion-dollar Dual Hub be justified? • Will the highway guys keep their sacred pots of money?
• Will air pollution funds be wasted on traffic lights? • Will Desert Storm come'to our local roads?
We sit through the NOACA meetings and sift ,througb all the reports and documents. On pages 4-7 we bring you updates on the key issues
debated by regional transportation planners in recent months.
HOME AT ECOCITY
Mission EcoCity Cleveland is a nonprofit, tax-exempt,
educational organization. Through tbe 'pul,>lication of the .EcaCily Cleveland Journal and Qther programs, it will stimulate ecological thinking abour tbe Northeast Ohio
region (Cuyahoga Bioregion), nurture an EcoCity Network among local groups working on urban and
environmental issues, and promote-sustainable ways to meet basic human needs for food, Shelter, productive work and stable cotntriunities.
Board of Trustees David Beach, Director, EcoCity Cleveland RQbert..staib~ Cleveland Divis(on of the Environment Phil Star, Center for Neighborhood Development, CSU Chris Trepal, The Earth Day Coalition
Advisory Board Deborah Alex·Saunders, Minority Enlllronmental Assoc. Thomas Bier, CSU HOUSing Policy Research Program James Bissell, Cleveland Museum of Natural History Diatle Cameron, Natural Resources Defense Cou'!cil Anne Chaka, Union a/Concerned Scientists 'Edith Chase, Ohio Coastal Resource Mgt, . Project John Deba, Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area Stuart Greenberg, Environmental Health Watch Lynne Hannah, Northeast Ohio ,Greens· Soren Hansen, fnterGraphic Engineering Service;! Kim Hill, Sierra Qlub . Robert Jaquay, Cuyahoga ,County Planni"ng Commission David Kr)app, United Labor Agency Susan Lacy, Churches AC/ing Together for Change and Hope (CATCH) , Craig Limpaeli, Wildlift biologist' Elaine Marsh, Friends of the Crooked River Mary O'Shea, The Food Co-op . 'Norman Robbins, CWRU Program [or the Environment Jerome Walcon, Commission on Catliolic Community Action . ", Roberta Wendel, Friends of the Black River
Organizations listed for identification only. Articles in EcoCity Cleveland do not necessarily reflect the views of
board members, although there's a goo~ chance they do.
• The EcoCity Cleve lam/Journal is pp.bltshed TJ.1onthly af
2841. Scarborough Road, Cleveland Heights, OH ,44 n 8, , Cuyahoga BioIegion, telephone/fax (216) 932-3007 .
Unless otherwise noted, all articles and photographs are by David Be-ach. 'Submissions from others are welcome, but please caU ftrst. We cannot be responsible foi unsolicited ·materiais. Copy deadline is the 15th·of each month.
Readers are, encouraged to use the information in EcoCity Cleveland. Just call for pemiission to reprint articles. After you're fini~hed with your copy of the newsletter, pass it on to friends or recycJe it. If you are a regular reader, please subscribe.
Supported by grants from the George Guod and Nord fam ily foundations, subscriptions and individual donations.
Printed at Orange Blossom·Press in Cleveland on 100% post~consumer waste recycled pa~er·using sciy~based inks.
(> 1994 EcoCity Cleveland
z
Who is pure? "BRIBED EARTH DAY AND TAINTED SIERRA CLUB PROMOTE CWRU
ENVIRONMENTAL HOAX" So charged a leaflet distributed at the kickoff meeting of ease Western Reserve University's Environmental Priorities Project in·ApriL
Steve Gannis had struck again,
Gannis, a self,appointedarbiter of environmental correctness in
Northeast Ohio, has been busy in recent months, He's trashed the local Earth
Day Coalition, organizer of the annual EarthFest celebration, for,taking
money from the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. (CEI) and other corporations, He's trashed thePri~rities Project for ha~ing busilles~ representatives on its planning committee, And, employing guilt by
'association, he's denounced EcoCity C!~veland because our board of
trustees includes Chris Trepal, the .co-director of Earth Day,
It might be easy to dismiss
Gannis as a lonely and
irresponsible crank, 'if it
weren't for the nagging bits of
truth in what he says, Indeed, many other envirQiunentalists
in the ar~a are tnade queasy by the idea of taking funds from CEI, which has
been the "enemy" for many years because of its. promotion of nuclear power "!1d its heavy-handed attempts to destroy Cleveland Public Power. After .
battling CEI during their entire activist lives, it's kind of hard for
enviro~entalists to seethe company sponsoring EarthFest at the Zoo, But it's another thing to prove thai corporate funding haHaused an
organization to seU 'oot For example, it's interesting to note that Trepal
wrote two strongly anti-nuclear articles (one of which singied out CEl's
troubled Perry NucIearPower Plant) for the GreenSc~ne 1994 handbook,
which the' Earth Day Coalition distributed at EarthFest In many other ways,
she continues to be one of Ohio's most articulate opponents of nuclear power and·n'dioactive waste. . .. . ..
How .. can Earth Day criticize CEI on one hand and take money with tlie
other? The group's board of trustees has debated this qu'estion long and hard . .
Their policy amounts to this: while reserving the right to.disagree ·on some
issues, there are areas of common ground where cooperation is 'possible. In CEl's case, the carefully negotiated colnrrion ground is the company's
fledgling programs for energy conservation and efficiency,
"CEl's participation is very ~arrow on issues we feel good about · prom,oting," Trepal says. "We look at the net beneHt."
The Earth Day policy is· also shaped by a cold fact: if you want to.
accomplish things (like organizing a major public event ibat attracts more than 50,000 people), you rieed money. And nearly all money in om
consum~r society is tainted in some way, if you want to ~e a purist about it. . Is it corporate money? You can be sUre that the ·corporation is· d.C!ing, or
has done, something objectionable (if not environmentally, then in the treatment o{its workers orsome other way), Is it foundation funding? Then
EcoCi1)l ClEVElANd 0 June 1994
I
I I I'
one must .examme how the philanthropic wealth was created. Is it government fundmg? Then it's under the thumb of some politician.
Does ir come from membership dues? Even that source' could be considered tainted if the meinbers don't have politically correct jobs or if they dare to drive polluting automobiles.
Ultimately, drawing the Ime betwee!, politically corrett and incorrect b~comes a judgment call. In each case, activists must
decide to what extent a grant will constrain them as environmental advocates or whether it might"give improper credit to those who are not . fri"ends of the environment (s~e box at right).
Questionmg such decisions is both proper and necessary, a,ccording to Stu(l11: Greenberg,
executive director of Environmental Health Watch m Cleveland, ';A useful function can be served by people On the outside who are trymg to keep groups honest," he says. "Even though some of the criticisms may be unfair and may
not be delivered in the best way, they do keep organizations thinkmg about whether they are
co~promising too much." . -- David Beach
Editor
Thank you ' 'We were proud of -- and rather amazed at ~- the crowd of 115 people who' showed up at Cleveland State University on Junc ·22 to hear James Howard Kunstler, author of The_ Geography of Nowhere. The event was organized on short notice with ' little advance public;ity: The fac~ that so many .tUrned out to hear Kunstler's vivid critique of urban sprawl demonstrates how concerned people
~ are about the pace and character of sprawl development in Northeast Ohio,
We help~d host Kuristlcr during his trip to Cleveland, Thanks to our co-sponsors :.- the Northeast Ohio Sierra Club Urban Sprawl Committee', Cuyahoga County Planning Commissio.n. and Cleveland. State UniversitY's' College of Urban Affairs, The c'ollaboration of these groups was both unusual' and rewarding, We _ had a nonprofit education/research organization (Ec'oCity); a grassroots envirdnmental group (Si~rra Ciub), a governmental planning commission (County Planning) and a public university (Cleveland State) all working together,
We hope that we can 'help'facilitate future collaborations of"this nature, It will take a broa!i base of support to challenge the forces of sprawl that are spinning out of control in our bioregion,
An excerpt from ~unst/er's speech appears on p, 10.
