Mr. Taft wants lawmakers to put the issue before voters in November. Environmental groups are suspicious about how the money would be used. But Jack Shaner, a lobbyist with the Ohio Environmental Council, the Ohio Sierra Club and Ohio Citizen Action worry the state may let businesses tap the taxpayers instead of their own pocketbooks to pay their cleanup costs. These groups will push Mr. Taft and lawmakers to pass rules that would keep polluters' hands off the money. Taft spokesman Scott Milburn said the governor is likely to support those restrictions.
Government can spend a lot of money in court on legal fees trying to squeeze blood from a turnip.
City and county officials created the Port Authority in 1997 to select and buy brownfields for redevelopment. Ms. Lange said the state money could help her agency target more sites. Cincinnati officials involved in a separate cleanup agree with Ms. Lange. Bonnie Philips, the city's environmental compliance manager, said the state money could fund city cleanups like one under way near Mill Creek in Carthage. Once the cleanup is done, the site is to be sold to a developer to build homes.