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While regulators catch them venting gas for 60 hours straight, the company pushes "chemical recycling" pilot with East Palestine chemical.

HEBRON, OH — In case you missed it, the Buckeye Environmental Network is exposing a critical public health failure in Licking County. Freepoint Eco-Systems has been slapped with its third air permit violation in a single year by the Ohio EPA.

While this company quietly admitted to illegally venting volatile chemicals 79 times, they are simultaneously seeking to expand their facility to "recycle" PVC—a process involving the same toxic chemical behind the East Palestine disaster.

THE FACTS MEDIA OUTLETS ARE MISSING:

1. A 60-Hour Chemical Release This wasn't a minor leak. Between February and June 2025, Freepoint bypassed their mandatory vapor combustors 79 separate times.

One single event lasted 59 hours—nearly two and a half days of continuous, unpermitted venting to an open flare.

This is the third time in 12 months they've been cited (previous violations were for excessive particulate matter).

California's sees record growth in battery storage

At the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference in Brazil, California Governor Newsom announced that California has reached a record level of battery storage, with 16,942 megawatts (MW) of capacity available. This is a massive buildout that's redefining grid reliability and accelerating the state's transition to 100 percent clean energy. 

The new total marks an increase of about 1,200 MW in the past six months and a 2,100 percent surge in storage capacity since 2019. California has now built one-third of the storage capacity estimated to be needed by 2045 to reach its clean energy goals. 

California has more installed battery capacity than every other jurisdiction on the planet except for China. Within the United States, California leads all states in installed storage capacity, followed by Texas which has roughly 9,000 MW of battery capacity. 

Flock Group, Inc. has had some explaining to do this year. Billed as an intelligent platform that "unites communities, businesses, schools and law enforcement, combining their power to solve and deter crime together," the vendor of automated license plate reader (ALPR) data has, in actuality, been accused of using data points from 83,000 cameras to help a sheriff's deputy in Texas track one of the state's citizens as she fled to Illinois -- a state where the right to end a pregnancy is protected -- following a self-administered abortion in the Lone Star State.  

The Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) has a contract to give the company $90,000 per year. For some Ohioans, that's too much.  

"Given [the lack of regulation], we think it is irresponsible of our state and local governments to be purchasing, obtaining, or using these types of mass surveillance devices and technologies with no adequate statutory safeguards in place governing their use," says Gary Daniels, a legislative director at the Ohio chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Buckeye Environmental Network (BEN), represented by Earthjustice, has filed a lawsuit against the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) and its Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management for unlawfully approving two new Class II oil and gas waste injection wells proposed by DeepRock Disposal Solutions, LLC near Marietta.

The suit, filed in the Tenth District Court of Appeals, challenges ODNR’s approval of the Stephan #1 and American Growers #4 wells. The lawsuit argues that ODNR issued these permits using outdated, less protective rules that no longer meet current legal or scientific standards. Both wells would inject millions of gallons of toxic and radioactive oil and gas waste into underground formations less than two miles from Marietta’s public drinking water source.

80 percent fear rising electricity costs

A recent poll by Sunrun, the nation's largest residential solar installer, finds that 81 percent of those surveyed have experienced power outages within the past year and 80 percent of U.S. homeowners worry data centers will drive up their electricity bills.

The company surveyed 1,000 homeowners nationwide. The findings point to a public bracing for a strain on the existing utility system and actively considering energy alternatives.

The survey reports 68 percent of homeowners doubt utilities can keep up with rising energy demand in their region

While homeowners expect things to get worse, they report that outages are already widespread:

Enphase now supports fully off-grid system

With three open seats on the Board of Education and no incumbents defending them, November 4 isn’t a sleepy local race. There are six candidates, and the winners will be faced with helping rescue Columbus City Schools from its toughest stretch in decades. A $100 million budget deficit, plummeting enrollment, collapsing public trust and a growing rift between union teachers and the District’s administration.

It’s a reset moment that will determine whether Ohio’s largest District stabilizes, shrinks, or fractures entirely. Again, six candidates are vying for three seats, and their divisions mirror Columbus politics itself.

“Establishment” Democrat Party-endorsed slate:

● Patrick Katzenmeyer — husband of former City Councilmember and YWCA CEO Elizabeth Brown, and son of retired Greater Columbus Arts Council CEO Tom

Katzenmeyer. Katzenmeyer works for the developer the Pizzuti Companies, and his campaign funded by the Columbus Education PAC, which is a mix of CEOs and business leaders from Grange Insurance, Kokosing Construction and Mount Carmel Hospitals.

An unnamed oil and gas company has submitted a “nomination” to the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission to frack 1,460 acres of Jockey Hollow Wildlife Area in Harrison County.

If approved, it would be the third-largest tract of Ohio public land for oil and gas extraction. But before that can happen, we the people who pay for and use this land have a chance to comment.

On October 7, the Center for Constitutional Rights endorsed an amended and expanded legal complaint filed by 

Armed federal agents violently attacked and assaulted the owner and some workers of Panchos Tacos restaurant in downtown Mount Vernon, Ohio on Thursday, October 9, 2025. The attackers were not ICE, but rather Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). They appear to be related, and their tactics were similar, as they violently assaulted and kidnapped brown-skinned people trying to come to work. When the owner drove up to his restaurant with one of his workers Thursday morning they were approached by HSI with guns drawn and were assaulted and detained.

The owner is a US citizen who was born in the country. Several workers fled the scene. Some were caught and taken away. Their conditions and whereabouts are unknown to the general community. Reports are that the location is known to some, but not being released because families of those kidnapped are fearful that if protesters turn up at the detention location, it might cause violence and harm to their loved ones being detained there.