EeoCiTy ClEVElANd 0 "June·1994
Tak.ing money' 'Wh~t funding sources'are environment .. ally.correct? Here are sOme guidelines , foiiidnProfit organizations (and their critics) to consider wqen. talking :about money:
.~e open .. As an organization~ ,be prepared to disclose your funding sources and yourguideliqes for ' accepting money.
• Examine ¥our motivatioDs~Are you domg wbat.truly needs to bed.Qhe and seeking funding to do it, or are you'
I' ll.llclfinlg yourprograli)s to tbe latest funding fashions of the corporations and foundations? (For mstarice, do you accept readily-availabk funding to fight litter or f)1Il a recyclmg, program: or do you tryJo do the mOre controversial work of passing a bottle bill or changing packaging and consumRlion patterns?) Are . or watering
mel'Sa!:eas you se~k more I.f.imdlin!:arld-reai:h out to larger
audiences? It Bro~den your financh):1 base.
With, a broad pase of membership and . ru.,draising, you are Jess likely to be compromised by anyone donor (or create tbe appear,,!,ce. of compromise). This,m,tum,places a responsibility on aU environmentalistS to contribute : generously to the cause.
• Watch the dirty laundry. Ethical elebates .about funding sources can be bJalthy. but Some <Iebates are best conducted in-bouse ratherthan in the public media. This means that· organizatioll.s must be ~ble t9 I\sten to thejfcri~ibs .~an~, fi~d ways to inv()l~e,
not alienate, d'issenting members. Critics~ on th~ other hand, shoul~ debate in good faith withintheoiganization before going public, .
• Be fair as crilics.'When disagreements Can't be worked out · internally; critics may feel forced togo public, In that case, they bear isolemn responsibility.!o be fair and factual. Their critiques sbouldbe rooted in issues,not in personal attacks. They also' mustexatnin~' their_ownrndtives and goals: arethey juSftea(ing db",n an orgariizationwith wliich they cOJ! no 100iger work; or" are they offering a constructive alternative?
• Look ~tresu!ts,not Jabels.Life 'is complicated. N6 ,?ne ispuie,the fact . ·that an 'individual works fora major p,?lluter does obt necessarily :mean'-heof sne can't be • valuable member of,an ' environmental ·organization. I"deed; it~s . vital for environmental groups!o be epgaged intransfonnlng business to .more,ecologipal ends. As Paul Hawk';n pomts out in ~is recent book, The Eea/ogy of Com.merce, only bUSmess has the resources to create a sust~ipable economy.
• Appreciate diversity -. Environmental problems are ',0 big and all-e~c6mpassingthat they have to be , .tackled. from all angles, So we need a contjnuum ofj'environmenta!ists"-.. from people refonning business and
". government from within to uncompromising advocates who sound the alarm of en vi ton mental crisis. '
o 3
Decision time' for the Dual Hub This is tbe big one. After 15 years of study , the clock is· ticking rapidly towards a decision on the si~gle most expensive· public works project in Cleveland history -- the Dual Hub corridor transit projec::t.
,RTA's present Rapid Transit carries fewer riders than any other major rail system in the country. The trains simply· don't go where people need to go. Rapid stops are not located near high-density employment and residential areas, and there is just one station serving downtown Cieveland.
The cornerstone ofRTA's long-range master plan, therefore, is to bolster"transit ridership by reloc~ting the Red Line to the Euclid A venue corridor. The project - called the Dual Hub because it would link employment centers in downtown and University Circle -- might involve aboveground rail along Euclid east of-Cleveland' State University and a subway through downtown. It could cost $600 million to $1
. billion. Consult~nts and RTA staff are now
studying the feasibility offour, final alternatives for the Dual Hub. The analysis includes cost estimates, ·ridership .
'. projections, a study of possible station locatio~s~ and a study of how much economic development might be promoted by a new rai1line.
The four alternatives include: I} Do nothing. Accept tha"! the Euclid
A venue corridor is well served by buses already. The Red Line would keep its present alignment, and Tower City would remain downtown's only Rapid station.
i} Upgrade buses and relocate rapid st;ltions. Expand the current bus system, including reserved bus lanes on Euclid and redistribution of some Euclid bus traffic to parallel streets. Create new trans~t centers and pedestrian service~ at key transfer points. Move several Rapid stops (e.g.,
.. move the University Circle Red Line. stop from the base of Cedar Hill to Murray HiIVAdelbert).
3} Upgrade buses and add new sub·way downtown. East of downtown,
. e~pand bus service as in Alternative No.2. Add Rapid stops downtown. by rerouting the combined RedlBlue/Green lines through a
. new subway with $tops at Tri-C/Woodland, St, Vincent Medical Center, Cleveland State University, Playhouse Square, E. 9thlEuclid and Tower City.
4
rE.9CVC/'ev,,18n'd Clinic
Playhouse SO(/.,,';CSU-,
* *
5: .;~"oo ':~"'OO"H
Source: RTA Poss.ible stoPS. for a "Euclid Avenue Rapid"
4} Build new rapid along Euclid 'and add new subway· downtown. The costliest alternative would involve building a . downtown subway as in No.3, and. then continuing the new Rapid line above ground between CSU and University
Dual Hub timetable Here is the· proposed schedule of meetmgs leading up to the vote on the Dual Hub:
August 2-25 -., Information briefings to 'RiA Planning and Development Committee, Cleveland Design Review.Committee, Clevel~nd Planning Commission, Cuyahoga County Planning CommiSSion, NOACA Transportation Advisory Committee, and CO\lnty Mayors and Managers Association.
August 19 - Draft Evaluation Report issued. August 30 (approximately) -- Public meeting. September 6 - RTA Planning and
Development Committee decision. September 15 -- City DeSign Review
decision. September 16 -- City Planning Commission _
Circle. Existing Red, Blue and G;een' lines coilld connect to the new Euclid Avenue line near E. 105th St., as well asat Tower City. . Proponents of a: new Euclid A venue RapId claim that it would boost transit ridership and promote economic . development in the core of the region. In addition, they warn that if Greater Cleveland do.esn't tap into federal money to construct such transit projects, the money will be lost to other cities (the Feds would pay 50-60% ofthe cost, with local and state sources responsible for the balance) . .
Opponents,on tbe other hand, worry that a new rail line will be a billion-dollar' . boondoggle that will merely shift existing transit riders from bu~es to rail, increase RTA's operating costs, and cause services to be cut elsewhere. · .
The final vote on the" locally preferred altern~tiven is set to take place in October OJ ·
November at a meeting of the NOACA Governing Board. lfthe board picks a rail option, RTA would then move forward with prelimina·ry engineering ~ork. 0 To be placed on a Dual Hub contact list for meeting announcements and publications: send. your. name to RTA, Operations Planning Department, 615 Superior Ave .. West, Cleveland, OH 44113, or Euclid Consultants, 2930 Euclid Ave:, Cleveland, OH 4411 5, tel. 861-1928. .
EcoCil)l ClEVElANd 0 June 1994
NOACA Vs. OOOT Life used to be .pretty straightforward for transportation pianners. The gaso! ine taxes poured in, and the concrete for new ro",ds poured. out.
, area) and the rest ofthe state:
stlggests more sprawl," said Cleveland planning director Hunter Morrison. "It sends
Access Ohio, the long-range plan oUhe the message: 'Why locate in Cuyahoga
Co~nty? Come on ouf here!'" Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), exemplifies the tensions. It is full of plans to widen interstates and build new highways to promote economic development in rural areas.
