Earlier this year, Moms’ organizer Amanda Rowoldt captured video of a brand new “advanced recycling” plastics burning facility in Union Township, Ohio, emitting toxic black smoke into surrounding neighborhoods. The video of the Freepoint Eco-Systems facility captured the attention of the press, local lawmakers, and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. Below Amanda shares more about the ongoing campaign to limit dangerous plastics and petrochemical pollution across Ohio. All end-of-year donations to Moms Clean Air Force will fund this exact type of critical work in 2026.
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As told to Julie Kimmel by Amanda Rowoldt:
Back in late February, in response to my video, Ohio EPA sent a small team to inspect the Freepoint Eco-Systems “advanced recycling” plastics burning facility. They ran some tests and then shut down the operation in late February because it had far exceeded its particle pollution, or PM 2.5, limit. So this summer, Freepoint was not operating and was fixing the equipment that was causing all the terrible black smoke from the video.
Last month, some advocates were asking me about the status of the Freepoint facility. I decided to call. A woman answered, and I heard commotion in the background. It sounded like they were operating. So I asked, “Are you open? Are you recycling again?” She said yes.
It was disappointing, to say the least. As long as they are open and processing plastic waste again, they are compromising the health of the community there. In fact, on November 4 of this year, they received another violation notice from the Ohio EPA that cited 79 instances when the facility’s emissions were vented without passing through the required pollution controls.
So we have a lot of work ahead of us, and people’s lives are on the line. I still worry about my own experience visiting this facility and the physical symptoms I had as a result. I could see the black smoke, and then I felt dizzy, I felt the headache, I felt nausea. I was only there for three minutes, and as a cancer survivor, I’m worried that somehow my cancer is going to come back. But it was only three minutes! There are families who live there and people who work there who can’t leave—24/7.
A new polluting pilot program
In August, during the facility’s temporary shutdown, I saw articles in the press about a pilot program at Freepoint. Instead of burning general plastic waste, this new program would be specifically focused on polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic waste. This would require engineering new equipment especially for PVC disposal. My understanding is this is happening. And it would be one big experiment; this is not proven technology.
This is terrifying because PVC is made of vinyl chloride, the same chemical that poisoned East Palestine, Ohio, after the February 2023 train derailment. Vinyl chloride exposure can cause headaches, dizziness, liver disease, and cancers (including liver cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, brain cancer, and lung cancer). It can be fatal.
A statewide campaign
In addition to the Freepoint facility, Moms in Ohio have done some work around Alterra in Akron, the first petrochemical facility operating in the state. (They’ve been operating for a decade.) We recently participated in a hearing about renewing their air permit.
But generally, Moms in Ohio are trying to focus on the facilities that are not already up and running. SOBE Thermal Energy has its main facility in Youngstown and is looking to build an “advanced recycling” plastics burning plant in Lowellville. But it’s complicated. SOBE was poorly run, and an Ohio judge recently ruled that they needed a court-appointed receiver to take over the company. Now we are waiting to see what the receiver is going to do. We think the intention is to sell the company, and we’ve asked Ohio EPA to rescind the 10-year air permit for “advanced recycling” in the sale.
The good news is the Youngstown City Council just renewed its moratorium on so-called “advanced recycling” technologies in the city through 2026. If the SOBE facility in Youngstown is not operating, by default it should affect Lowellville. So I’m keeping an eye on that.
Spreading the word
I’ve been focusing on Hebron, which neighbors Union Township. Although the Freepoint facility falls outside Hebron’s jurisdiction, the mayor is concerned enough about it that she has launched a community air sensor program to track particle pollution.
Union Township trustees seem less concerned. Their perspective is that area is zoned for heavy manufacturing so of course they’re doing dangerous stuff. I don’t know if the trustees realize that directly across the tree line from the Freepoint facility’s smokestacks are homes, which are technically in a different township called Licking. Heavy manufacturing and residential zones are right next to each other. My goal is to make sure that both sides are aware of that.
There are elementary, middle, and high schools in the area less than five miles downwind from the Freepoint Eco-Systems facility. Hebron also has a larger than average military veteran population in their community. These are the communities I want to connect with in 2026. We need to make sure that children are protected, and that service members are not coming back to a more dangerous place than where they were stationed.
Meanwhile, I’m constantly working on basic education about the many health problems associated with plastics and petrochemicals. The mantra of recycling is embedded in our collective consciousness. I have to explain to the parents I meet that the circularity of recycling isn’t inherently good—especially if the thing you are recycling is toxic. Plastics contain countless combinations of thousands of synthetic chemicals and fossil fuel polymers, and the recycling process inevitably leads to not only polluted air and waterways but also contaminated recycled products with ever higher concentrations of toxic chemicals.
Next steps
Moms has a petition calling on Ohio Governor Mike DeWine to stop plastics and petrochemical facility buildout in our state. There are currently five new facilities proposed for Ohio. We’re also calling for strong pollution protections for existing facilities like the Alterra and Freepoint Eco-Systems plants.
This whole business is just so frustrating and seems so unnecessary. Nobody wants to breathe in pollution from petrochemical facilities. Nobody wants their kids to breathe it. There’s something unifying about that, especially in the divisiveness of this moment. Everybody can get behind clean air; it feels very common sense.
If you live near one of the dozens of petrochemical facilities in Ohio and you suspect pollution violations, you can contact the state EPA. Never underestimate the power of a video! You can also contact me. I have a good, direct relationship with Ohio EPA staff and can let them know about suspected issues.