A coalition of Ohio environmental & community activists is demanding that the Ohio EPA include community members in their investigation of the impacts from the fire at an GFL Environmental Inc. oil refinery on the city’s Northeast side on November 21st.

The coalition, which includes Black Environmental Leaders Action Fund & Black Environmental Leaders Association, Columbus Stand Up, 350, Ohio Working Families Party, Green Worker Alliance and Sierra Club, stands in solidarity with residents throughout Central Ohio who are consistently subjected to environmental risks stemming from a lack of corporate accountability.

On behalf of the coalition, Morgan Harper from Columbus Stand Up stated, “The Ohio EPA should conduct a thorough investigation that includes community members to fully understand the harm stemming from the fire to ensure GFL Environmental covers the costs of remediating those harms.”

Dion Mensah of Black Environmental Leaders Action Fund added, “GFL Environmental Inc. has the financial resources to make improvements to their processes to avoid these disasters, but they continue to pay shareholders over protecting residents living near their facilities.”

GFL Environmental Inc. is a Canadian company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. GFL refineries across the country and in Canada have seen fires similar to the one in Columbus last week.