~----------""I "But when people" move out
But now, pushed by new federal mandates, the planners are going through a difficult transiiion period. The goal' of transportation no longer is simply to move more cars .faster, but to improve accessibi lity, quality of life, and energy efficiency with a mix of various
'''When people move out they
leave things . behind . ..
they leave things behi":d/' Morrison went on. "That's-not even hinted at here. yve need . . some notion of equity ... The days of unrestrained growth are ·over. We need to manage a
L _ _____ ~-----' sJabJe economy. II
transportatioQ. modes. . As might be expected, some planners and
public officials are making ihis transition faster than others. In Ohio, this i~ creating tension between the more· progressive regions (Northeast Ohio and the Cincinnati
A few months ago, an ODOT official came up from Columbus to brlefNOACA on Access Ohio, and he was grilled on the plan's rural bias and how it doesn't relate to the transportation priorities being developed 'in Greater Cleveland.
"The investment.pattem in the report .
Robert Jaquay of the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission was even more forceful: "We've b~en grappling with how transpo.rtation relates to social issues. but the guys in Columbus don't get it. We will be heard -- if we have to go over the wall with
. a knife in our teeth." 0
What ·is NOACA? Formed in 1968, the Northeast Ohio Ateawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) is the federally-designated, metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for Cuyahoga Lorain, Medina, Geauga and Lake counties. All metropolitan areas with p~pulations of 50,000 or more are requiredto have MPOs to plan and coordinate transportation improvements for their regions. If a transportation project is not listed in an MJ?O's plans, it is not eligible for federal .funding. ]n addition to ' transportation planning, NOACA pert'offils environmental plannin'g related t"o air and water quality. '
David H;arbarger. 'Lake\yood Mayor Kathryn ffyer, Cleveland Finance Director Jerry Hruby, Brecksville Mayor Michael Keys, Elyria Mayor Hunter Morrison, Cleveland Planning Director Thomas Neff, CuyaJloga County Engineer Erwin Odeal~ Northeast OhlO Regional Se\ver District Directo( Alex Olejko. Lorain.Mayor Patrick O'Malley, Cleveland Councilman James Petro, Cuyahoga CO,unty Commissioner John Platz, Lake County Commissioner William Repke, Geauga County CommisSioner
. Gerald Boldt, Panna Mayor
NOACA\planning staff works under the direction ofa 37. member Governing Board comprised of local elected officials and administrators of the reg(on's' transportation systems. The ·1994 Governing J30ard includes: George Dixon,RTA Board President
Timothy Hagan, Cuyahoga County Commissioner (board president) Mary Jo Vasi, Lorain County Commissioner (vice president) Charles Patton, Cleveland Councilman (assistant vice president) David Anderson, Wilioughby Mayor (secretary) .
Virginia Swanso~ Highland Heights Mayor Mildred Teuscher,. Lake County Commiss{oner ' Edward Thelimann, Walton Hilts Mayor Michael White, Cleveland Mayor
Ralpli.Berry. Medina County Commissioner ".-:.:-----~-c'-----~-~--'---~-~-~~~-~-l. (assistant secretary) ,
Robert Om.vneYt Cleveland Heights ,City Manager (assistant secretary) .
Tony Gall, Geauga County Commissio'1er (treasurer) . Kenneth Carney, Lorain County Engineer (assistant
treasurer)' Neil MorsteUer, Geauga County Commissioner
(assistant treasurer) I • • ,JeffI""Y Armbruster, N~rth Ridgeville Mayor
Berty Blair, Lorain County Commiss'ioner Mary Boyle. Cuyahoga County Cortunissioner Ferris Brown; Medina County Commissiqner Eugene Bulgrin, Columbia Township Trustee Roosevelt Coats, Cleveland Counci lman Walter Ehmfel~ St,ongsville Mayor Robert Gardner. Lake County Commissioner Patricia Geissman, Medina County Commissioner Thomas Gilles: Lake County Engineer
EcoCiTy CI,v,LAN~ 0 June 1 994
Transportation politics ' As part of our metropolitan agency fo'r transportation planning, some NOACA hoard members have been stf!lggling to assert a greater sense of regional priorities
. and look at the big picture. But in most cases NOACA still bows to local politics, A telling example occurred at the May board meeting, A citizen, Connie Nahra
from Kirtland Hills, was given the opportunity to ad.dress the board (a rare occurrence), She requested that NOACA restudy a planned interchange on 1-90 at SR 615 because of the development impacts it would have on her pastoral village.
NOACA board president Timothy Hagan 'thanked Nahra for her concern, but· then he informed her about political reaUtie·s.
"The board tries to recognize th~ political process i~ local communities," Hagan said, ~'ln this case. we've not had local officials coming to the board expressing unequivocal opposition [to the interchange]. Unless the local representativ~s come forward, it's hard for us .to Qppose."
5
Flexing transportation muscles? A dozen bus routes converge at Cleveland State University. The buses wait in the dark, concrete underpass below .Rhodes Tow~r~ fouling the air with exhaust fumes . U's not the most hospitable place to catch a bus.
t':Vo interesting issues .regarding sources of fund ing and future plans for an RTA headquarters . to be constructed atop' the celJ,ter,
Whose pot? First, the funding brouhaha. RTA proposes to build the center with' $1.7 million of its own funds and $6.9 million out of the federal
Consequently, RTA has been working . with CSU and the St. Vincent Quadrangle deve'lopment group to find a loc.atian for a new transit center ~~ an off-street faci lity where"passengers can wait for buses and I
make tr.ansfers. It would include comfortable waiting areas w~~h newsst~nds and other services. Evenfual.Iy, RTA hopes to build a network of such centers arQund . the region. Possible locations include ·
. Westgate, Parmatown and Euclid Square
_ Surface Transportation Progr~m (STP). Since STP m~nies have always
~T A 's proposed transit centetlb~adquarters/parkiDg garage. ,
malls. .
At CSU, the transit authority has selected a site across fr.om the CSU convooation Center at E. 21 Street and Prospect Avenue. RTA officials say that a transit center at that location" wo~ld create· a . new hub of activity for the campus, provide a catalyst for redevelopment of the block, • and create pedestrian improvements along
been earmarked for toad projects, the Northeast Ohio Areawide eoordin,ating' Agency (NOACA) would have to shift; or "flex," the money into a transit accQunt. '
E. 2 1 St. In addition, it'would allow the city to straighten out E. '21 Street, which now has an awkward kink as it cross~s Eu~lid
, Avenue. Plans for the transit center have raised
. . The 'Iatest federal transportation act, the lntermodal Surface Transpo,rtation Efficiency Act (ISTEA, pronounced "Ice Teall), encourages metropolitan planning organizations like NOACA to have such . flexibility. for the first time in recent history, local planners have the freedom to spend highway funds on aiternative t!ansportation projects '(or, heaven for~id,
, even on projects to promote cqmpact land use and reduce the .
Studyii1g COmmuter rail Here's another milliotl-doilar, multi-year planning exercise that could greatly influence the shape or.our regional transportation system _. the Commuter Rail Study. It's a collaborative effort by NOACA and RTA to examine the feasibility of running commuter trains from Cleveland out to Akron, Aurora, Lorain,Medina and Mentor"
WHat makes the study especially interesting is that planners are using it as an excuse to tackle regional' land ilse issues. They are buying special sateUit~ photos of the ,egion that will help th~m figure out where, ra il lines should go to promote compact . . ' development patterns, ". . .' ,
This is essential. Ifdone properly, the commuter rail effort could help concentrate suburb~ development along raillines:'In other parts of the country, such "transit-oriented developments" have ' clustered housing. retail and offices within walking or biking distance of tran.s it stops. As a result, residents have access to what they need without driving cars.
On the other hand. commuter rail could be dangerous in Northeast Ohio. ]f commuter rail is placed in service without accompanying. land use controls, it could exacerbate sprawl and driving (ait~ough people might talce the train to work, oyerall driving might lncrease because most car trips are made for reasons other than wor~). Or the rail lines could failio attract sufficient riders because or the Jo,w dens,ity of surrounding dev.elopment.
