The Ground Rules

Schools and air quality

Schools and childcare near the gas plants

The New Albany-Plain Local main campus is 3.7 miles from the nearest plant, Socrates South. A licensed preschool on Morse Road is much closer. The church property it meets on is a quarter mile from the same plant.

Last checked against sources on .

The short version

  • Jersey Weekday Preschool meets at Jersey Baptist Church on Morse Rd. The church property line is 0.26 miles from the Socrates South equipment pad, and its playground is 0.40 miles away.2,3,6
  • Licking Heights High School and Lima Ridge Elementary are the closest public schools to any of the plants, 1.2 miles from Socrates South.2,5
  • Every part of the New Albany-Plain Local main campus is 3.7 to 5.4 miles from the nearest plant site.1
  • Distance alone doesn't tell you what reaches a school. Ohio EPA's permit modeling is the official estimate, and we're asking which school locations it covers.
  • Ask the school board yourself. What to bring to a board meeting

Where the schools and plants are

Orange shapes are the plant sites. Navy shapes and dots are schools and licensed childcare centers. The numbered lines are the distances in the table below the map.

Gas plant sites and nearby schools and childcareMap of the area east of New Albany. It shows the seven gas plant sites in orange, and schools and childcare centers in blue. Five numbered lines mark the distances listed in the table below the map.Socrates South: Built pad traced from Licking County summer 2026 aerial imagerySocrates North: Built pad traced from Licking County summer 2026 aerial imagerySocrates the Younger: Will-Power OH LLC parcels (permit address 3439 Clover Valley Rd); plant not yet builtNEO: Sidecat parcel matching "about 130 acres south of Jug St, east of Mink St"; not confirmed by a filingPowerConneX 1: Parcel at the permit address 9850 Innovation Campus Way; plant footprint not identified in imageryPowerConneX 2: Envelope of EdgeConneX "South" parcels around PCX1; the 8-acre site is not identifiedPowerConneX New Albany 3: Parcel at the application address 3356 Clover Valley Rd (staff report: 32-acre footprint on ~170-acre parcel)New Albany-Plain Local main campus parcel 222-000922 (Franklin County Auditor)Jersey Weekday Preschool (licensed center) at Jersey Baptist Church, 13260 Morse Rd SWLicking Heights High School + Lima Ridge Elementary (parcel 063-141228-00.002)Licking Heights Middle School (4000 Mink St SW)Johnstown High School (441/445 S Main St)Johnstown Middle School (401 S Oregon St)Johnstown Intermediate School (85 W Douglas St)Johnstown Elementary School (200 Leafy Dell Rd)Bright Start Learning Center, 316 N Main St, JohnstownJohnstown Christian Preschool, 81 S Main St, JohnstownLa Petite Academy (licensed center), 10102 Woodcrest WayMarburn Academy (private), 9555 Johnstown RdBarrington School of New Albany (licensed center), 8415 Walton PkwyColumbus Jewish Day School / JCC New Albany, 150 E Dublin-Granville Rd1. Jersey Weekday Preschool (church property line) to Socrates South pad: 0.26 mi2. Licking Heights High School and Lima Ridge Elementary (school parcel) to Socrates South pad: 1.19 mi3. La Petite Academy, New Albany (parcel) to Socrates the Younger parcels: 2.86 mi4. Johnstown High School (parcel) to PowerConneX 3 parcel: 2.98 mi5. New Albany-Plain Local main campus (parcel) to Socrates South pad: 3.68 miJersey Weekday PreschoolLicking Heights High School, Lima Ridge ElementaryLicking Heights Middle SchoolJohnstown schoolsLa Petite AcademyMarburn AcademyNew Albany-Plain Localmain campusSocrates SouthSocrates NorthSocrates the YoungerNEOPowerConneX 1PowerConneX 2PowerConneX 3123451 mileN
Roads from OpenStreetMap. Plant sites, school parcels and the traced pads are described under How we measured.
The numbered distances on the map, edge to edge. Endpoints are latitude and longitude.
FromToDistanceEndpoints
1. Jersey Weekday Preschool (church property line)Socrates South pad0.26 mi40.05521, -82.74088 to 40.05521, -82.74570
2. Licking Heights High School and Lima Ridge Elementary (school parcel)Socrates South pad1.19 mi40.03511, -82.74826 to 40.05240, -82.74826
3. La Petite Academy, New Albany (parcel)Socrates the Younger parcels2.86 mi40.09369, -82.78624 to 40.10354, -82.73382
4. Johnstown High School (parcel)PowerConneX 3 parcel2.98 mi40.14337, -82.68208 to 40.10486, -82.70759
5. New Albany-Plain Local main campus (parcel)Socrates South pad3.68 mi40.08405, -82.80878 to 40.05700, -82.74900

