TOWN OF TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WKBW) — Legislation that could shut down a crematory in the Town of Tonawanda has passed the New York State Senate and Assembly.
Senator Sean Ryan and Assemblyman Bill Conrad sponsored the bill to revoke the "grandfathered status" that allows Amigone Funeral Home to operate its Sheridan Park Crematory.
The status of the crematory is something 7 News has been following for more than a decade. It was closed from 2012 to 2018 for violating state clean air laws. It was closed again in 2020 after releasing black smoke into the air due to a failure of its pollution control system. It reopened four months later in January 2021 after installing new mechanics and software to help prevent and mitigate the discharge of smoke.
According to a joint release from Ryan and Conrad, in 2021 they passed legislation granting Amigone an exemption to the Anti-Combination Act and allowed them to relocate the crematory to a non-residential area approved by the town. They say that three years later the crematory is still operating in its original location.
“We have been attempting to work with Amigone to solve this problem for almost five years. Their three years of inaction after we cleared the way for them to relocate the crematory signals that they were never operating in good faith. Their refusal to do the right thing leaves this legislation as the only remaining option to end this protracted saga. I hope that this solution will finally provide relief to the people who have been dealing with this nuisance and worried about its effect on their health for far too long.”
“It has been clear for many years that the Sheridan Park Crematory does not belong in the backyards of a residential neighborhood. Amigone has for decades enjoyed the allowances provided under its grandfathered status, and we know following multiple DEC violations and forced shutdowns that it has not always been a responsible or conscientious steward of that status. Though we tried to facilitate a voluntary relocation, it has come time to force a resolution for the sake of the homeowners who have spent decades enduring nuisance odors and emissions and concerns about their longterm health impacts.”