6
need for transportation in the first place).
Of course, t his flexibility is Doth an opportunity for ' . creative transportation planning and a political hot potato. Officials from the Ohio Department of Transportation and county engineering offices' are going nuts over ~he prospect of RTAtapping $6.9 million of "their" funds. At the June NoAcA board meeting, they argu~d that they already 'had plans for the money and that some
communities might have to delay road . improvements. They said that RTA's transit center should wait in line for funding like any' other project. Interestingly, the highway guys didn't dispute that the transit center is a good idea. They just didn't want the funds to come out of "their" pockets.
''I'd support y.ou," said Cuyahoga 'County Engineer Tom Neff, ."but not out of
. that pot." . Because oflhe heated debate, NOACA
board members decided to delay voting on the issue until their July meeting. The vote. could set an important precedent for Northeast Ohio. Ii will help determine whether most of region's transportation funds continue to be held captive by the highway interests, or whether they can be allocated flexibly.
More parking? The second issue raised by the·CSU transit center is the plan for a new RTA headquarters. RTA wants t6 move from its cramped 'headquarters in the state office building downtown. If funding can be
'obtained, RTA officials envision building a glaSsy office building on top of the CSU transit center,
. So f'rso good. However, RTA 'aiso ' plans to build a multi-level parki"ng garage sandwiche.d between the ground-level transit center and the office building. That idea raised numerous eyebrows at a recent NOACA meeting . .
NOACA environmentaL programs manager ~ohn Beeker noted, "The parking , scarcity at CSU provides an opportunity to promote transit use, It's ironic that an 800-car parking garage is included in the project." 0 .
EcoCiTY ClEVElANd 0 June 1994 .
Desert Storm comes to Beachwood· YQU saw the smart bQmbs and glnbal positioning systems during Desert Storm. Now the defense' industry and highway engineers want.to bring _'St~ Wars technology' to a road near :r:ou.
At this very moment, strategic deployment plans are b~ing ' wriften
. fQrbilliQn-do.llar.lntelligent Vehicle HighWay Systems (IVHS). One nfthe first Toads in Northeast Ohio to get the techno.lQgy eQuId be Chagrin Boulevard in Beachwood.
The IDeal Traff-PrQ traffic engineering firm (which employs Beacliwood's city engineer) 'and other consultants 'are studying how to'use high resolution vide'o cam~ras and computers to speecf traffic flows in the yongested Chagrin corridor. The key words: optimum progression of traffic and real-time control with incident monitoring.
At a recent NOACA briefing, the· consultants explained that video ' cameras mounted at intersections' would feed dat'a about traffic ~onditions to a computer. ·The
computer could then make continuous adjustments in the timing of traffic signa ls. It eQuid also detect accidents and dispatch emergepcy vehicles.
The system could also emplo.y "optical character recognitionu to read the Iicen.se plates qf passing cars. On toll roads, the computer eQuid eliminate to.l\ booths by autQmati~ally charging drivers' credit accour"!ts~
Ifwidely deplQyed, such a syste~ would also open' up rather sinister , opportunities for surveillance. Do we really want the authQrities to' be able to 'track us in our.cars at all times?
Moreover, the consultants never mentioned how much traffic congestion would increase on adjacent streets when traffic flow on · Chagrin was "optimized." And they neglected .to. say that, realistically, NHS isjust. another tempQrary measure to ease congestion, ~ike other means of adding road capacityi' it will only inyite more driving and grt';:ater congestion in the long ron.
EcoCiTY June 1994
C.leanir:'g the air w ,ith traff.ic lights?
Can traffic lights reduce air pollution? controversial move, NOACA is. IW\!i£!M million that the
In the next is expected to in Congestion Miti1:atiQI (CMAQ, prn"lounc:e, ,federal government. money goes primarily urban areas with dirty air ("nonattainment areas" .under the Clean Air Act). The CMAQ
. fund is the Ohio's largest single source of discretionary money . available for transportation-related air quality programs.
In the past year, RTA received CMAQ 'f!lnding for its covered
. ~!c~~aE~:li;!:~e~ : .!I::;:· and park and ride Ints. :: :. :-: .,.: ... But NOACA is steering :, :: ..
futureCMAQ allocations mostly to -- synchrpnized traffic
Plamiers say that '.' eliminating unnecessary ~.; reduce exhaust from . it's a relatively air quaiity. (And much time to cut air . . . . .. Air Act, No.rtheast Ohio. ' , ... Qzone-creating hydrocl:lfbons : ....
risk loss of federal highway Planners like signalization projects· because .
they can easily quantify air quality impacts. They . just plug the increased average speed of tnivel -along the road into their computer traffic models and calculate the expected benefits.
Unfortunately. their calculations may not tell the whole story, The problem is that conventional traffic models .don't t?ke into account "cold start" auto emissions, which occur in the first few min,utes of operation before emissions controls
.(like the car's catalytic converter) wann up and : start io work. These cold start emissions make up the major portion or total auto pollution. And signaljzation projects -- or park and ride lots, for that lIl;atter -- do nothing to prevent such 'emissions, Every vehicle trip' of any length contributes si'gnificantly to air pollution
.Ghjcago., bicycle and clean air advocates !il!imll~"jed their m~tropolitan planriing
ioio acc<;nmt when the evaluatiori .
iNlut()m"bile projects ros'e , to the top of the priority list. As-a result, millions of CMAQ dnllars were shifted to bicycle, pe~estrian and transit projects.
, Here in Northeast Ohio, citizens shoul.d pressure N OACA to -do the same thing. The Rresent list of CMAQ projects [see bnx] should be"scrapped in favor of projects that .
' elimin~te trips in motor vehicles -- in.cluding . projects' such as land use planning and growth management controls to lim.it sprawl. Local
:":::':::':.::' :::':.:. municipalities should ......... ':: ::: CMAQ is a dedicat.ed .
resolution states that
Bikes are vehicles, too! Last month I. mentioned that my household had heen seleded at random to participate in a
· "Hous!=hold Travel Survey" being conducted by . NOACA and RT A. Information from the survey will becoine the basis for futUre transportation planning in the region.
In the first telephone interview, the pollster didn't know what to do when I insisted that our . bicycles be counted as vehicles in the survey. But
· I'm happy to report that in a later, more detailed inttrview the pollster finally counted the bikes.
So. fo.r the May 24, 1994, travel day in · Northeast Ohio, official .vehicle trips were made
by·my IO-speed and my snn's 20-inch Huffy . . . -- David Beach
"SOUND ENGINEERING PRACTICE"
The Cuyahoga. County Freeway System, c.1 960 Herels a scary map, especially for residents of the Heights. It shows the complete plan for"freeways in Cuyahoga County as drawn by the highway engineers of the '50s and '60s. While most of the system exists in c~ncrete today. a number of sections were beat~n back by citizen protests or high costs.
Perhaps the most famous exampl~ of citizens defeating a freeway was the battle to stop the proposed Clark Freeway through the Shaker Lakes. But the Heights and East Side of Cleveland were also destined to be cut up
. by the Lee Freeway, .Bedfor.d Freeway, Central Freeway and the Heights Freeway. In addition, t!'Ie Parma Freeway' would have cut through the near West Sirl,e of Cleveland, Br:ook1yn and Parma. One can only imagine w6at the affected communi.ties would be like today Ifthe freeways had gone through. .. ~
Today, only one remai~~g freeW3.Y section on this map is still planned for construction -- the Jennings -
~reeway between Denis?" ~venue and 1-480. . . . .' . ," ~~t.~~;~r.g:~~;l
. . /"'" A "\%' ~
· z
• • o
"
MEDINA COUNTY
~~~
SUMMIT COUNTY
Source: Lee Freeway Route Location Study (part of plans fort~e Cuyahoga County Freeway System) by How~d. Needles, Tammen & Berg.endoff,. 1966.
