EPA get serious at Tonawanda Coke

We couldn’t be more pleased with the EPA’s latest action at Tonawanda Coke. Yesterday, Judith Enck, the new EPA Region 2 Administrator announced her agency is requiring serious changes at the coke plant. The EPA has put Tonawanda Coke on notice for violating several environmental laws. The notices detail the current environmental violations at the plant and outline a mandatory time line for their correction. And if Tonawanda Coke doesn’t comply, they face fines of up to $35,000 per day out of compliance. The EPA is not messing around.

The Buffalo News and Tonawanda News both did a good job summarizing the new enforcement action. You can find complete coverage of the announcement here.

The EPA’s announcement was accompanied by the release of the documents sent to Tonawanda Coke — and we spent last night reading through them. In our opinion, these documents are where the real story is. When read together, they paint a vivid picture of what it must look like inside Tonawanda Coke, and it’s terrifying. Here are a few findings that stuck out:

–“weak liquor storage tank was highly corroded with large holes in the top half of the tank. There were stains indicating that the tank had overflowed throughout the holes.”
— “tar decantor sludge can fall on the roadway, be exposed to stormwater…the beam used for the tar decanter hopper/collection is in need of replacement/repair.”
— “…TCC was operating two unenclosed and unsealed weak ammonia-liquor storage tanks at the Facility, and was beginning to operate one additional unenclosed and unsealed weak ammonia-liquor storage tank due to repairs being made at the Facility’s ammonia stripper.”
— “TCC stated that records of monitoring and visual inspections of the control equipment for the Facility’s process vessels, tar storage tanks, and tar-incepting sumps for control equipment did not exist.”
— “… a TCC representative stated that only initial training had been provided to coke plant personnel and that refresher training has not been provided.”
–“During the inspection, EPA requested to review TCC records that indicate that the leaks identified at the collecting main were timely repaired. TCC indicated that it has not kept any records of such leak repairs.”

If you think this is bad, check out the original documents. They provide dozens more descriptions of the things they found inside the plant.

While the picture is bleak, the future is brighter. Enck has given Crane a chance to clean up without being fined. It’s time for Crane to bite the bullet and make improvements at his plant – it’s the best outcome for everyone. It will be less expensive than appealing it court and it will immediately improve the safety of his workers and give relief to residents in Tonawanda

For more details and to join the fight, come to our next community meeting – Thursday, February 11th at 7:00 pm at the Sheridan Parkside Community Center (169 Sheridan Parkside Drive in Tonawanda). The more people that stand with us, the stronger we are!