Tonawanda Coke soil study to update public on progress of study

At 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 16, the Tonawanda Coke soil study team will host a community meeting to update the public about the progress of the study. This will include sharing information on geographic areas where contaminants of interest have been found. The meeting will be held at the Tonawanda Middle/High School auditorium at 150 Hinds St., City of Tonawanda.

The Tonawanda Coke soil study investigates how pollution from the Tonawanda Coke Corp. has impacted soil in communities that may be in the path of emissions from the plant. A federal judge ordered Tonawanda Coke Corp. to fund the study after the company was convicted of violating the Clean Air Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

The study’s findings will benefit local communities by providing them with information about what chemicals are in their soil; whether these pollutants may have originated at the Tonawanda Coke plant; and how widespread any pollution may be.

Soil analysis is being conducted by a team of scientists from the University at Buffalo and SUNY Fredonia, led by Joseph Gardella Jr., Ph.D., SUNY Distinguished Professor in the UB department of chemistry, who has almost 40 years of experience studying the environmental impact of industrial pollutants.