8. EcoCiTy ClEVElANd 0 June 1994
CUYAHOGA COUNTY . FREEWAY ~ YSTEM
HOWA RD. NEEDLES. TAMM EN Be ~ERGENDOFF .
EcoCiry ClEVElANd 0 June 1994
For the convenience of tl1e motoringpLlbli~
, : c'
TIw hishlyayplaniim of the '50s and '60s hadan amazinsfaith in boundless growth, 'lke prim"acy of th.e automobiie and faster roads, With their engineeri(lg -mentality, and narroW cost-benefll>analyses, they saw highwt;IYs as a necessatyurban amenity. They almoSt completely ignored /he'damage to tlwfabrlc of urban elif. caUlied by freeways slashing throuSh neishborhoods.
Tkefollqwing quota/iC!.ns.prqyide an example of the! mindsetand language o/those highwayengineefs.Theycomefrpm "The Lee. ;Freeway Route Locaii,on Study" prepared l?Y th~Howard,:J1eedles, -Tammen & Bergendofff..ngfneeringfirm in 1966. Wepresent Ihe quotes here as sobering artifacts o[the.-highwaY,era. -
• ".Each element ofthe CuYahoga Counl)' Freeway Sys~emmust be
properly spacedwjth respect to each other so tb""allelements may accommodate' their s~~e of the ~ticipated'traffic 'grow~,:and l'fovide. effec~ive:~ervice to tne residel1t~of ;the entireMetropolitanarell:.This 'generalized relationshIp to ot~er'elements ofthe;"system.requires th':lt tbeLee freeway be located rouglilymidway between the Be,fford and Outer Belt East F,eewaYL
... Some will feel thattbe impact [of the Lee freeway] would be totally avoided bynotbuildirlg ;theireeway,bu(most will realize··that tbe greate$! community. impact wi)1 occur if thest.gnating effects of inadequate transportation are allowed to con,ti~~e. The Jollo1,-Ving , comparison ot' for the Lee Freeway i$ intended to '
initial cost .. of construction' and right of tbeb.enefitsor . savings in c~"t t() thern9tofilig
b.puPlIC and to the advantageous and detrimental eff""ts On .the l, comll1llmity areas througb with this uec,essary project must pll$~ ...
... Alternate Route A· t is located' allno!!. wholly 1.W0ugh,.esidentiaJ l'ropertieswhileAltern~teA-2 acquire, much ofthestriR of
I .. comtip",c!al pr6~erties a1ongLeeRo~d. Consequenily,Altel,1late A-2 greater cost, particularly in right of way 'acquisition, but it
also affords greater savings tq the motoring'B:tiblic due to its abiIityto collector distributetriUficeoteringor leayin&the freev.:ay in b~th a' north·south(Lee and Taylor) and east·west (Cedar.and .Mayfield) fashion, 'AUernate ~-2 wil) also afford a cOUtinuingsav.i~gs of about $650,000 annually to the motoring pub1i.cwhich~ \Vhen.extende~ over a twenty.yearpiriod, will nullify its higher initial costand result in. net ~av.ingsof'over $81nillion to the tax .. paYing public.:. . '" , • . .. This comparison also indicatesthaf the~~jire project is fully ,
feasible and justified and thl,lt its initialinvesttnent ~ constnlction and' right of way costs' will be returried every four years.1iyan equal saVings in ' . the ~o.tor.ing p,ublic. Itsimpact both on the entire
IfleiE:bts cOJum.tlnity area and on the elllploymellfareasnorth of Euclid , Avenue is positive as it:-.vilL provicje theadditio~alcapa~tynec~ssary , to relieve presentar(:aS ofcongestion~d acco.rri~.o.date:~e ·ever- . ,growing vol.~mes ofmotortraffLccreat.cd'by .a.modem and mobile urban civilization. . '
,.~The fQJ.ltingand design proposed herein for toe Lee F"e",.~y meet these regional and local needs lieen developed
r~~=~~~~~~lWl,itihf.S~.6iU1hdlj~~'~~~:;~!;. ~~~:j~:j~~~~1i~l[::t design fodl to be lbe pl'i:~erjt·'lay social and,
and . c~lthr.l
SPRAWL
James Howard KUDstler
J believe that the .ugliness we see is the mere surface. expression of a whole range of deeper
problems' that go to the issue of our national character. The highway strip is not just a sequence. of eyesores. Th.e pattern It represents is also .' economically catastrophic, environmental!X. calamitous; .social(y devastating, and spiritually degrading.
10 .
The, geography of nowhere The following remarks are excerpledfrom a speech, "A Cris[s in Landscape"and Townscqpe, ·" 'byJames Howard Kunstler, c~·itic of urban sprawl and author 0/ the acclaimed book, The Geography of . No.where. Kunsller spoke. at Cleveland Siale Univt;rs/ty on June 22. EC:oCity Clevelond co-
· sponsored his visit.
• · Walt 'Disney had America's number. Walt Disney was so
· opti~istic about the ·way things were going in post-war America that his attitudes about the past'
· and the future were equally sentimental. It was possible for him to believe that an orgahization like his own, . ope'rating freely in a free country, could only bring wOD-derful benefits to a free people. So, the underly~ng message of Disney's Main Street USA waS that a big corporation could·make a better . Main Street than a bunch of rubes in a real small town. And Walt was right!
Through the post-war decades .. Americans happily' allowed their towns to be dismantled and destroyed. They'd flocl< to Disneyland and walk down Main street and thing, gee, it feels · good here. Then tqey'd go back home and tear down halfthe old buildings downtown, so they could have more parking lots, .' and they'd throw a parade to
· celebrate the new K -Mart opening -:-- even when it put ten local merchants out of business -and they'd tum Elm Street into a six-lane express.way, and outlaw comer grocery stores.in the. residential neighborhoods becaus'e they caused "traffic problems," .and they'd build all th.e new schools three miles out · of town so the kids couldn't walk 'Of bike there - they'd do every fool thing possible to destroy good existing relationships ~etween things in their towns,
and put their local economies at the mercy of distant corporati'ons whose officers didott care wheth~r these. town~ lived or died. And ihen, when vacatio.n time rolled around, they'd flock to Disneyland to . feel good about America . .
• I just w~ote a book called
The Geogrophy of Nowhere, . about the mess we hav~ made out otour everyday environment here in America. The public discussion of this issue h'as been nearly nonexistent. We apparently don't understand, for instance, that there's a connection between our economic predicament and .the physical arrangement oflife in this country. Yet I believe when you scratch just below the surface, Americans keenly sense that something is wrong with the places where we live
. and work and go about our · daily business. We hear this
. ·unhappiness expressed in phrases like ".the loss of community" or "no sen-se of " place.'" .
We drive up arid down the gruesome tragic suburban boulevards of commerce, and we wince at the fantastic, awesome, overwhelming,." . stupefying ugliness of absolutely everything in sight -the fry pits, the Big Bo?, stores, the office ~nits, the lube-joints,
. the carpet warehouses, the parking lagoons, the jive-piastic townhouse clusters, the uproar of signs, the highway itself clogged with cars -- as though the whole thing had been designed by some diabolical force bent on making human beh;gs miserable. And naturally, this experience can make you feel kind of glum about the nature andfuture of our civiiization.
Some -- though. certainly . not all -- ofthese. terrible things
were designed by ~rchitects, and many of the other common features of our everyday environments "Yere designed by · their brethren in related design fields like landscaping and trallic engineering, and administered by
, creatures called planne~s . What's' out there is not out there ~y accid~nt. We created Nowhere by .
· a definite set pf rules, and if we're going to fix this mess, and take ourselves from nowhere to spmeplace, we'll have to reexamine and change these rules.
