Erie City Councilwoman Kathy Schaaf wants to send a formal letter to state officials about “toxic pollution” at the eastside plant.
Erie City Councilwoman Kathy Schaaf wants Erie Coke Corp. to clean up its act.
A Schaaf-sponsored resolution on City Council’s Wednesday meeting agenda requests that council send a formal letter to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection “regarding the toxic pollution emerging from” Erie Coke’s plant at the foot of East Avenue.
The DEP, in a 16-page administrative order issued on Feb. 4, said it found several ongoing air-quality violations at the Erie Coke plant, including the release of “visible emissions” from its smokestack and coke ovens in amounts that exceed those allowed under the Pennsylvania Air Pollution Control Act. The plant produces coke that is used to make steel.
The DEP has ordered Erie Coke to undertake a number of actions to comply with the state’s clean-air regulations and the terms of an operating permit that the company is seeking.
Erie Coke, however, has asked the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board to vacate a number of requirements the state Department of Environmental Protection ordered in February to fix air-quality problems at the plant.
The DEP requirements were the latest in a series of regulatory issues for Erie Coke, where a minor chemical leak was reported as recently as Sunday.
Schaaf’s resolution also states “whereas the Erie Coke Plant has in the past been non-compliant, this Council wishes to make certain that they follow the specific rules of operating their plan within the mandates of the Environmental Protection Agency.”
If approved, Schaaf said she will forward a draft of a letter she is now writing to DEP. She is asking her City Council colleagues to sign the letter.
Schaaf said that air-quality compliance has been “an ongoing problem at Erie Coke for years. That coke plant, with toxic emissions and not following through with what they’re supposed to do, is not complying.”
A man who answered the telephone at Erie Coke on Monday said no one at the plant would comment.
An Erie community organization, Hold Erie Coke Accountable, is closely monitoring the Erie Coke case. One of the group’s organizers, Erie Benedictine Sister Pat Lupo, applauded Schaaf for pushing the resolution forward.
“We need to get this issue in front of as many people as possible, and a resolution like this helps to do that,” Lupo said. “Government needs to take a stand on issues like this.”
The DEP’s Feb. 4 order said the department found ongoing violations at the plant, at the foot of East Avenue, including the release of “excessive visible emissions” from its smokestack and coke ovens. Erie Coke’s appeal calls several of the requirements “vague, unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious.”
Councilwoman Liz Allen plans to second Schaaf’s resolution on Wednesday, which is necessary to bring the measure to a vote.
“This company has a long history of not complying with environmental regulations,” Allen said. “As City Council members, we have to be concerned about the health and safety of Erie residents who live near the plant. … We need industry and we need the jobs that industry brings, but they have to play by the rules.”
City Council meets Wednesday at 9 a.m. in the Bagnoni Council Chambers at City Hall, 626 State St.
By: Kevin Flowers
