By David J. Hill
The Tonawanda News
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A federal grand jury on Thursday returned a damning indictment against the Tonawanda Coke Corp. and its environmental control manager.
The indictment charges both Tonawanda Coke and Mark L. Kamholz, 63, of West Seneca, with 15 counts of violating the federal Clean Air Act, U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. said.
“The EPA takes these new criminal allegations extremely seriously,” said U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator Judith Enck, who last week walked the neighborhood near Tonawanda Coke along with members of the Clean Air Coalition of WNY.
“It’s really exciting. It shows the case is moving forward,” said Clean Air Coalition Executive Director Erin Heaney. “We certainly knew it was bad over there, but 15 violations — that’s pretty serious.”
Five of the offenses focus on the release of coke oven gas, which contains benzene, into the air through an unreported pressure relief valve, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango and Senior Trial Attorney Kevin M. Cassidy, who are working the case. That set of charges carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
“Pollutants like benzene, a known human carcinogen, and particulate matter put communities at risk,” Enck said. “Failing to properly install or maintain the control equipment designed to eliminate illegal emissions of these pollutants will be prosecuted.”
The other 10 counts relate to Tonawanda Coke’s operation of two coke quenching towers without a pollution control device, known as a baffle, that is required by Tonawanda Coke’s Clean Air Act permit.
“The federal Clean Air Act, and other environmental laws, were passed by Congress in recognition that clean air and land are basic rights of residents living in any community,” Hochul said in a statement. “The laws were designed to protect and enhance the quality of these natural resources, and to promote the public health and welfare.”
In addition, the indictment accuses both Tonawanda Coke and Kamholz of obstructing justice during an April 2009 inspection by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Before the EPA inspection, Kamholz told another Tonawanda Coke employee to hide the fact that the unreported pressure valve emitted coke oven gas directly into the air during normal operations, a violation of federal law that also carries a maximum five-year prison penalty.
Hochul, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of New York, ordered a raid of Tonawanda Coke in December. At that time, Kamholz was arrested and charged with numerous violations of federal environmental law.
Tonawanda Coke and Kamholz also are charged with four counts of storing, treating and disposing of hazardous waste without a permit, which violates the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Hochul said.
These four counts involve Tonawanda Coke’s practice of mixing its coal tar sludge — a hazardous waste that also contains benzene — on the ground, violating hazardous waste regulations, the federal prosecutors handling the case said.
They also said that in 2007 and 2008 Tonawanda Coke engaged in the unpermitted treatment, storage and disposal of the contents of an abandoned rail car tanker on the company’s property on River Road in the Town of Tonawanda. The rail car tanker contained a hazardous liquid that was toxic for benzene and mercury, prosecutors said.
The indictment alleges that Kamholz directed employees to dispose of the waste by spraying it on the coal and burning it in the coke oven.
The Tonawanda Coke facility has produced foundry coke since 1917. It is one of only 20 coke plants operating in the U.S., according to the American Coke and Coal Chemicals Institute.
It was acquired in 1978 by J.D. Crane, who also operates a beleaguered coke facility in Erie, Pa. Pennsylvania regulators used the threat of a closure order to force Erie Coke to pay a $6 million fine and invest approximately $15 million over the next several years to bring that plant into compliance with environmental laws, according to the Erie Times-News.
Thursday’s indictment was the latest in a string of developments viewed as favorable by the Clean Air Coalition. The group’s efforts have been the driving force behind the federal government’s action at Tonawanda Coke.
“The good news keeps rolling in,” Heaney said, adding, “I don’t want to make it sound like the fight is over, because it definitely is not.”
