BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The 7 News I-Team has learned the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has visited the Niagara Falls Goodyear plant, looking for updates, after issuing fines in a Consent Order in January.
DEC agents visited the plant last Friday.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the DEC said:
"...[staff] confirmed the temporary pollution control measures are installed and operating."
The spokesperson did not say if the interim measures are effective.
That visit comes months after Goodyear was fined $15,000 for two emissions-related violations. The DEC mandated that Goodyear make changes to the emission of a cancer-causing chemical, called o-toluidine, which is directly linked to bladder cancer in humans.
Assemblyman Angelo Morinello, who represents Niagara Falls, is increasingly alarmed about emissions of o-toluidine coming from the plant. He is calling for urgent action from state officials to address the troubling environmental concerns associated with the facility.
After our 7 News I-team reporting, with those comments, Morniello told the I-Team someone from the DEC approached him as he was leaving session in Albany, Wednesday.
Not-so-coincidentally, the DEC representative was discussing Goodyear concerns, which Morinello told the I-Team will lead to a bigger conversation with the Western New York regional director. No timetable has been established for that conversation.
The DEC insists there is no threat to the public.
