CHESHIRE, OHIO
Extended Trailer with Character Profiles

In the summer of 2001, huge blue clouds of sulfuric acid descended more than a dozen times on the Appalachian town of Cheshire, Ohio, burning people’s skin and the insides of their mouths. It was frightening. These “blue haze touchdowns” galvanized the community to demand more responsibility from the local power company, owned by American Electric Power, and led the residents to educate themselves on the possible harmful effects of chemical emissions. Their tenacious resolve to fight for clean air ultimately drove the power company to make a startling offer: American Electric Power would purchase the entire town from the residents for 20 million dollars. The deal is believed to be the first by a private company to dissolve an entire town. Each citizen who accepted the deal would have to sign away their right to sue the plant for future health problems. This is where Cheshire, Ohio: A Question of Power begins.

Many local residents faced the toughest decision of their lives: Pack up and leave a community many families have lived in for six generations? Or stay and fight a multi-billion dollar corporation? From the poignant perspectives of those most intimately involved, Cheshire, Ohio tells the emotional and dramatic story of the planned destruction of a small town in the heartland of America that sits in the shadow of one of the world’s largest coal-fired power plants.

Since the 1970’s, a few neighborhoods – Love Canal and Times Beach are famous examples – have been bought out because of environmental problems. In those rare cases, however, it was the government that bought the homes after years of legal challenges, not a corporation. Cheshire, Ohio captures this unprecedented event, documenting the community’s decision, the evacuation of residents and the bulldozing of century-old homes. More than a story of environmental degradation, Cheshire, Ohio investigates an important issue endemic to our contemporary life – the demise of towns across America due to overwhelming commercial and industrial interests – and asks, what is the real cost?