TOWN OF TONAWANDA, NY (WKBW) — A first-ever public tour of the former grounds of the Tonawanda Coke site along River Road was held Thursday.
The plant was shuttered four years ago after spewing toxins into the air for decades.
In 2013 Tonawanda Coke was found guilty of 11 counts of violating the Clean Air Act and releasing a known carcinogen into the air from 2005 to 2009. But now the site is under remediation.
7 News Senior Reporter Eileen Buckley took the tour learning how much cleaner the air is now.
“It took 16 long years to beat Tonawanda Coke, but we did it”, declared Jackie James, community activist, Citizen Science Community Resources.
And boy did they do it. Two years ago, those infamous smokestacks along river road were imploded ending a toxic legacy of coke manufacturing in the area.
“When you come over those Grand Island bridges, what do you see - you don't see that plumb of smoke coming up from Tonawanda Coke. You see healthy air,” reflected Joe Emminger, supervisor, Town of Tonawanda.
Leaders of the fight and a new company that has taken over the property are promising to never return to that industrial nightmare as brownfields are being redeveloped.
“Three different companies looking at industrial development, so the new zoning we're compliant with the proposed zoning, so that's general industrial on this side so that will be an industrial facility,” described John Black, president, Inventum Engineering.
Ontario Specialty Contracting is working to remediate the site which includes 102 acres on one side of river road, to be transformed for a new high-tech industry and across the street...along the Niagara River, 25 acres, where a new Community Garden Victory Garden will be created.
Without Tonawanda Coke operating, the health of this community has already improved — more than 90 percent of the that was spewing out at this site is gone and that means less cancer for Tonawanda residents.
“It was causing cancer. It was causing sickness in our community and that's gone that's a huge step forward for our community,” remarked James.
James with citizen science community resources helped lead the years-long fight, and now she tells me the air is much cleaner risk, but she remains a "watchdog".
“We’re keeping a close track on the cleanup and all and all we're very pleased with what we see so far,” remarked James.
More than 7,000 tons of hazardous waste have already been removed.
Supervisor Emminger said this is “just the beginning” for the parcels of land and its redevelopment. He said it should be transformed over the next five to ten years, much sooner than expected.
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