B6 Metro The Plain Dealer Breaking news: cleveland.com Saturday, February 9, 2008

Watchdog group fired upover Great Lakes pollutants

Quite a quilt show in Kirtland

Michael ScottPlainDealerReporter

An investigative watchdoggroup said this week that federalhealth officials have refused forseven months to release a studythat contains “alarming evi-dence” of toxic pollutants inNortheast Ohio and other GreatLakes’ communities.The Center for Public Integ-

rity, a Washington, D.C., group,published a draft of the reportThursday on its Web site, publi-cintegrity.org.A spokeswoman for the Cen-

ters for Disease Control in At-lanta on Friday acknowledgedthat the draft was legit, but said afinal copy is being withheld frompublic release because portionsof it were not supported by ac-ceptable scientific methods.“There were deficiencies in the

document,” said CDC spokes-woman Bernadette Burden. “Insome cases, citations were miss-ing or nonexistent and our policyis to make certain that every-thing we do is scientifically so-lid.”But the Center for Public In-

tegrity contends that the CDCbalked because it did not want toalarm more than 9 million peo-ple in Great Lakes cities such asCleveland, Chicago, Detroit andMilwaukee who may face ele-vated health risks from being ex-posed to dioxin, PCBs, pesticides,lead, mercury, or other hazard-ous pollutants.The study of dozens of areas of

concern in the Great Lakes re-

gion — including the Ashtabula,Cuyahoga and Black rivers —overlays existing records of mor-tality rates and pollution reports,but specifically avoids making acausal connection between thetwo.The CDC report does, however,

recommend further study thatcould make that connection. Itidentifies two dozen hazardous-waste sites in the Great Lakes re-gion. It asserts that health risksin Cuyahoga County and otherareas along waterways appearhigher when compared to similarareas in the country. The draftreport was not more specific.Marnie Urso of Audubon Ohio,

which also monitors pollutionand lobbies for conservationmatters, said she hadn’t yet seenthe report, but was not surprisedwhen told of its conclusions.“We’ve made great strides over

the last few decades, but we’renot out of the woods,” Urso said.“We’re really just now at an eco-logical tipping point when itcomes to our water, and we’vegot to stay vigilant in keepingpollution out of our environmentat every turn.”She said the polluting of Ohio

and Great Lakes water, land andair is just now less visible whencompared to an infamous event40 years ago.“Our river may not be burning

anymore, but that doesn’t meanthere aren’t real health concernsfor people living near pollutedareas,” she said.The CDC’s Burden said the

400-page report was put together

over the last several years. It wasconducted at the request of theInternational Joint Commission,the independent board of U.S.and Canadian officials that over-sees water quality in the GreatLakes.The Center for Public Integrity

also said the CDC administrationinterfered with the work of gov-ernment scientists writing the re-port and produced a letter from aHouse congressional committeeraising concerns that the reportwas being withheld improperly.Dr. Peter Orris, a professor at

the University of Illinois Schoolof Public Health in Chicago whowas one of three experts who re-viewed the study for CDC’sAgency for Toxic Substances andDisease Registry, said the studyshould make further research apriority.“Communities could demand

that those questions be answeredin a more systematic way,” hetold the Center for Public Integ-rity. “Not to release it is puttingyour head under the sand.”Jack Shaner of the Ohio Envi-

ronmental Council was more di-rect.“We don’t know which is more

shocking — an allegation that theCDC withheld information or therevelation that millions of Ameri-cans are living next to a toxic ‘firezone,’ ” Shaner said. “This obvi-ously warrants more investiga-tion and should move to the topof the stack at the CDC.”

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:mscott@plaind.com, 216-999-4148

PHOTOGRAPHSBYCHRISSTEPHENS THEPLAINDEALER

Quilts from traditional bed quilts to wall designs are displayed at the 17th annual quilt showat Lake Farmpark in Kirtland.

More than 230 quilts are on display at the 17th annual quilt show atLakeMetroparks Farmpark in Kirtland. The show features worksfrom internationally acclaimed visiting artists and a judged show ofquilts by artists fromNortheast Ohio and around the United States.Quilts 2008 runs throughMarch 19. Admission is $6 for adults, $5for senior citizens and $4 for children.

