TOWN OF TONAWANDA
EPA gives assurance on Tonawanda coke plant
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was reassured Thursday by the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency that concern about dangerously high emissions of the carcinogen benzene at the Tonawanda Coke plant “is not an issue that will slip through the cracks.”
The senator said her phone call with Lisa Jackson, who heads the federal agency chiefly responsible for the nation’s environmental policies, including the regulation of chemicals, was a “very, very valuable conversation.”
Gillibrand, D-N. Y.,said Jackson emphasized the EPA was working “hand in glove” with the state Department of Environmental Conservation in conducting air monitoring studies.
“If the DEC does have findings, they have the full capability to do a significant enforcement action that would include significant fines,” Gillibrand said Jackson told her.
Jackson also told Gillibrand her staff would welcome meeting affected families who live in the vicinity of the plant to hear their concerns directly. Erin Heaney, executive director of the Clean Air Coalition of WNY, later said the organization plans to hold such a meeting as early as this month in the nation’s capital.
Tonawanda Coke has dismissed the recent results of a yearlong study by the DEC, with funding by the EPA, that found benzene was being emitted up to 75 times higher than recommended guidelines by Tonawanda Coke. Benzene has been linked to several cancers, including leukemia, and damage to the immune system and bone marrow.
The plant’s owner, J. D. Crane, said in an August letter to Democratic Sen. Charles E. Schumer that he believed the majority of the benzene in the area came from motor vehicles, which a DEC official said was disproved by the recent testing.
Gillibrand said she hopes Tonawanda Coke will control its dangerous emissions.
“We want our New York companies to do well, but to do that in a way that is environmentally sound. We want to make sure the plant continues to thrive, but we don’t want to poison the people who live in Tonawanda,” Gillibrand said.
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