Key Takeaways
- FB Remediation is linked to toxic coal ash cleanup but lacks transparency in ownership and operations.
- Ron Froh’s connection to coal ash sites raises concerns about environmental practices and health risks for local communities.
- Global Patent Group, tied to cancer drug development, operates amid coal ash cleanup, highlighting conflicts of interest.
- There is a systemic issue of companies profiting from both pollution and health treatments, creating a public health crisis.
- Calls for transparency, regulatory enforcement, and investigation into financial connections in the cleanup industry are urgent.
Welcome to a Tale of Coal Ash, Cleanup Contracts, and Cancer Patents
This story has, to be succinct, become Erin Brockovich on steroids.
When the dust rises (literally) at Ohio’s shuttered coal plants, FB Remediation is often the company on the ground. The Missouri-based contractor has been tasked with managing fugitive dust and structural inspections at toxic legacy sites tied to Ron Froh, including the notorious Killen and Beckjord stations.
On paper, their role looks straightforward: mow the embankments, plug animal burrows, monitor dust. But dig just beneath the surface, and the connections start to look strange.
The Address That Connects
FB Remediation lists its headquarters at 2275 Cassens Drive, Suite 118, Fenton, Missouri, an address linked to multiple overlapping Ron Froh companies like Gemini, Commercial Liability Partners, Kingfisher, and more, is raising questions about ownership transparency.
Public filings also show FB Remediation pulling in millions in contracts, yet very little is disclosed about who ultimately profits. They don’t even have a formal business website or any real web presence.
Their Missouri Incorporation also tells a bigger story (more on that in a minute).
The Froh Connection
Ron Froh, long tied to the messy cleanup of Killen and Beckjord, has faced significant scrutiny for poor environmental controls and alleged cost-cutting practices that left neighboring communities worried about coal ash dust and water contamination. FB Remediation appears throughout inspection reports at these sites, implementing and documenting federally required controls on Froh’s watch.
Community complaints, like the February 2023 fugitive dust incident at Killen, show that control measures weren’t enough to prevent ash clouds from leaving the site.
FB Remediation was tasked with responding, but the broader problem remains systemic: a pattern of cycling the same firms through multimillion-dollar cleanup projects while nearby residents continue to suffer the health costs.
Enter Global Patent Group
And here’s where it gets weirder.
At the same time FB Remediation’s name shows up in filings tied to toxic coal ash, Tim Burgdorf of Missouri appears in the background. Burgdorf, an attorney with Global Patent Group, LLC, is listed in patent records tied to cancer drug development. His firm specializes in protecting intellectual property for biotech and pharma, industries focused on treating the very diseases communities near coal ash sites fear most.
…Like cancer.
There is not a single thing on the Global Patent Group’s website to suggest any specialty in remediation. I suspect however, they have a hand in turning the toxic former coal plant sites into agricultural locations, even though they aren’t supposed to according to language in the deeds.
Why? Because Global Patent Group also specializes in genome-edited plant projects.
Through farming, failed clean-ups, and cancer treatment, they’ve found a lucrative niche to essentially keep a cycle going for themselves, creating business and customers on multiple fronts.
The optics are jarring:
- One Missouri address ties multiple shell-like remediation firms together.
- That Missouri address ties to a company holding patents for cancer drugs while companies tied to his professional orbit profit off cleaning (and sometimes failing to clean) sites linked to direct cancer risks.
It’s hands down a revolving door between industries that cause cancer and industries that profit from its treatment.
Why This Matters
Coal ash contains arsenic, mercury, lead, and a cocktail of carcinogens. Federal law requires strict management of these toxic ponds, yet oversight is largely left to contractors like FB Remediation; firms few outside of industry have ever heard of.
If the same network of companies profits from both pollution and the diseases pollution causes, the conflict of interest isn’t just academic.
It’s a public health crisis hiding in plain sight.
Time to Make Some Noise
Adamo Group, SCM, and Ron Froh were literally the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more work to be done.
Demand transparency: Who really owns FB Remediation, and why is corporate structure hidden behind Missouri LLC filings? What else is Ron Froh hiding?
Push regulators: Ohio EPA and federal CCR oversight must ensure contractors aren’t cutting corners in communities already exposed to decades of risk.
Follow the money: Are the same players benefiting twice from taxpayer-funded cleanup contracts and from biotech profits tied to cancer treatment?
Are they paying off politicians?
We’re about to find out. Campaign Finance research is next.
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