The nearest school or childcare center to each plant

PlantNearest school or childcareEdge to edgeWhat the plant's edge is
Socrates SouthJersey Weekday Preschool0.26 miBuilt pad, traced from 2026 aerial photos
PowerConneX 2Jersey Weekday Preschool2.08 miFour company parcels (the 8-acre site isn't identified)
PowerConneX 1Jersey Weekday Preschool2.21 miParcel at the permit address
NEOJersey Weekday Preschool2.28 miThe parcel that fits the filings' description (not confirmed)
Socrates the YoungerLa Petite Academy, New Albany2.86 miThe developer's parcels (not built yet)
PowerConneX 3Johnstown High School2.98 miThe 170-acre parcel, which the 32-acre plant will sit on
Socrates NorthLa Petite Academy, New Albany2.99 miBuilt pad, traced from 2026 aerial photos

Where the plant's edge is a whole parcel, the real equipment is farther away than the table says. We left out family childcare in private homes, and one center we couldn't find in the state's license search.1–6

The New Albany-Plain Local main campus

The campus parcel holds the high school, middle, intermediate and primary schools, the stadium and the ball fields. The Early Learning Center is on a district parcel just west of it.

New Albany-Plain Local main campusThe district's main campus parcel with its five school buildings, playground, stadium and fields. A dot on the southeast edge marks the point nearest the Socrates South plant, 3.68 miles away.All adjoining New Albany-Plain Local district parcelsNew Albany-Plain Local main campus parcel 222-000922 (Franklin County Auditor)New Albany High School (7600 Fodor Rd; OSM main building)New Albany Middle School (6600 Dublin-Granville Rd; OSM)New Albany Primary School (87 N High St; OSM "2-5 Elementary")New Albany Intermediate School (177 N High St; OSM building)New Albany Early Learning Center (5101 Swickard Woods Blvd; OSM "K-1")Playground east of Primary School (OSM 547179411)Soccer field, district lots on New Albany-Condit Rd (OSM 600361189)Football/soccer practice field (OSM 388530669)Eagles Stadium track (OSM 672659652)Baseball field (OSM 388532053)High SchoolMiddle SchoolPrimaryIntermediateEarly Learning CenterPlaygroundSoccer fieldPractice fieldStadiumBaseball3.68 mi to the Socrates South pad¼ mileN
Dark outline: parcel 222-000922, owned by the board of education. Lighter shapes: the district's other parcels next to it. Buildings, fields and the playground come from OpenStreetMap.1,4
From the edge of the campus parcel to the edge of each plant site.
PlantCampus edge to site edgeCampus center to plant center
Socrates South3.68 mi4.14 mi
Socrates the Younger4.16 mi4.73 mi
Socrates North4.26 mi4.67 mi
PowerConneX 24.43 mi4.89 mi
PowerConneX 14.45 mi4.86 mi
PowerConneX 34.63 mi5.34 mi
NEO4.80 mi5.51 mi
Each building's distance to Socrates South

Measured from each building's edge to the pad's edge, the Primary School is 3.78 miles away. The Middle and Intermediate schools are 3.85 miles, the High School 3.94 and the Early Learning Center 4.37.

The playground east of the Primary School is 3.74 miles from the pad. That's the closest spot on campus where children play outdoors.4

What EPA says about children and particle pollution

U.S. EPA lists children among the groups most at risk from particle pollution, along with people with heart or lung disease and older adults.8 EPA's guidance for doctors says children are more likely to be exposed than adults, because they are more active outdoors. It also says long-term exposure can affect how children's lungs grow.9

That doesn't tell you whether any school here is at risk. Answering that would take the concentrations that actually reach each school, how long they last, what's already in the air, and which pollutants are involved. This site doesn't make that assessment. The modeling Ohio EPA reviews for each air permit comes closest, which is why our questions start there.

Ohio EPA runs an air monitor at New Albany High School. It measures ozone from March through October and fine particles year-round.10 The plants are 4 to 5 miles east of it. The wind blows from that direction in about 12% of hours at the Columbus airport, so most readings are of air that hasn't passed the plants. The Downwind map shows how that works.

Questions for Ohio EPA and the school districts

Each plant's air permit comes with modeling that estimates the pollution it adds at points around it. We want to know what that modeling says about the schools.

