Toxic air in Tonawanda?

Toxic air in the Tonawandas now has the attention of Senator Chuck Schumer who says rising concerns will not dissipate. The feds may soon force Tonawanda Coke to cut back on benzene emissions.

Tonawanda Coke now has state and federal inspectors asking for answers. Tests showed benzene levels in the air around the plant 75 times higher than state guidelines recommend, but the company's CEO J.D. Crane has said the community has nothing to fear.

"The plant's management has basically stonewalled everyone. I'm the one exception is that they sent me a letter. It was a pretty perfunctory letter that said there is no damage here and all of that. That's not good enough," said Schumer.

Mr. Crane's secretary told News 4 Senior Correspondent Rich Newberg, "At this point in time he's not ready to make a statement."

The CEO says car emissions and other industrial sources are contributing to high benzene levels.

His refusal to meet with residents and activists has led to protests. The DEC found that 70% of the benzene toxins come from Tonawanda Coke, but critics say the DEC hasn't gone far enough.

"The DEC has announced no action plan, which is frustrating to the residents of this community," said Erin Heaney of the Clean Air Coalition.

Residents like Jeani Thomson, says she has suffered from a host of ailments including cancer, lupus, and constant headaches. She lives two miles downwind of Tonawanda Coke and has pictures of a haze that she says covers the neighborhood some mornings.

"It burns your throat. It burns your eyes. You can't breathe. My eyes will actually water. I have antibiotic eye drops to take," said Thomson.

"We did take some action immediately, as soon as our study showed that Tonawanda was our most likely source of air benzene emissions. At the air monitoring stations we did start increasing inspections," said Larry Sitzman, DEC Regional Air Pollution Control Engineer when asked why action wasn't taken immediately even though they knew Tonawanda Coke was the largest contributor of air toxins in the area.

Jeani Thomson says studies and remedies have been slow in coming. "If they keep going years and years and years, I'll be dead before that," said Thomson.

Federal inspectors from the EPA now want Tonawanda Coke to test emissions in different areas of the plant looking for high benzene levels. The DEC says the company has also started filtering out amonia emissions using new controls.