ZELMANfrom B1

Schools boss thinksit will all work out“I was very surprised,” she

said, adding that she and thegovernor have not spoken sincehis Wednesday speech.The bombshell also surprised

State Board of Education Presi-dent Jennifer Sheets.“I have had a fairly good pro-

fessional and personal relation-ship with the governor, who wasmy congressman,” said Sheets, ofPomeroy. “I’m disappointed hedidn’t see a need to contact meahead of time.”Zelman, who begins her 10th

year as the state’s superintendentof schools March 8, said shesharply disagreed with the gover-nor’s proposal, but did not take it

as a personal rebuke.“I understand politics,” she said.In 1953, voters approved a

constitutional amendment tomake Ohio the 45th state to havea state board of education. Theidea was endorsed by teachersunions and most state newspa-pers. In some states, such asOhio, the board’s duties includehiring the state superintendent.Zelman and Sheets said it’s

crucial to have an apolitical statesuperintendent who is hired by anonpartisan state educationboard — a body which consists of11 elected members and eightappointed by the governor.The setup, she said, ensures

that education policy is shielded,to some degree, from partisanpolitics. It also ensures publicparticipation in policy debates,they said.“The governor and the legisla-

ture are concerned with the wel-fare of many, many issues,” Zel-

man said. “In reality, they don’thave the time to study, in public,the complexities of education is-sues. I do my work in public.”Having an education leader

shielded from gubernatorial ap-pointment also allows state pol-icy to evolve and grow over timerather than flopping in the politi-cal winds, she said.Sheets added: “You have to set-

tle on a vision and make steadyprogress, and that has to survivepolitical process.”Sheets sent Strickland a letter

Friday detailing her concernsand warning that the state boardcannot support any proposal thattakes “the ‘public’ out of publiceducation.”“We need collaboration and

cooperation, but he doesn’t nec-essarily have to be in control,”Sheets said.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:sstephens@plaind.com, 216-999-4827

“Blue Beauty,” a First Placewinner by Janet Joehlin ofAtwater Township.

Detail of “Rhapsody in Pink”by Vikki Pignatelli ofColumbus.

Detail from “Exotic Goldfish”by Dianna Vourron ofRichmond, Va.

DEATHfrom B1

Mother gets $1 millionin son’s police killingLaw Director Robert Triozzi

said city officials continue to be-lieve the officers’ versions ofhow the shooting occurred. “Ireject the characterization ofsloppiness on the city’s part,”Triozzi said.The city decided to settle for

$1 million because it did notwant to leave the officers ex-posed to potential personal lia-bility, Triozzi said.On the day he died, Ricardo

was riding in the front passen-

ger seat of a stolen PontiacGrand Prix driven by then-16-year-old Malcolm Hoyle. Po-lice spotted and pursued the car.After Hoyle crashed, Taylor

and Baeppler parked theircruiser behind the stolen carand approached. Baeppler shotHoyle in the face. Taylor, whowas struck by the reversingauto, fatally shot Ricardo in theback as he fired on Hoyle, Tri-ozzi said.Green’s lawyer, David Malik,

claimed in the lawsuit that po-lice negligently moved evidence,including the Grand Prix andthe police cruiser. PatrolmanAdrian Neagu admitted to mov-ing the police car, but said hedid so to make way for an ambu-lance attempting to save Ri-

cardo, according to court filings.Evidence about the officer’s

actions was presented to a Cuya-hoga County grand jury, whichdeclined to file charges. Thewrongful death case was set togo to trial Friday in U.S. DistrictCourt.Hoyle, the other youth in-

volved in the shooting, recov-ered and was convicted as anadult of involuntary manslaugh-ter for Ricardo’s death. He re-ceived probation but was latersent to prison for a year after vi-olating his probation. He haspending drug charges from un-related cases.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:dguevara@plaind.com, 216-999-4334

MISSINGfrom B1

Body exhumedin cold case probe“The soil here in Georgia has a

lot of acid in it, and betweenthat and the water, it just tendsto speed up the decaying,” hesaid.Nonetheless, “we’re real hope-

ful that we’ll be able to make adetermination, one way or an-other,” he added. “We’ll justhave to let science do its thingand just wait and see what hap-pens.”Tammen, a graduate of Maple

Heights High School, was ma-joring in business administra-tion at Miami. He was last seenabout 8 p.m. on April 19, 1953,when he asked the dorm man-ager for fresh linen becausesome prankster had put a deadfish in his bed.His wallet, coat and car keys

were still in the room, and hisChevy sedan, with his bass fid-dle in the back seat, was still inits regular parking spot. Therewere no signs of a struggle in theroom. No ransom note or de-mands followed.One brother, Richard, was a

freshman at the university at thetime. His family also includedhis parents, Ronald and Marjo-rie Tammen (now deceased),two other brothers, Robert andJohn, and a sister, Marcia.Marcia Tammen, who lives in