  1. Which modeling locations cover the schools? Do the permit models for the seven plants include points at the New Albany campus, the Licking Heights schools, Jersey Weekday Preschool and the Johnstown schools? Do they include the playgrounds and fields? To Ohio EPA
  2. Which nearby sources are included? Does each plant's modeling count the other six plants, and the data centers' backup diesel generators? To Ohio EPA
  3. What corrected modeling has been provided? The siting board's staff wrote on Oct. 16 that Ohio EPA's PowerConneX 3 review was on hold "awaiting revised modeling due to annual emission rate calculation errors."11 Has the company sent it, and will it be posted? To Ohio EPA
  4. How are different operating conditions represented? How does the modeling handle startups, shutdowns, diesel testing, and hours when a plant runs harder than its yearly average? To Ohio EPA
  5. Who has reviewed the results for the schools? Has anyone at the district, or anyone it hired, looked at what the modeling shows for its buildings and fields? To New Albany-Plain Local and Licking Heights Local

We've also asked the New Albany-Plain Local district to publish these analyses and arrange an independent review and a public briefing. What we're asking the district

Answers so far

We'll log each question here when it goes out: the date, who it went to, the reply and the document behind it. Until there's a reply, it stays marked unanswered.

QuestionSent toDate sentResponseNext step
1. Modeling locationsOhio EPANot sent yetNoneSend to Ohio EPA's Division of Air Pollution Control
2. Nearby sourcesOhio EPANot sent yetNoneSend with question 1
3. Corrected modelingOhio EPANot sent yetNoneSend with question 1
4. Operating conditionsOhio EPANot sent yetNoneSend with question 1
5. Who reviewed the resultsNew Albany-Plain Local, Licking Heights LocalNot sent yetNoneSend to both boards in writing

What you can do

Bring question 5 to a New Albany-Plain Local board meeting, in your own words. You get 5 minutes, and you register when you arrive.12

How to speak at a meeting · Upcoming dates

How we measured

Distances are the shortest line between two outlines, measured on the earth's surface. School outlines are county parcels.1,2 For Socrates South and Socrates North, the plant outline is the built equipment pad, which we traced from Licking County's summer 2026 aerial photos to within about 20 meters.3 For the other five plants, it's the parcel the plant is on or will be on, which is bigger than the plant.

School names and locations come from federal school records, Ohio's childcare license search, and the Licking Heights district's list of schools.5–7 We left out family childcare in private homes.

Other properties people ask about

The former Jersey Elementary building on Morse Rd belongs to the Licking Heights district, but it isn't on the district's list of schools.7 We don't know how it's used now. It is 1.42 miles from Socrates South.

The Licking Heights district bought a 39-acre parcel next to it in December 2024. It has no building, and we haven't found a plan for it. It is 1.52 miles from Socrates South.2

Will-Power OH LLC, the company behind Socrates the Younger, bought 44 acres next to the Jersey Baptist Church property in June 2026. The aerial photos show a gravel pad on it. We don't know what it's for.2,3

The outlines and distance lines are in a map file you can download (GeoJSON), which opens in most mapping tools. If you spot a mistake, tell us. We'll fix it and note the change on the About page.

Sources

  1. Franklin County Auditor, Tax Parcel map layer, including parcel 222-000922 (Board of Education of the New Albany-Plain Local School District). Viewed Nov. 8, 2026. gis.franklincountyohio.gov
  2. Licking County Auditor, parcel map layer. Viewed Nov. 8, 2026. gis.lickingcounty.gov
  3. Licking County, summer 2026 aerial imagery. Viewed Nov. 8, 2026. gis.lickingcounty.gov
  4. OpenStreetMap contributors, building, field and playground outlines, ODbL. Viewed Nov. 8, 2026. openstreetmap.org
  5. National Center for Education Statistics, EDGE school locations, public schools 2024–25 and private schools 2023–24. nces.ed.gov
  6. Ohio Department of Children and Youth, Ohio Child Care Search, ZIP codes 43001, 43004, 43031, 43054 and 43062. Viewed Nov. 8, 2026. childcaresearch.ohio.gov
  7. Licking Heights Local Schools, "Schools." Viewed Nov. 8, 2026. lhschools.org
  8. U.S. EPA, "Health and Environmental Effects of Particulate Matter (PM)." epa.gov
  9. U.S. EPA, "Patient Exposure and the Air Quality Index," Particle Pollution and Your Patients' Health. epa.gov
  10. Ohio EPA, 2025–2026 Air Monitoring Network Plan, May 2025, Tables 4 and 8 (New Albany site, AQS 39-049-0029). (PDF)
  11. OPSB Staff, "Staff Report of Investigation," case 26-0361-EL-BGN, Oct. 16, 2026, pp. 26–27. PUCO docket
  12. New Albany-Plain Local Schools Board of Education, Bylaw 0169.1, "Public Participation at Board Meetings," revised Dec. 13, 2021. go.neola.com