So, we drive 'around and loo~ at all this cartoon ' architecture and other junk we've scattered across the landscape and our response is, i!1 some fonn or other,· "YUK.'~ I believe that the ugliness we see is the mere surface expression of a whole' range of deeper problems; problems that go to the issue of
· our national character. The highway strip is not just a
· sequence of eyesores. The pattern it represents is. also economically catastrophic, environmentally calamitous, socially dev~tating, and spiritually degrading. And all this is what we sense when we look at it and go "YUK."
We built a nation of scary . plaqes and became a ~ation of '. scary people.
In our manner of building . since the end of World· War II, we have in'!Oaged to fill our land with things that are unworthy of o.ur affection, and these add up to thousands of places that are not worth caring about. In the process of filling our landscape. with these loveless and unlovable structures, we hav~ thrown 01:lr civic life into the garbage can. And as a final consequence of an this, we are putting ourselves out
of-business as a civilizatio~. 0
EcoCily ClEVElANd 0 June 1994
PERMITS TO POLLUTE
Ohio's new "antidegradat~onlt policy may p~rmit more" pollution in the Cuyahoga River and other surface waters of the state.
. Degrading water to the max? As part of last year's statebudget bill, the Ohio Oeneral Assembly· included a draft rule known as the antidegradation policy; which · affects all applicable surface waters of Ohio. .Part -ofthis ruling states: "Whenever current ambient water quality. is determined"to be of a higher quality than prescribed in the · . standards, on a poilutant-by-pollutant basis, and the water body· lacks exceptional · recreationaf or ecological value, the director ' [ofOhioEPAj may allocate to existing sources 80% of the pollutant assimilative capacity as determined by appropriate total . .maximum daily load procedures without f~rther antidegra~ation review."
,In other words, if a water bQdy isn't yet being polluted up to.80% of what it cari theoretically uassi~ila'te" (3 discredited concept harkening back to the idea that "the solution to pollution is ·dilution"), then dischargers can be permitted to Qump more.
Environmental groups around the st~te are protesting this new anti degradation rule. The ·Friends of the Crooked River, for example, oppose it for the following reasons:
• The policy violates the Intent and the stated goals of the Clean Water Act. The Clean Water Act promises. to ttrestore and maintain the physiqal, chemical, and biological integrity of our nation's waterways." This rule will neither restore
. nor maintain Ohio's waterways. Rather the poricy ·will 'serve to degrade our waterways by allo~jng for increases in pollution from existing sources in areas Which are or"higher quality than current standards.
• The d irecto~ of Ohio EPA can increase
EcoCi!), ClEVElANd . 0 June 1994
pollution ·Ioadings without public notice. . • The policy violates the intent arid
stated goals of the United States-Canada Oreat Lakes Water Quality Agreement. In this agreement, the goal for protectionofthe · Great Lakes waterways is virtual elimination oftoxi~ pollutants, not assimilation.
• Degrading water quality will not increase long~term economic development. The intent oftne ruling is to increase Ohids' competitive position by reducing environmental compliance costs. However, compliance costs are only one factor in business location decisions. The recent increase in the numbers of restaurants and n.ight clubs in the Flats area in Cleveland is a testament to the positive impact improved
. waterways cart have on the economic viability of a region.
• If adopted, this rule would establish a ··precedent that could be used in the futureto
weaken the Clean Water Act. The Friends of The Crooked River
believe that water quality must be not only maintained but also restored. The '
. antidegradation policy· as· proposed will not serve either purpose~ and this ruling will . allow for further degradation of the .. Cuyahoga River as well as other. waters in Ohio.
Public hearings on the policy will be held in the near future. For mOre information, call Elaine Marsh of the Friends · at666-4026 orthe Ohio EPA Division:of
Surface Water at (614) 644-2876. 0 -- Based on an article
i~ the Crooked River Chronicle by Terry Hardy
Brownfields: a good· idea gone bad The state's new "brownfields" law, SB 221,.is another example of how Our
legislature.fs willing to sacrifice environmental protection fot short-term economic development. The original motivation for the bill was good - make it easier for companies to clean u~ and ' redevelop contaminated sites,_ many of which are in urban aceas crying<for development. But the resulting bill gIves polluters a blank check to design cleanups with little or no public participation or oversight by Ohio EPA;
U.S. EPA is concerned about the bill. According to a recent letter from U.S. EPA Region 5 to Ohio EPA, pri~ate companies and their consultants should not be given blanket license to do.iheir own risk aSsessments:
., As a result qf our experience in administering the Superfund program," wrote U.S, EPA deputy regionaldireclor Davia Uliricli, "we believe this approach is not nearly as well suite\! to cleanups which establish site-specific cleanup standards based upon a risk < assessment. .. the risk assessment process is likely to call for considerable discretion on the part oft!)e individual risk assessor. We have el),coun1ered ' considerable variation in the quality of private-party risk .assessments un·der .the Superfund program. EPA no:", performs all risk assessments at Superfund sites."
Even environment~l consultants are worried about the brownfields bill . becaqse .it contains inadequate ' certification standards for environmental cleanup professionals.
~I'm afraid this could result in what happened with asb.estos rem~val -- the ' standards weren't high enough and some very questionable finns were ·iemoving -asbestos from sch,ools," said one local consultant in a recent article in Crain's Cleve/and Business.
11
ECOCITY DIGEST
Linl<ing city and farm The Ohio Farmers' Market Nutr.ition Program has received federal and state grants totalling $140,000, which will enable it to expand services throughout the state. In Cuyahoga County, the program will distribute $15 worth of coupon~ to about 2,800 women enrolled in the WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program. The coupons will be redeemable at the Woodland Farmers"Market at Woodland Avenue and E. 37th Street and at the East Cleveland Farmers' Market at Coit and· Woodworth.
The goal of the program is to provide fresh, nutritional food to city residents while bolStering markets for local farmers. It was organized two years ago· by local members ofthe Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association.
Restoring Doan Brook · In our January issue, we discussed the city
· of Cleveland's plan to build a detention baSin to·:control. flooding on Doan Brook. which flows down from the Heights ,,,ea through University Circle and Rockefeller Park. We suggested that, 'ifwe really want
· to restore our urban streams,"we need.to take a decentralized, watershed .approach to manage storrnwater runoff. We shouldn't keep building large, centralized, concrete structures .
. Interestingly, a 'similar conclusion was reached by a recent study by the prominent landscape archite,ture firm ofWiliiarn Behnke Associates. According to a.draft "Doan Brook Watershed Study" prepared for the Holden Parks Trust, it is not known whether the proposed detention basin will actually prevent flooding downstream because there is no current hydraulic study of the Dban Brook watershed ·available. Instead, the report recommends that a ~atershed management plan be developed: It .. :the long term solution to controlling flooding in Rockefeller park is to reduce the amount of runoff into' Doan Brook ... Simple techniques, such as on-site detention, erosion-cont~ol practices, and limiting the amount of impervious area on a .
· lot would greatly help to reduce flooding · within the watershe~ Dredging, and then
periodically lo~ering the nonnal water elevation in the Shaker Lakes would help
12
Oakwood ~olf course: Sooo to be anotber "Mart"?
Ci-ty and country unite It appears that a plan to transplant the OiUcwood Country Club from Cleveland Heights-Souih Euclid to Geauga County will be fought at both ends. .
Cleveland Heights residents have. already formed the Community Coalition to Stop the Mart because it's believed that developers want to build a mega-retail store, such as a Wal-Mart, on the site of the Oakwood golf course. The group's public meeting June 77 attracted 150 people. According to the leatlet for the meeting, "The Mart's promises of low prices, big selection an,dgreat serviCe are wort~ nothing i6they also come with fewer. jobs, lower wages, no realtax benefits, extessive traffic, vatant storefronts [in the city's existing retail areas), decreasing housing values, and the loss of open green space." Call 397-7520 for more information.
