Cheshire, Ohio

American Electric Power, the nation's largest electrical utility, has bought the 200 or so lots that make up the small Ohio River town of Cheshire for $20 million, and is expected to tear down the buildings after they are vacated. The company, seeking more of a buffer zone around its James Gavin Power Plant (one of the largest coal-fired plants in the nation) asked all bought-out residents to give up their rights to sue the company for any future health problems, despite resident's claims of burning eyes and throats when the plant occasionally emitted visible clouds of sulfuric acid.