Al Gore might do well to think about Henry and find a way to convince voters that he is just as green as the Green Party candidate, Ralph Nader, who is giving him so much grief in swing states. Ohio, where Mr. Gore is now trailing George W. Bush in the polls, illustrates the problem. Getting votes from Mr. Nader, who is at 4 percent, could help make up the difference.

It may be time for Mr. Gore to say ''Ohio is worth a trip to East Liverpool.'' A controversial toxic waste incinerator smolders in the working-class town. When Mr. Gore, a vice presidential candidate in 1992, first heard about its location - 400 yards (365 meters) from an elementary school - he promised the inhabitants that he was on their side. But eight years and countless citizen protests and lawsuits later, the Waste Technologies Industries plant fumes on.

The people of East Liverpool are mostly too poor to protest, but a dedicated band has come periodically to Washington. The latest trip was last Wednesday, and one of the leaders was Richard Wolf, 68, president of the town's school board. Like the others, he was chained to a concrete block inside a bus parked outside the Environmental Protection Agency.

When he was arrested, people he was told were from the D.C. Fire and Rescue Squad came to jackhammer off his chains and, due to technical difficulties, skinned his hand. Rick Hind of Greenpeace, the organization helping the protesters, finally got Mr. Wolf to Sibley Hospital - where, at about midnight, doctors put 21 stitches in his hand.

Mr. Wolf, now back home, sounded shaken but defiant. He is furious that his ordeal might deter other peaceful protests. He expects no apologies from anyone, including the people who left him in a cell with his hand untreated for hours.

Mr. Wolf regretted being unable to join a delegation planning to go to Mr. Gore's campaign appearance Friday in Pittsburgh. He carries his own sign. It reads: ''The 3,600 reasons I oppose the WTI plant are the 3,600 schoolchildren of East Liverpool.'' Elevated levels of dioxin and arsenic have been found in soil taken from the schoolyard near the plant, Mr. Hind said.

On Oct. 20 the EPA released a preliminary report which recommended that the East Liverpool plant be closed for six months while health and safety issues were re-examined. It seemed to be one of those rare moments when good policy and good politics coincide, but the EPA administrator Carol Browner declined to shut the plant. She is said to feel that the report did not meet the legal requirements for suspending operations. She has sent teams to test the soil, and begin the process all over again.

Mr. Gore issued a statement urging the EPA to follow the report's recommendations. Although environment is his empire in the administration, he cannot overrule Mrs. Browner. President Bill Clinton can, but has not been heard from.

Mr. Nader, who visited East Liverpool in September, says there is no mystery about why the administration continues to take the heat from this scandal. ''What it's about is big money,'' Mr. Nader said. ''Clinton knows that candidates who get big bucks from big corporations do well and get elected.''

Mr. Wolf, a registered Democrat, plans to vote for Mr. Nader. ''I'm tired of two parties who cater to the same big interests,'' he says.

Mr. Gore will not go to East Liverpool, of course. It would be a chance to show how much of a populist gladiator he is, but it would be a risk - after all this, he could get booed. He resents having his environmental record compared with Mr. Nader's instead of that of Mr. Bush, who believes in ''voluntary'' pollution controls by the polluters.

Copyright 2000 IHT

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