Cleveland, was 10 when herbrother disappeared. She saidthat her brother came home the

weekend beforehe disappearedand her familywas devastatedby his disap-pearance, butin t ime theylearned to cope.“We squaredour shoulders,

held our heads up and went onwith our lives,” she said. “Hewas always in our thoughts andprayers.”She was shocked when a de-

tective called her two weeks agoto interview her and collect DNAevidence.“It’s a teeter-toTter situation,”

she said. “It would be nice if wecould get closure.”Friends and family said Tam-

men had no financial problems,was getting good grades, andseemed to be a responsible andoutgoing student.A few days after the disap-

pearance, about 400 universitystudents and other volunteerssearched a 25-square-mile areaaround the campus.A woman in the nearby com-

munity of Seven Mile reportedthat late on the night of Tam-men’s disappearance, a dazed,coatless young man answeringTammen’s description had cometo the door and asked where hewas and how he could get to abus stop. She pointed out the di-rections and he left.Two months later, on June 24,

the decomposed remains of aman were found in a thicket inWalker County, Ga. Investiga-tors were unable to identify theman and he was buried in a La-fayette, Ga., cemetery.

Over the years, Tammen’s dis-appearance became a subject ofpopular folklore in both states.In Ohio, the story joined the

ghostly lore associated with hisdorm, Fisher Hall, a former san-itarium for the mentally ill be-fore it became a college resi-dence hall. (The building wasdemolished in 1978.)In Georgia, the area of bushes

and honeysuckle vines wherethe unidentified body was foundbecame known as “Dead Man’sHollow.”Last December, Capt. Mike

Freeman, a cold case investiga-tor with the Walker CountySheriff’s Office, reopened thecase and started looking for amissing-person report from thatsame year. He got a possible hitwith the Tammen disappear-ance.Tammen was 5 feet 10, and

175 pounds. The unidentifiedman was 5 feet 9 and 160pounds, and was an estimated25 to 30 years old.Sheriff Wilson said the body

was found near U.S. 27, whichalso runs through Oxford, Ohio.“The similarities gave us a gutfeeling that we needed to movefurther on this.” The coroner’sreport indicated that based onits condition, the body had beenthere about a month.“It’s kind-of a long shot, but

maybe if we find out that it ishim, it might shed some light onhow he ended up there,” saidChief Anthony Dwyer of the But-ler County Sheriff’s Office.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:balbrecht@plaind.com, 216-999-4853

Tammen

THOMASONDREY THEPLAINDEALER

Egg collectors often kept detailed journals. The egg display at Geauga County’s Big Creek Parkincludes this 1926 journal entry about the discovery of turkey vulture eggs inMaryland.

OOLOGYfrom B1

Naturalist restoresdelicate egg collection“They’re remarkable, like

little jewels,” said Linnea Hall,executive director of the West-ern Foundation of VertebrateZoology, which houses NorthAmerica’s largest egg collection.“When you see the variety, thebeauty . . . you understand whythey’re so captivating.”But it’s the well-chronicled

tales behind the eggs that trulyfascinate.An adventurer’s spirit guided

those who dabbled in oology, orthe scientific study of eggs. Col-lectors explored terrain of allsorts — forests, fields, beaches,cliffs — to search out nests. Thegood eggers maintained meticu-lous records to detail theirfinds.

The observations added in-trigue to the eggs and suppliedreams of scientific data. Thedisplay at Big Creek featuressome of the notes, penned bycollectors around the country,as well as the eggs.A researcher wrote this after

taking a pair of turkey vultureeggs in Maryland on May 6,1926: “Situated: far back inlarge, dimly lit cave under enor-mous rocks in gap where therewere thousands of rocks. Eggslay on heavy bed of oak leaves.Buzzard sat till I almost touchedher . . .”Mary Huey, a naturalist at

Lake Metroparks, marveled atthe information as she curatedthe rediscovered collection.“I would have loved to be in

the field with them,” said Huey,a longtime bird watcher.Huey toiled for hours clean-

ing the more than 700 eggs, us-ing a soft cloth and water to wipedecades of neglect from the frailshells. It was a painstakingly

slow and nerve-wracking pro-cess. “It doesn’t take much pres-sure on them to destroy them, Idiscovered,” Huey said.Now-faded numbers penned

on some of the eggs allowedHuey to match the shells to thedetailed notes written long ago.She identified roughly one-thirdof the collection, the portion nowon loan to Geauga. The remain-ing eggs await additional inter-pretation.Lake Metroparks intends to

use the eggs as a teaching tool,Huey said. In the end, that’s thelegacy left by collectors such asHugh Pallister Sr. and C.M. Ship-man, the fathers of Hugh Jr. andGretta Pallister. That’s why theelderly couple donated the eggs.“People should be able to see

and learn from them,” saidGretta Pallister, 89. “They shouldbe put to use.”

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:jhorton@plaind.com, 800-962-1167