There&#8217s a new environmental sheriff in town, and she didn&#8217t take long to crack

down on Tonawanda Coke Corp., the River Road facility that has drawn the ire of neighbors for

years for its foul-smelling pollution.

Judith Enck, regional administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency, announced Thursday a series of violations against Tonawanda Coke that made it clear the company

has escaped close notice for years by inspectors. The violations carry fines up to $35,000 a

day, and Enck said the EPA would not be shy in pursuing them if Tonawanda Coke fails to act.

Enck, the environmental adviser to the past two governors, made Tonawanda Coke one of her

top priorities when she was named to the EPA post two months ago.

&#8220This has been a major problem in Western New York for a long time,&#8221 Enck said

Thursday, as she announced a number of recent regulatory actions her agency has taken against

Tonawanda Coke, owned by J.D. Crane.

&#8220For the sake of those who live and work near this facility,&#8221 she said in a

conference call to reporters, &#8220EPA is doing everything in its power to put an end to

Tonawanda Coke&#8217s lax environmental practices.&#8221

Enck knows the area. As the environmental adviser to former Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer, she

worked with Buffalo officials to send the &#8220garbage train&#8221 on its way, after it sat

in a East Side rail yard for months when its owner abandoned the smelly cargo.

She said that, among other violations at Tonawanda Coke, rusted pipes leaked hazardous

waste into the ground and the Niagara River; two tar sludge tanks that burned in a 2007 fire

were never removed and are leaking hazardous tar into the ground and surrounding roadways; and

Tonawanda Coke had not installed baffles on two towers that allowed air pollution to escape.

She was asked: Where waswere the EPA and DEC in the past?

&#8220To be honest,&#8221 she said, &#8220I wasn&#8217t aware personally of the problems

until it was brought to my attention by a local citizens group.&#8221

That group, the Clean Air Coalition of Wastern New York, has complained about the mysterious

illnesses and air pollution from Tonawanda Coke for the past four years.

But it took a protest outside Tonawanda Coke&#8217s gates in October, and complaints to

Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, plus Sens. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., and Kirsten

Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and then Enck&#8217s move to the EPA before anything happened.

&#8220This has been a long time coming,&#8221 said Jackie James-Creedon, who founded the

Clean Air Coalition after she was stricken with fibromylagia, an auto-immune disease.

Creedon and Erin Heaney, executive director of the coalition, spent a day with Enck in

Albany after the protests in October and briefed her on Tonawanda Coke.

Heaney said it is not the goal of her group to shut down Tonawanda Coke, but to make sure

the company abides by the law.

&#8220The optimal outcome is that Tonawanda Coke fixes what is broken,&#8221 Heaney said.

&#8220We need to make sure that every step is taken to make sure the risk is as low as

possible.&#8221

J.D. Crane, the owner of Tonawanda Coke, as well as Erie Coke in Erie, Pa., which is also

under fire from environmental regulators, did not return a telephone call to comment.

His attorney, Gregory F. Linsin of Blank Rome in Washington, D.C., said he would contact

the company to see if anyone would comment.

Tonawanda Coke is in the foundry coke business and makes fuel needed for making engine

blocks for the auto industry.

Andrew Jones, an industry analyst for Resource-Net in Brussels, Belgium, said there are

only four foundry coke plants left in the United States. Besides Crane&#8217s two plants,

there are two other foundry coke plants in Alabama.

Three other plants have closed in recent years, Jones said, both because of declining

demand and the increased cost of environmental compliance.

&#8220Should we have jumped on it sooner?&#8221 Enck said of the EPA&#8217s recent actions

against Tonawanda Coke. &#8220Sure, but our priority right now is to deal with the situation

at hand and try to make sure we can get some relief for the community.&#8221

The EPA action announced Thursday involves civil violations, and the action differs from

the criminal charges the U.S. attorney in Buffalo brought against Mark Kamholz, the

environmental control manager at Tonawanda Coke.

Kamholz was charged with three counts of violating environmental laws a few days after

agents from the EPA&#8217s criminal division raided the Tonawanda plant.

&#8220It was pretty serious in December when the criminal action was taken,&#8221 Enck

said. &#8220I think that should be a wake-up call to the owner that a number of state and

federal agencies are looking at this facility very closely.&#8221

The federal raid followed a study by the state DEC, funded by the EPA, that found Tonawanda

Coke was the area&#8217s primary source of benzene, a carcinogen. The study showed the benzene

emissions were up to 75 times the recommended guidelines.

Enck said the EPA had ordered Tonawanda Coke to do a new round of testing for benzene.

&#8220We&#8217re doing what we can to control the benzene emissions to the greatest extent

possible,&#8221 Enck said, &#8220and this is very important, because benzene is a known human

carcinogen.&#8221

The EPA issued violations of the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act and ordered Tonawanda

Coke to submit a plan on how it intends to correct the violations.

&#8220I believe that these along with future actions will be a great benefit to people

living near the site and to the workers at the facility,&#8221 Enck said. &#8220We want to

make Tonawanda a healthier community, and we think by getting the company to make these

improvements, that&#8217s exactly what will happen.&#8221