The future of one of Middletown's biggest employers, the Cleveland-Cliffs steel plant, hangs on the decision of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, and the EPA is asking people in the region to weigh in on the company's ap plication.EPA representatives and air quality regulators gathered in what is normally the Middletown City Council chambers Thursday to hear from a standing-room-only crowd at their first public hearing, and those supporting the plant's plan to build a power plant on site and rehabilitate blast furnace three dominated the room.The power plant would redirect gases from the blast furnace and natural gas toward water sources to generate steam and wind for electricity production, and a series of repairs or upgrades would extend the life of the blast furnace.Laborers Local 534 President David Spivey called the EPA's approval critical to the region's economy."Nobody knows how long they're going to keep it open if they don't get it," Spivey said. If they do decide to close it one day, that's a lot of union jobs that are going to be gone, families not being taken care of."WATCH: We talk with people living near Middletown's Cleveland-Cliff's steel plant Pollution, economy dominate public hearing on future of Middletown steel plantSprinkled throughout the room, those who oppose Cleveland-Cliff's application worried about the continued, and potentially increased, pollution for those living around the facility.Donna Ballinger lives around 1,000 feet from the plant. She walked us around her property and showed us the particulates coating her home and cars."Everybody here has got health issues. I have COPD. I have at least 20 to 30 sinus infections a year," Ballinger said.We've talked with Ballinger for years, going back to when AK Steel owned the plant, to as recently as April, when researchers with the University of Cincinnati tested surrounding properties for contaminants."I'm standing. I'm fighting. I've been doing it for nine and a half years. I'm not giving up," she said.She said she wanted the company to return to a plan it explored in 2024 involving conversion from blast furnaces to Direct Reduced Iron infrastructure and electric melting furnaces.Instead, under this new proposal before the EPA, the plant would utilize carbon offsets from the 2021 decommissioning of a coke battery to offset emissions generated when the blast furnace and power plant come online, according to Ohio EPA Assistant Chief Russell Flagg.Local environmental activist Marilyn Wall said she didn't trust the company's emission balancing when we asked, but said, in the end, the actual numbers weren't the point."Even if their netting is actually right, they're still adding pollution to the communities," she said.Public comment on the EPA's application consideration remains open through July 18.Written comments must be received by that date and may be submitted at the hearing, by mail to DAPC, Southwest Ohio Air Quality Authority, 1701 Patricia McCollum Way, or online.The draft permit is available online by entering the permit number P0139876 in the full text search. Physical copies may be inspected at the Southwest Ohio Air Quality Authority.A company spokesperson issued the following statement Thursday evening: This air permit will enable a major investment by Cleveland-Cliffs to upgrade and modernize the ironmaking process at Middletown Works, its flagship steel plant producing automotive-grade steel. This significant investment includes the construction of a highly efficient co-generation electric plant through the capture of process gases from the iron production process, giving relief to the local power grid and benefiting the Middletown population. The investment will ensure a competitive future for the steel mill and secure over 2,000 steelmaking jobs in Middletown for decades to come. ...read more read less