Clean Air is proud to announce our partnership with the Kenmore – Tonawanda Teachers Association’s and the WNY Area Labor Federation First Book Program.

First Book is a national organization that supports literacy for young people. On May 16th between 9 and noon, 4,000 new, free books will be available to families to pick up at the Local 135 United Steelworker Hall at 810 Sheridan Dr. in Tonawanda (near Sheridan Park).

We need your help to get the word out! Clean Air members will be calling families telling them about this great opportunity stock up on books for summer reading! We need people to help make calls!  We will provide the phone numbers and the script of what to say. Our phone bank will run on

Tuesday, May 12th from noon to 4pm

Wednesday, May 13th from 4 to 7pm

Thursday, May 14th from noon to 4pm.

Come help out! Call Rebecca at 852-3813 or email at Rebecca@cacwny.org to tell us your coming down.

We need DuPont to Do More to reduce harmful emissions in Tonawanda

Tonawanda New York has the highest concentration of air regulated facilities in the state. DuPont is a major contributor to this air pollution. The DuPont Yerkes facility is the 3rd largest polluter in Erie County.  According to the most recent data from the EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory, DuPont emits 201,239  pounds of Methyl Methacrylate and 36,400 pounds of Vinyl Fluoride, both these chemicals can cause serious health problems.

We know while the average income of households living next to DuPont Yerkes is about $11,000 a year, DuPont’s CEO’s total compensation was over $14 million in 2013. They are a Fortune 500 company, and the largest U.S. chemical maker by market value.

DuPont also has a history of violations

In 2010, an explosion at the plant killed a worker and seriously injured a second

In 2012 DuPont was fined $165,000 for violating the Clean Air Act

In 2014, DuPont was fined $440,000 for violating the Clean Air Act and the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act

There are simple solutions that would reduce emissions at DuPont.  But DuPont is refusing to invest in this technology. This is unacceptable. 

We think Tonawanda residents and DuPont workers deserve better.

Our elected officials agree! Read letters of support from NY Senator Marc Panepinto, Erie County Legislator’s Kevin Hardwick and Peter Savage and City of Tonawanda Mayor Rick Davis and City of Tonawanda Councilwoman Jenna Koch.

If you agree – take a picture or post on social media

#DoMoreDuPont

Community Control over Public Dollar$ is the culmination of the work done by the City Hall PB Committee. The committee was established by a resolution introduced by Councilman LoCurto- which passed unanimously, back in July, 2014 to produce recommendations on how the City of Buffalo may implement a Participatory Budgeting Process and join other cities like Chicago, St. Louis, Boston and NYC.  The Committee was diverse and represented many neighborhoods in the City of Buffalo; like the Community Action Organization (CAO) of Buffalo, the Seneca Babcock Community Center, the Somali- Bantu Community Organization and the University Heights Tool Library. There were also individuals residents in the committee who were appointed by the councilmen.

The Exposition on the 25^th of March is shaping up to be a fun-filled family friendly event where members of the committee will get to showcase the work they have been doing and share the committee’s recommendations and where community members will get to learn about the PB process and how it can be implemented right here in Buffalo.

We really hope you can join us! If you have any questions, call our office @852.3813 or email natasha@cacwny.org. Join the event on facebook!

PB Flyer ENG       PB Flyer SPA

“We have to move past the point where your zip code determines the quality of your life,”  stated Virginia Golden, Clean Air member in Slate Magazine in today’s article, America’s Unfair Rules of the Road: How our transportation system discriminates against the most vulnerable, sheds light on people living in Buffalo, New Orleans, Detroit, Johnson County Kansas and other cities who are facing discrimination and racism.

Read the entire article here.

Did you know that Tonawanda has the highest concentration of major air pollution sources in New York State?

Pollution prevention is one way to reduce emissions into our community. It means eliminating toxic chemicals at the source, instead capturing emissions at the end of a process.

Representatives from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Pollution Prevention Institute will share information on pollution prevention programs that have been taking place in Tonawanda.

Join us, give feedback, and share your thoughts for potential future projects.

January 28th, 2014
6:00- 7:30
St. Bartholomew Church 2368 Eggert Road, Tonawanda, NY 14150

For more information contact Rebecca at 852-3813

2014 has been an exciting year at Clean Air!

