EPA and DEC Report Progress at Tonawanda Coke Corporation; Announce New Commitments in Tonawanda Community -- Benzene Emissions Cut by at least Two-thirds (NY)
(Buffalo, N.Y.) In a continuing effort to
protect public health and the environment in Western New York, the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Regional Administrator
Judith A. Enck and New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation Regional Director Abby Snyder announced progress in
their agencies’ investigation of the Tonawanda Coke
Corporation and launched a new community-wide effort to reduce
pollution in the community. Under agreements reached this week
between EPA, NYSDEC and the Tonawanda Coke Corporation, the company
will improve its operations and monitoring for coke oven gas leaks,
repair equipment and upgrade pollution controls. Combined with
previous actions taken to reduce harmful benzene emissions from the
facility, these actions will slash benzene emissions by at least
two-thirds.
In addition, EPA announced today that it will
provide a $130,000 pollution prevention grant to the New York State
Pollution Prevention Institute to lend technical assistance to
businesses in Tonawanda, NY to conduct detailed environmental
assessments of their manufacturing processes and improve operations
in a way that significantly reduces their impact on the
environment. EPA is also awarding a $100,000 Community Action for a
Renewed Environment grant to the Clean Air Coalition of Western New
York to work with the Tonawanda community in prioritizing
environmental risks and concerns that the community wants to
address.
Tonawanda’s industrial zone has one of the
highest concentrations of air polluting facilities in the state.
Within a two-mile area, the town has 53 facilities, including a
coke plant, two petroleum distribution terminals, multiple chemical
bulk storage terminals, a coal-burning power plant, a tire
manufacturing plant and two interstate highways.
EPA and the NYSDEC are conducting a full
evaluation of the Tonawanda Coke facility to determine its
compliance with federal and state laws and regulations, following
NYSDEC’s community air quality monitoring study, which
revealed that Tonawanda Coke was emitting high levels of benzene.
As a result of that work, EPA and NYSDEC have taken several
enforcement actions against the facility over the past several
years, including actions under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act
and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. EPA and the
state’s work continue, and will be further enhanced by the
other initiatives planned and partially funded by EPA for the
community.
“This is an important day for the
Tonawanda community. EPA and New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation’s investigation of the Tonawanda
Coke facility is resulting in real pollution reductions and true
benefits for the surrounding community,” said Judith A. Enck,
EPA Regional Administrator. “EPA is also investing in this
community more broadly by working with the Clean Air Coalition of
Western New York and the New York State Pollution Prevention
Institute to implement solutions to the pollution problems
affecting the people of Tonawanda.”
“Today, the Town of Tonawanda and its
residents got two big wins for the environment,” Abby Snyder,
Regional Director for NYSDEC said. “First, following up on
DEC’s air quality study, EPA and NYSDEC reached an agreement
with the Tonawanda Coke Corporation to significantly reduce benzene
emissions. Second, two grant awards will give a big boost to a
community-wide effort to reduce pollution. Both of these actions
will help Tonawanda’s economy adapt and thrive in a new era
focused on sustainability and are welcome news for the Tonawanda
community.”
“It is our mission to make New York State
more sustainable for workers, the environment, and the economy and
we do so by partnering directly with businesses,” notes
Anahita Williamson, director of the New York State Pollution
Prevention Institute. “We will use this funding to help
companies reduce environmental impacts which makes them more
competitive, saves them money and keeps them in New
York.”
“Tonawanda is an industrial community with
more than its fair share of environmental burdens and related
health problems,” said Erin Heaney, Executive Director of the
Clean Air Coalition of Western New York. “The Clean Air
Coalition looks forward to continuing and enhancing its work in the
community to solve environmental challenges.”
Under the agreements announced today, Tonawanda
Coke will complete process improvements and repairs in the
by-products area of the plant that will dramatically reduce toxic
emissions. Specifically, the company will improve operation of the
ammonia scrubber, light oil scrubber, tar precipitator, piping,
process vessel vents, tar decanter, tar storage tank, and
by-products gas pipes. It will install a new ammonia scrubber at
the plant and modify a piece of equipment that is designed to cool
the coke oven gas to condense out tars, naphthalene and other
impurities.
To drive innovation and improve overall air and
environmental quality in the Tonawanda area, EPA is providing the
New York State Pollution Prevention Institute with a $130,000 grant
to recruit and lead local businesses in a new voluntary initiative
to reduce the impact they have on the environment while making
their operations more efficient. To begin, the not-for-profit
organization will offer technical assistance to give Tonawanda area
companies a comprehensive assessment of their operations and
processes. The goal is to identify cost-effective and
environmentally protective operations. In the second phase of the
project, the group will help the companies implement the
recommended changes. The effort will focus on: minimizing waste,
reducing hazardous and non-hazardous waste, water conservation,
efficient use of raw materials and energy conservation. The project
will include eight companies.
EPA is enhancing the community’s ability
to participate in addressing environmental challenges by awarding
$100,000 to the Clean Air Coalition of Western New York to lead a
group of stakeholders in a process of identifying and prioritizing
pollution problems in the Tonawanda community and finding ways to
reduce the health and environmental risks they may pose. The Clean
Air Coalition will convene and facilitate meetings with community
groups, businesses and elected officials and engage experts to
compile a list of local environmental hazards, including air
pollution and land contamination from the industrial area, nuclear
waste in the town landfill, housing issues, climate change, and
other pressing issues. The Coalition will share the compiled
information with stakeholders and facilitate a prioritization
process. The community group will sponsor capacity building
workshops, conduct basic air testing in local areas of concern and
make innovative use of photography to document environmental
problems.
For more information, visit EPA’s websites
at:
http://www.epa.gov/CARE
https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-region-2
https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-region-2
Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/eparegion2 and visit our Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/eparegion2
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