We are excited to announce the newest addition to the Roadside America Toxic Town Tour. Joining Times Beach, MO; Love Canal, NY; Hanford, WA; and everyone's favorite, Centralia, PA; is Cheshire, OH, which has been purchased by the American Electric Power company so that it can evict its homeowners and wipe the place off of the Ohio map.

American Electric Power operates a plant in Cheshire, where residents have long complained of raspy throats, burning eyes, sore lips, mouth blisters, and grime everywhere. Faced with the considerable expense and public relations mess of individual lawsuits, American Electric Power solved the problem by buying the town for $20 million. Homeowners are to receive about $150,000 apiece, roughly three times the value of their houses -- according to the New York Times -- that they probably could not have sold anyway. In return, they have signed pledges never to sue the power company for property damage or health problems. [05/19/2002]

February 10, 2012