Tonawanda Coke Sentenced
After many months of anticipation and many years of community organizing and hard work, Judge William Skretny sentenced Tonawanda Coke and its environmental control manager on March 19 at the Federal Courthouse in downtown Buffalo. Tonawanda Coke was found guilty in March 2013 of breaking 14 federal laws under the Clean Air Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Mark Kamholz, the environmental control manager, was found guilty on the same counts and an additional count of obstruction of justice.
Judge Skretny’s decision included:
* $12.5 million in fines for the criminal violations of the Clean Air Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to go to US Treasury
* 5 years of probation for the company
* Pay $11 million to the University of Buffalo for a 10 year health study & over $700,000 to Citizen Science Community Resources to conduct soil sampling
* 1 year and 1 day in prison for Mark Kamholz, plus a $20,000 fine and a supervised release after serving the term
“While this was a historic event and important victory for the community, we agree with the government that fines and jail time should have been higher,” said Erin Heaney, executive director of Clean Air. “We will continue to fight outside of courtrooms to implement the projects that the community identified,” referring to projects identified in last year’s Participatory Budgeting project organized by Clean Air.
The sentencing came just weeks after an explosion at Tonawanda Coke resounded for miles around on January 31. While Tonawanda Coke representatives initially insisted that the explosion was minor, there were no injuries, and only water vapor was released, the story changed as community members grew more concerned and Clean Air called for a full investigation into the explosion.
It was eventually revealed that two employees were injured in the explosion, suffering from dust inhalation, first degree burns, and joint pains. It was also found that that the explosion was caused by rupturing equipment inside of a coke oven, which released and ignited coke oven gas, causing the large smoke plumes seen from miles away. On February 26, Tonawanda Coke was issued two notices of violation from the Department of Environmental Conservation for failing to report the emissions and for failing to maintain the equipment that caused the explosion.
JOIN US FOR OUR DEBRIEF ON TONAWANDA COKE’s SENTENCING
Join us April 15th at 6:30pm at the Sheridan Parkside Community Center to debrief our campaign on Tonawanda Coke. Please bring an item that represents why you are in the fight to bring health and justice to Western New York.
For more information contact Rebecca Newberry at 852-3813 or rebecca@cacwny.org.