The Ground Rules

Our requests

What we've asked for, and what's happened

We send questions and public records requests to the agencies and boards deciding on the gas plants. Each one is listed here with the date it went out, the reply so far and our next step.

Last checked against sources on .

The short version

  • We've sent two requests to Ohio EPA, on Nov. 3 and Nov. 10. Details
  • As of Nov. 10, 2026, neither has been answered.
  • Two more are written but not sent yet, so no one has been asked to answer them.
  • We have no outcomes to claim yet. What would count

Requests

We count a request as sent on the day it went out, and as answered only when a reply answers what we asked. Days are counted from the sent date to the day this page was last built. Sent requests come first, newest at the top.

Sent, no reply yet

Questions to Ohio EPA about air modeling near the schools

To
Ohio EPA (Max Moore, the listed permit contact)
How
Email
Sent
Nov. 10, 2026
Days since sent
0 days, as of Nov. 10, 2026
Reply
Ohio EPA hasn't replied yet.
Next step
Follow up if there's no reply by Nov. 24.
Last checked
Nov. 10, 2026

Why it matters: Each plant's air permit comes with modeling that estimates the pollution it adds at points around it. Ohio EPA reviews that modeling, and it comes closest to an official answer about what reaches the schools.

What we asked for

What's happened

  1. Nov. 8, 2026We posted the questions on the Schools page.
  2. Nov. 10, 2026We emailed questions 1 to 4 to Max Moore, the Ohio EPA contact listed on the Socrates the Younger draft permit. We asked him to pass them on if someone else handles them.3

The questions on the Schools page

Reply received, not answered yet

Public records request to Ohio EPA for the PowerConneX 3 permit records

To
Ohio EPA
How
Email
Sent
Nov. 3, 2026
Days since sent
7 days, as of Nov. 10, 2026
Reply
Ohio EPA replied the same day it got the request, but hasn't sent any records, a reference number or a date for them.
Next step
Ask Ohio EPA which office has the request, what its reference number is and when the first records will come.
Last checked
Nov. 10, 2026

Why it matters: The siting board's staff reported on Oct. 16 that Ohio EPA's review of this permit was on hold over calculation errors.5 The draft permit's totals don't agree with each other, and we haven't seen corrected figures.

What we asked for
  • The permit evaluation report.
  • The emission calculations the draft permit refers to.
  • The air modeling files, with stack heights, exhaust speeds and temperatures.
  • The Oct. 6 communication the staff report cites when it says the review was on hold.
  • Any revised calculations or modeling Ohio EPA has received since then.
  • Any update Ohio EPA gave the city or the siting board's staff before the settlement was filed on Nov. 2.

What's happened

  1. Nov. 3, 2026We emailed the request to Ohio EPA under Ohio's public records law.4
  2. Nov. 3, 2026Ohio EPA's Office of Legal Services pointed us to the agency's online records portal.4
  3. Nov. 3, 2026We asked Ohio EPA to treat the email as a records request, since the online form is optional. We asked for the Oct. 6 communication and any revised figures first.4
  4. Nov. 3, 2026An Ohio EPA staff member said he would check with the agency's Division of Air Pollution Control.4
  5. Nov. 10, 2026We hadn't received any records, a reference number or a date for them.

Why the PowerConneX 3 permit figures don't agree

Written, not sent yet

Question to the two school boards about who has reviewed the results

To
New Albany-Plain Local, Licking Heights Local
Will go
In writing
Sent
Not sent yet
Reply
We haven't sent it, so neither board has been asked to answer yet.
Next step
Send to both boards in writing.
Last checked
Nov. 10, 2026

Why it matters: The districts are responsible for the school buildings and fields closest to the plants. We don't know whether anyone at either district has looked at what the permit modeling shows for them.

What we plan to ask

What's happened

  1. Nov. 8, 2026We posted the question on the Schools page.

Residents can ask the question at a board meeting in the meantime.

Question 5 on the Schools page · How to speak at a meeting

Written, not sent yet

Request to New Albany-Plain Local to publish the air analyses for its campus

To
New Albany-Plain Local Board of Education
Will go
In writing
Sent
Not sent yet
Reply
We haven't sent it, so the board hasn't been asked to answer yet.
Next step
Send it to the board in writing.
Last checked
Nov. 10, 2026

Why it matters: The permit modeling is technical and spread across several state filings. We want the district to collect what covers its campus and explain it to families.

What we plan to ask
  • Find and publish the air-quality analyses that cover the school campus, including buildings, playgrounds and athletic fields.
  • Explain which existing and proposed power plants those analyses include, and how they account for background pollution and different operating conditions.
  • Arrange an independent technical review and a public briefing.

What's happened

  1. Nov. 8, 2026We published the request on our News & events page, and suggested residents bring it to a board meeting.
  2. Nov. 10, 2026We corrected the Schools page, which had said we'd asked the district. It now says we haven't sent the request.

The request, in full · Speaking at a school board meeting

Outcomes

We have no outcomes to claim as of Nov. 10, 2026.

An outcome would be an answer, a document or a decision that came from one of the requests above, or from something else we did. When there is one, we'll list it here with its date and source. Each will say what we did and what others did. If we can't tell whether our part made a difference, we'll say that too.

Meetings and filings so far

These are dated events in the cases, listed for the record. None of them is a result we're claiming.

  1. Nov. 2, 2026Settlement filed in the PowerConneX 3 casePowerConneX, the City of New Albany and the siting board's staff filed a settlement recommending that the state approve the plant.2 What the city signed
  2. Nov. 3, 2026City council meetingResidents filled the council chamber, and 11 spoke about the gas plants. The mayor said council would give answers "as quickly as possible," without giving a date. No one answered speakers' questions that night.1 We wrote up the meeting. Our recap
  3. Nov. 3, 2026City staff on air monitoringAt the same meeting, staff said a sustainability plan is proposed in the 2027 budget, and independent air monitoring "could be" one of its first recommendations. Staff said the city would seek proposals by the end of January if council approves the plan.1

A resident asked council on Nov. 3 who authorized the city to sign the PowerConneX 3 settlement, and got no reply that night.1 We hadn't seen an answer as of Nov. 8.

For dates coming up, see Take part.

Sources

  1. Official recordnewalbanyoh.new.swagit.comabcCity of New Albany, City Council meeting video, Nov. 3, 2026. The host's transcript is "compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning," so we paraphrase it. swagit.com
  2. Official recorddis.puc.state.oh.us↩Joint Stipulation and Recommendation, OPSB case 26-0361-EL-BGN, filed Nov. 2, 2026. PUCO docket
  3. ↩Our email to Max Moore, Ohio EPA, with questions 1 to 4 from the Schools page, Nov. 10, 2026.
  4. abcdOur public records request to Ohio EPA under Ohio Revised Code 149.43, Nov. 3, 2026, and Ohio EPA's replies that day.
  5. Official recorddis.puc.state.oh.us↩OPSB Staff, "Staff Report of Investigation," case 26-0361-EL-BGN, Oct. 16, 2026, pp. 26–27. PUCO docket