We’ve witnessed the sentencing of Tonawanda Coke and won a full investigation after the plant’s explosion, we’ve won a commitment from the state to invest millions of dollars in pollution reducing technology at the Peace Bridge Plaza,  we hosted a very successful Just Transitions Conference to plan our fight for workers and our tax dollars in case our coal plant retires,  won a Common Council resolution to explore Participatory Budgeting in Buffalo and kicked off the City’s PB committee, joined residents in Seneca Babcock fighting for their quality of life, we’ve presented at the 3rd International Conference on Participatory Budgeting in Oakland California, won a historic victory on Amigone Crematory – ending over 20 years of human ash that polluted a neighborhood, we’ve hosted social and economic  justice leaders like Les Leopold, Brent Bucknum, Josh Lerner, Claire Miller, Sean Sweeney and Jean Pogge…

and don’t forget… we’ve moved into a bigger office and grown our staff!

Below are a few of our staff’s favorite moments. What was yours?

Erin: My favorite moment was sitting with the staff and membership at our retreat at Stella Niagara singing along as Bill led us. I loved learning about the songs of resistance, making noise with people I love, and regenerating ourselves for the fights to come!

Natasha: My favorite moment of 2014 was in Oakland California for the 3rd International Conference on Participatory Budgeting in North America. As an organization we have been researching, advocating for and promoting PB as a means to allocate public dollars in the Tonawanda Coke case and in the City of Buffalo. We attended the 2nd International Conference in Chicago with Heart of the City Neighborhoods, Hispanics United, Councilman Rivera’s office and members before trying the process out in Tonawanda. So for the third conference we thought we would apply to present on the work we’ve been doing organizationally- and our proposals were accepted!
We prepped for months, for many of our members it was the first time they would be presenting on a panel in general, let alone for an international audience. Anyway, 3 of our members were presenting on the first day of the conference, almost back to back, on two different panels, so of course Rebecca and I attended both sessions. I was taking pictures on my phone and on our camera, smiling from ear to ear- I was so proud of our members and our organization. In between our member’s presentations I received an email from Ms. Lehman from the NYS Thruway Dept. where she informed me that the Public Bridge Authority just passed a resolution to invest approximately $3 Million on green infrastructure to act as buffers between the Peace Bridge Plaza and the residents- something we have been pushing the PBA to do for years.  Yes, I think that was my favorite moment of 2014.

Rebecca: My favorite moment from this year was working with the technical team to review and comment the DuPont Yerkes air permit. We aim to get technology in the plant to improve the safety and health  of  workers and residents who live near the facility. Our group read and reviewed 100’s of documents, met weekly to problem solve and try to identify ways the company could monitor more accurately, and find ways the facility could reduce , emissions. After we set our comments into DEC we held a press conference outside the plant, and were joined by allies in Labor, the City of Tonawanda Mayor’s Office, and from the Western New York Council on Occupational Safety and Health. Being able to comment on something like an air permit took a lot of patience and it was a learning curve for all of us. Our demands have now been sent on to EPA – and I am excited to see what next year will bring.

Rachel: My favorite moment was the vote at the Erie County Legislature that kept Amigone Crematory from opening again in our members’ backyards! The anticipation as each legislator cast their vote and the collective shift in energy as we all realized that the motion had passed was such a special experience. It reminded me that real people can make change happen! If you missed  it, check out our video of the vote here.

Les is the co-founder and director of The Labor Institute and serves a strategic consultant to the Blue Green Alliance.

Author of How to Make a Million Dollars and Hour: Why Financial Elites Get Away with Siphoning Off America’s Wealth and many other books.

Les will lead a discussion about the ways which Wall St. has revolutionized the economy and how it impacts the shop floor, the community and the environment.

This event is sponsored by the Western New York Labor Federation, Clean Air: Organizing for Health and Justice,  The Coalition for Economic Justice, and the Western New York Council on Occupational Safety and Health.

ACTION ALERT!

For years, our members have lived with smells and odors from the Amigone’s crematory. We’re close to ensuring residents will never have to endure this again. We need the Legislators who can vote on the Amigone resolution to vote YES Thursday. We need you to help them make the right decision. If you want to help the neighborhood win, please participate in any of these activities this week.

1. CALL these people to say thank you for their support and to ask them to vote yes again Thursday, October 2^nd

2. CALL THESE PEOPLE AND ASK THEM TO VOTE YES ON THURSDAY

3. Come to the Erie County Legislature on Thursday for the next vote. The meeting is on the 4^th floor at 92 Franklin and begin promptly at 2:00.   We need to pack the house to demonstrate our power. Let us know you can make it by calling Erin or Rebecca at 852-3813.