Meanwhile, Geauga County communities like Russell don't want a new golf course because residents depend on. well water. Golf courses are water hogs that can lower the water table and pollute local streams with pesticide runoff.
reduce flooding within Rockefeller Park . . Utilizing pervious pavements within the University CirCle area parking lots would help Jo reduce peak runoff rates. Developing guidelines for land use practices within the Doan BroOk watershed that would utilize these techniques would be an essential part of a Watershed Ma~agement Plan."
End of the returnable era? Is it true that you can no longer buy soft drinks in returnable bottles in Northeast Ohio? Local pepsi bottlers stopped producing 16-ounce tetuma,bl,es last October, and other brands had stopped earlier.'
According to Lee Cox, Pepsi's general manag.er in Cleveland, the soft drink companies have responded to the wishes of major chain stores, who don't want the hassles of accepting, storing and sorting glass bottles.
Will returnables ever come back? "Not unless we see a demand for them,"
~ox says. ItRight now everything is moving towan:~ plastic and cans. It.
Some brands of dome stic' beer,: how~v~r. are sti ll avai lable in returnable bottles.
Architectural SWAT team ,An interdisciplinary team of architects, urb~ planners and other professipnais wi ll desce!1d on Cleveland July 14-1 8 to devise a design plan for the downtown area just east of Gateway. The team will participate in an intense, (our-day public forum and then present recommendations for design and · redevelopment to civic leaders. The process-
. known as a RegionallUrban. Design Assistance Team -- has heiped other cities think through design probi~ms fro-m a fresh perspective.
The projec.t is sponsored by the American InstitUte of Architects Cleveland Urban Design Committee with the sUPP9rt of the George Gund Foundation, Cleveland Foundation and Greater CleveiaJ)d Growth Association. For more information call 771-1240.
Ec"Ciry ClEVElANd 0 June 1994
ECOCITY DIGEST
Automobile Alternatives Association? A reader writes:
"l have been a member of the .. Amcric~n Automobile Association (AAArfor over ten years and have appreciated the servi.ce they have provided, such as towing, starting cais in the winter, and especially ,travel infprmation. However, I was told that AAA lobbies, or has lobbied, vociferously AGAINSTpublic transportation. When I thought about it, itniade sense, but
, I was wondering to what extent do they do this, and how much -of an effect have they made? I am ser.iously considering cancelling my membership and explaining to them why, but I would like to have the facts. Do you know anything about this?'"
Accord'ing·to Mary Catherine ~nyder, editor of the Transportation Exchange. a news letter' based in Washington, DC, the AAA is' indeed a major lobbying force for more highways. "They're the spokesperson "for everything we don't want,~' Snyder says. "I wouldn't be a member."
Welcome bacl< to the ecosystem One of the most dramatic pieces of evidence for the "death of Lake Erie" was the"disappearance of the mayfly in the mid-1950s. o.nce the most abundant species in the
. benthic (bottom-dwelling) community of the western basin, the mayfly CQuid not survive in the lake's polluted, oxygen-depleted waters, .
But now -the mayfly has returned, Fisheries biologist~ have spotted large sw'arms this summer (which is good for fish, since many fish species feed on mayflic"s)'. The_sight is a 'sign of improved water quality -- either from human pollution control, the
SOMlHOW, THE OIS(u>SION ~LVlA~S STOPS AT TIiIS POINT.
Tom TolesIBuffalo News 0
The next economy Around the world, a new economy is struggling to be born that will produce a better quality of life with-Jar less damage to the ·environment. "But, the green economy of the future is' 'being strangled by · the browl.l economy of the past," according Sierra. Club executive director Carl Pope, who spoke ~t the 0
Cleveland City Club on June 10. . . "Brown technologies" and industries receive enormous .subsidies "in the form of low grazing fees,
mining permits, military defense of foreign oil fields, and the ability to. shift the full costs of environmental damage 'to the publ~c. . .
New green technologies cannot emerge, Pope said, until these subsidies are removed and the marketplace takes into ,ac'count how our pre~(':nt economy is depr.eciating the planet.
car Congratulations to local bicycle . activist Bill Trentel for demonstrating that bikes, can beat cars d~ring rush hour. As a sp~cial eve'nt during the Sp·ring Ride to Work Day sponsored by Wheels of Change, Trenlel raced a 8uick Skylark from Parma Heights to Cleveland's Public Square.
Not only did he wiri by three ' and a half minutes, but his commute only cost him $ 1.60 (based on the cost of buying and equipping an expensive $800 bike) versus $10.60 for the car,
One world· The One World Shoppe, a nonprofit marketplace for artis~s from low-income areas in the U,S. and around the world, has opened a new store Qn the east side of Cleveland at 1240 I Larchmere Blvd. Volunteers are needed to
·,assist with-sales and inventory. Call 421-0800.
More right to know Ever pass by a discharge pipe along a stream or lake and wonder what was coming out of it? Well, if Alabama attorney general ,
. Jimmy Evans has his way. y<?u could find out just by looking at a sign posted beside the pipe .. ~vans has petitioned the u.s. EPA to requice facilities with Clean Water Act permits to pOost signs identifying the facility name, the
. toxic pollut~ts "being discharged; and a name and number to call for details.
The Working Group' on· Community Right-to-Know and . the Clean Water Network are urging citizens to becom.e co- · petitio~ers by writing support
'. letters to EPA,administrator Carol Browner.
13
GLEANINGS
,Green worl<ers of the future What is the environmental workforce? And how can society recruit and trai'n the "green-collar" w.orkers of the future? T/lose were key questio'ns 'at the Environmental Workforce Symposium, hosted by the Environmental ,Careers Organization CECO) in Cleyeland on June 20.
About I'in 25 jobs in the U.S. are in envir~mmental fields, and the proportion is growing. Many of the jobs aTe in government-or in helping industry comply with environmental regulations.
,Symposium speakers said, however, that workers in many other fields need to be trained to think environmentally about what they do. Wh'e" architects, urban planners, engineers, economists~
MBAs' and others aTC in school, ecological principles should be woven throughout their curriculum, not
. tacked on as an '''extra'' course. . Speakers also emphasized that environmental
workers need more'than the technical sk.ill to measure pollutants 'in parts per billion. They need an inspIring, ecological vision so they can help transfonn business, not just help companies continue doing the same things with a little less environmental dauiage.
"l don.'( see .a compellil)g discussion going on ab'out choosing betWeen alternative futures," said
, ECO's Kevin Doyle: "We keep trying to choose which widgets to use. II
ECO is a national, nonprofit organization-that provides placement and irifQnnation services to colleg"e students and others seeking environmental careers. ECO's Great Lakes regional office is in Cleveland. For program information, call 861-4545.
Greerijobs • The ,Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education
Center in Peninsula is offering a one-semester internship for graduate or fourth-year undergraduate students. Interns wfll serve as field"instructors at the residential education center-. The internship will be offered every fall and winter term. Call 657-2796 for ' details.
• The Sierra Club is seeking a half-time organizerfor its Great Lakes Clean Steel Program. The organizer, who will be based in Cleveland, will be responsible for building a citizen.:.ied campaign·to reduce pollution 'from the Great Lakes steel industry.
' For information, call (202) 547-1141.
14
Permits to pollute . Here are some Ohio EPA.actions of interest from recent weeks. For complete and up-todate lists of pennit activifies in your county, watch for weekly lega.l notices in your local newspaper. For more detailed infoIDlation, call lite Ohio EPA. Northeast Di$trict Office in TwinsbW'g, 425-9171. .
• Convictions
Blast Stripping Inc., Staining Systems Inc., and the finns' co-owner Stephen Eva found guilty in· Cuyahoga Common Pleas Co~rt. ofiUegal tranportation al)d disposal of hazardous waste. ~~ wasfe cont:unina~d with lead from paint stripped off homes.
