Health experts update Tonawanda Council on studies of Tonawanda Coke pollution

Sept. 17--As Tonawanda Coke appeals its sentence for environmental pollution, a team of public health experts has been reaching out to elected officials in affected areas about a pair of studies they're leading into the effects of the company's actions.

The health experts have already visited leaders from the Town of Tonawanda and Grand Island, and plan to connect with the Black Rock and Riverside sections of Buffalo. City of Tonawanda lawmakers Tuesday night were brought up to date on plans for an $11 million health study of 38,000 residents and a two-year soil investigation.

"We felt it was really important to engage the community and the best place to start was who the community has elected as their representative officials," said Jessica Castner, an assistant professor in the University at Buffalo's School of Nursing and a co-investigator on the "Tonawanda Health Study."

Funded by the company as part of its federal court sentencing, the study aims to quantify, as much as possible, the public health impact of Tonawanda Coke's manufacturing operations. It calls for tracking residents' health for at least 10 years and conducting a baseline health survey at the outset.

"We don't want to wait 10 years to give the community information about their health, so we're taking a phased approach," Castner said.

The other study will look at whether benzene and other pollutants from the coking process have contaminated surface soil in and around the company's plant. Residents in the study area will be asked to give permission for volunteers to enter, sample and test soil from their property, said Joe Gardella, a University at Buffalo chemistry professor. The results will be provided confidentially for residents to review before they're asked for permission to include them in the analysis.

"They have a chance to see the results before they move forward," Gardella told the Council.

The researchers are conducting their outreach as they await a decision on Tonawanda Coke's appeal.

"As we wait, as we're in this period where we're waiting to find out what happens with the appeal, it's best for us to go to where people are already meeting," said Castner.

A public forum on the studies and Tonawanda Coke's appeal was announced for Sept. 30 beginning at 6 p.m. in the Sheridan-Parkside Community Center. Residents will hear from the studies' researchers and prosecutors involved in the case.

City officials were supportive of the project and said they would encourage participation.

"This is just the first step in the process of understanding what may or may not have been done from the benzene that has come from Tonawanda Coke," Mayor Rick Davis said during remarks at the end of Tuesday's regular Common Council meeting. "But I think this is a definite step in the right direction, and I hope it leads to more studies and more understanding of what Tonawanda Coke has done to our city."

jpopiolkowski@buffnews.com

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