Our History

The Clean Air Coalition of Western New York was founded by residents in Tonawanda, NY who suspected that their health problems and the neighborhood stink was linked to the 53 industrial plants in their neighborhood. When they found little scientific research on their neighborhood, they did their own. They found others in the community and collected air samples using supplies from Home Depot. Their homemade monitors found high levels of cancerous chemicals in their air.

Under community pressure, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) funded an air quality study. Their study found that benzene levels were 75 times higher than the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guideline and that Tonawanda Coke, a foundry coke plant, was the predominant source of the emissions. Benzene is a known human carcinogen that causes leukemia, other cancers and skin and respiratory diseases.

Since the summer of 2009, the Coalition has led a direct action campaign to hold Tonawanda Coke responsible. Coalition members have written to, met with and received the support of many elected officials, held a protest at the gates of the company and flooded the phone lines of a government agency that provided public subsidies to Tonawanda Coke.

The media coverage and public pressure generated by Coalition members has resulted in real change. This fall the DEC began re-evaluating the company’s permit and the EPA mandated that Tonawanda Coke complete an additional round of testing to determine the best available control technology to be installed at the plant. Residents were also invited to meet with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson in Washington, DC to discuss solutions.

In December, the US Attorney General along with the EPA, DEC and US Coast Guard staged a raid at Tonawanda Coke to present a federal search warrant. They took paperwork and samples. Less than a week later Mark Kamholz, Tonawanda Coke’s Environmental Control Manager was arrested and taken to court for violating three federal environmental laws. If found guilty Kamholz faces up to five years in jail or $50,000 per day the plant has been out of compliance. In January, the EPA issued Tonawanda Coke three Notices of Violation detailing the changes that must be made at the plant. If Tonawanda Coke chooses not to comply they face up to $35,000 per day they have been out of compliance.