Settlements " T & B Foundry yo. of Ole, eland, $4,700 seulement ror not submitting Toxic,Release
Inventory reports for 1988; 1989 and 1990 on time. Haltofthe fine may be waived if the company implements environmentally beneficial projects it has propose~. '
Water pollution permits Johnson Plastic, Chagrin-Falls, organic chemical plant, discharge to Bridge' Creek. Xerxes, North Ridgeville, discharge to French Creek via North Ridgeville wastewater
plant . Montville Landfill, MQiltville Twp., pretreatment system, grolU1dwa~r remediation. Gt:eat .Lakes Metals, Cleveland, discharge to Lake Erie. American Steel & :Wire; Cleveland; dewatering facility closure .
Air pollution permits . Clorox, Cleveland, 25,OOO-gallon'outdoor storage tank.
, Plum Creek Subdivision Phase 6, Olmsted Falls. The Estates 3, Westlake: Southhampton Woods, North Royalton. Eaton Estate Phase lA, Northfield . Shoreham Abbey SubdiViSion, Mentor.' Cherry Blossom Subdivision No.4, Amherst. Lakes of Aurora, Aurora. Streetsboro Industrial Park Phase 2: Streetsboro. Cliarter Lake Estates Phase 3, Northfield Center. Grove in Heritage Wood, Copley Twp. Wooded View Estates, Hudson. Pembrooke Court SubdiViSion, Stow. Willows of Hudson, ~dson.
Wetlands permits . Vi~la Angela d'evelopment-at Cleveland Lakefront State Park .~ pennit to construct
four iubblemound breakwaters, a ·steel sheet encased fishing pier and a stone revct,ment; remove two existing concrete piers; dredge sand and deposit. it to improve the beach; oonstruct stone riprap bank stabilization at the site of a bridge to be constructed across Euclid Creek. '
EooChy ClEVElANd 0 June 1994
BIOREGIONAL CALENDAR
July. ~ Lake "Erie Alliance meeting in "Monroe, MI. Bike tour of Arcana Road ~oxic waste landfill, proposed incinerator and injection well at 1·1 a.m., meeting at 4 p.m. Can 322-40S7 for details.
July 10 Flats Walk -- tour Cleveland's Flats and see the projects taking shape as part of the -proposed National Heritage"Corridor. Meet . Ohio Canal Corridor staff at the Canal Basin parking lot on Merwin Street under
· the Detroit-Superior Bridge, 1-3 p.m.
July 15·16 Allanlis, a film by Luc Besson that's been called tithe ultimate underwater experience" with images of marine life that will astonish 'viewers-of all ages, will be shown July 15 at 9:50 p.m. and July 16 at 7:30 p.m. by the CLeveLand Cinemathique at the ·Clev~land Institute of Art,
11141 East Blvd., University Ciicle .. Admission $5.
JUly 16·17 Art & the Park, a celebration of art and the Cleveland Metroparks, noon to 5 p.m; both· days at the Sanctuary MarshlNorth Chagrin
· Nature Center. Hands-on activities for children, perform~ce "artists,-and art "created qom recycled materials .. For details, call 351-6300 or 473-3370. .
Juli17 . . Northeast Ohio Greens picnic at Edgewater Park il\ Cleveland, 3 p.m.
· July 27 Summer Bike to Work Day sponsored by Wheels of Change to promote better facilities for bicycie" c·ommuting. Join groups of riders from around the area who
. . will ride . downtown and converge on Cleveland Public Square. For details, call 575-7551 or 236-5S01.
Moving? Please send your change of address at
least four weeks in advance ·to make sure you don't mis.s any issues.
EeoCi1\' CLEVElANd 0 June I 994
JUly 29 . Protecting natural areas, a talk by James Bissell, curator of botany at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, about the museum's program of purchasing and protect~ng significant areas in the region. Happy Days Visitor Center ofthe Cuyahoga Valley National Recreijtion Area, SR 303 between SR S and Peninsula, 7p.m.
August 8 . Sunset cruise through the Flats from Lake Erie to LTV Steel; 7:15 to 9:30 p.m. Sponsored by the Cuyahoga River . . Remediai Action Plan and Friends ofthe Crooked River. $20 per adult, $5 per child.
. For reservations call 443-3730 or 666-4026.
August 1·4·21 Join bloregitmalists from across the continent at the Turtle Island (North America) Bioregional Gathering VI, August 14-21 , o.n the bank of the Ohio River at the mO!lth of Otter Creek, near Louisville, KY. This is an opportunity for
··Ohioans to participate in <i:,nationa! bioreg'ional.gathering close to home. For more information, contact Shepard Hendrickson, 341 N. Hamilton, Indianapolis, IN 4620 I, tel. (317) 636-3977.
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I~ Summer events ' at Crown Point The Crown POint Ecology Learning Center is offering a variety of events and learning
experiences this summer. The center is at 3220 Ira Road in Bath. Ca11666-9200 for more information and· to register by phone.
. .• Project Learning Tree, a seminar to eqGip teachers of all kinds ljIith the resOurces and'skills needed to share an appreciation of:
' the earth with chiLdren IIIId other adults: Iuly 12 from 9 a.m: 'to 4 p.m. Pee $15.
• Evening of drumming with Joy and Alex Wedmedyk, July 13 at 7 p.m. Pree will offer-iog accepted.
• Interconnections, gro~p ·discussions on the relationship of values and lifestyles inthe '90s. Topics include consumerism on July 24, diet on August 28 and health on September 25. Each gathering will be atS p.m. Preregistration required. Donation appreciated.
. • Woman Spirit, Woman Soul, an afternoon of storytelling, ritual, guided meditation and body movement for women presented by Susan Wood. August 7,from 2 to 4 p.m. Fee $S·atthe door.
• HOME (Here on Mother Earth), a summer program of nature exploration for children ages 5·9 and ·10-12. August 8· 12 from 9 a.m. to noon.· Preregister by August I. Pee $25 per chi rd. . . • Council of All Beings, a workshop On
deep ecology, personal growth and social jus).ice with Steve Torma. September 10 from' . I to 9 p.m. Pee on a sliding scale from $25 to $40.
/ ~ Board meetings of regional agencies
. . Here are l~e regular, monthly. meeting times of agencies that are shaping our region. Call to confirm. . .
• . Cleveland~Cuyahoga Countr ~ori Authority, 10.1 Erieside Ave. CI~veland, 241~ S004. F(iday of first full week at 10 a.m. . . . .
• Clevelimd Metroparks, 4101 Fulton Parkway, Cleveland, 351·~300. Second and fourth Thursdays at 9 a.m .
• Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA), State Office Building, 615 Superior Ave. NW, Cleveland, 566·5100. First and third Tuesdays at 9 a.m.
• Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA). 668 Euclid· Ave., Cleveland, 241-2414. Board meeting second Frid~y at 9:30 a.m. Transportation Advisory Committee third Thursday at 10 a.m. ' . .
• Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, 3826 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, 881-6600. F·irst and third Thu~sdays a~ 12.:30 p.m. . .
r- .r-~----~I~--------~~
15
.,
MAP OF THE MONTH
Tributary flows to Lal<e Erie The numbers at the tip of each arrow indicate the mean tributary flow into the lake measured ' in cubic meters per second. The Detroit River, the connecting 9hannei to the upper Great Lakes, has by far the largest flow at 5,300 cubic meters per second. The Maumee River in Ohio (136 cubic meters per second) and Grand River in Ontario (68 cubic meiers per second) are the-only other tributaries supplying significant 'qu~ntities o.fwater to the I~e.
MAUMEE
100 km
22 , -GRAND
CHAGRIN
5 .
CON AUT
ASHTABULA
5 ,7 00 m3 /sec
(".
\ ,
CATTARAUGUS
Source: Lake Erie and Lake SI. Clal; Handbook, edited by Stanley J. Boisenga and Charles E. Herdendorr. D~troit: Wayne"State University Press, 1993. . . '
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