10) A kilowatt is a terrible thing to waste (Energy Efficiency) – The City of Cincinnati spends more than $30 million per year on energy, making it the City’s second largest expense after payroll.  In 2009, the City saved more than $800,000 through energy conservation measures and energy bill management.  Much of this is money we’ll save every year from now on.  There are many more energy efficiency opportunities still awaiting us.  The Office of Environmental Quality leads the City’s energy conservation efforts and chairs the City’s Energy Management Team.

9) Who can resist free money? (Grant Funding) – City environmental staff have been instrumental in landing more than $19 million dollars in grant funding for various Cincinnati projects.  That includes:

• 10.1 million for clean up and redevelopment of old industrial sites;
• $5 million to support sustainable design elements for new and renovated buildings;
• $3.6 million to support energy efficiency and renewable energy in Cincinnati;
• $600,000 to train disadvantaged residents for jobs as environmental professionals;
• $122,000 for alternative fuel vehicles (that will save us more money on fuel costs).

The City has applied for and been awarded more than a dozen environmental grants, and there are other applications that have not been successful.  OEQ played a major role in bringing these funds to the City.

8) What you don’t know can hurt you (Hazardous Chemicals) – The City of Cincinnati is subject to a dizzying array of state and federal environmental regulations, and failure to comply could have dramatic consequences.  OEQ routinely finds and fixes environmental concerns at City facilities, protecting the environment and keeping the regulators happy.  Like the six drums of 10-year-old hazardous waste OEQ recently found forgotten at a City facility; or the City facility that had a diesel storage tank located right next to a stream without having the federally mandated spill plan in place.  OEQ collects and manages explosive gas produced by the City’s old, closed landfill, which otherwise could present a significant threat to the public.  We can’t expect all 5,000 City employees to be environmental experts, nor even to have one environmental expert at each of the City’s 400 worksites, so it’s a good thing we have OEQ to keep everybody out of trouble.

7) Breathing is good (Air Pollution) – Each year, hundreds of City residents call the Hamilton County air quality hotline with odor complaints.  Common complaints include burning eyes, sore throats, nausea, and worse due to air at their homes impacted by nearby factories.  OEQ works cooperatively with Hamilton County who addresses and resolves the vast majority of these complaints through voluntary cooperation by industry.  Once or twice each year, voluntary efforts fail and OEQ pursues enforcement and assesses penalties for violation of the City’s air regulations.  These occasional enforcement actions help ensure the voluntary cooperation of most businesses, which helps ensure that you will be able to breathe.

6) We’re a YP magnet (Green Lifestyles) – The future of every City depends on attracting and retaining talented workers. From our wooded hillsides to our world class parks, and from our abundant stock of LEED certified  green buildings to our biking trails and paddling streams, Cincinnati offers the green lifestyle amenities that so many of today’s young professionals demand of their hometown.  Add in the Green Cincinnati Plan, urban gardens, farmer’s markets, and the planned streetcar.  The best things in life are here.

5) It’s not all about us (Resource Conservation) – As Cincinnatians, we are also citizens of the planet – a small to medium sized planet with more than 6 billion inhabitants.  We understand that conserving resources, reducing carbon emissions, and living lightly on the planet is something we all have to do.  If we don’t work together to care for the planet, we will certainly all share the consequences.

4) Once is not enough (Recycling) – The City recycling program currently earns or saves more than $1 million per year for the City.  OEQ is proposing changes that would boost recycling revenue and savings to over $3 million per year.  It makes no sense to use things once and throw them away when:

• commodity markets exist, offering good prices, for most of the items we currently throw away;
• recycling creates jobs for the workers who haul, sort and process the material, and even more jobs at the factories where these raw materials are used to make new products;
• the RecycleBank program is available to pay citizens for their recycled materials (and these payments don’t come from taxpayers).

3) Our children will thank us (Sustainability) – Some corporations think it’s OK to define success by the current quarterly earnings statement.  Even City government sometimes behaves as if the current fiscal year is all that matters.  OEQ looks for sustainable approaches – ways to meet our current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.  If you have children, you probably think it’s important for a good quality of life to exist in Cincinnati for decades to come.  That’s what sustainability is all about.

2) We can’t do economic development without OEQ (Brownfields) – Building our local economy is essential to improving the quality of life for Cincinnatians.  And OEQ is essential to building the local economy.  Almost every square inch of Cincinnati that can be built on, has been built on.  Any new businesses or industries that want to locate in Cincinnati must choose a site that has previously been used, and many of those sites are currently off limits due to contaminated soil or groundwater.  Fortunately, OEQ is working to clean up that land.  In 2009 alone, the City will get approval from state regulators to redevelop 135 acres of previously off-limits land.  These sites represent the vast majority of the land currently being marketed by the Economic Development team.  Without environmental cleanups, they would have no product to sell.

1) OEQ saves more than it costs (Saving Money) – The City invests approximately $2.9 million per year in OEQ (including $2.3 million for the Rumpke recycling contract).  The payback has been $21 million in grants, energy savings, and recycling revenues.  OEQ has grant applications, revenue proposals, energy efficiency projects, and recycling enhancements currently pending that would add more than $4 million more to the payback column.  OEQ – a good investment.