By Joyce Kryszak
Buffalo, NY – The Tonawanda Coke Plant is once again coming under fire by environmental advocates. The Clean Air Coalition of Western New York and residents raised questions Monday about hazardous tar sludge at the plant.
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The coalition has already been successful proving there were harmful levels of benzene emissions coming from the coking plant. That got the attention of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Environmental Conservation. The agencies currently are working on a plan to reduce those emissions.
Now, the coalition has questions about hazardous tar sludge at the plant.
Coalition members and residents met near the plant Monday afternoon to publicly demand answers. Erin Heaney is Executive Director of the Coalition. She said there are general concerns because of serious health risks. But she said there also have are allegations by former employees.
Getting those answers might not be easy.
The plant's owner, J.D. Crane, never responded to the coalition during the six years they looked for help on the benzene emissions matter. Crane also has not returned calls to WBFO, including one yesterday about the sludge. The employees, making the allegations, had not returned requests for an interview with WBFO by the time this story was published.
In addition to finding out how much sludge is at the plant, and where it's coming from, the coalition wants to find out how the sludge is stored and handled. Heaney said federal work safety guidelines recommend no direct contact with the sludge. It has been found to cause cancer and acute health problems. Heaney said they are once again turning to the EPA and the DEC for help.
She said an investigation conducted by the agencies in April might have uncovered some of the answers.
Heaney said the coalition spoke with the agencies and sent letters requesting a meeting to discuss residents' concerns.