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(ERIE, P.A. – WICU/WSEE/CW) –Environmentalists Dr. Mike Campbell and Pat Lupo Campbell say they are cautiously optimistic, to say the least. With the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) sending orders for the Erie Coke Factory to address their air pollution problems Monday, the collaborators on the website “Hold Erie Coke Accountable” say they are finally seeing progress. “I’m glad to see it.” Campbell said “I was very surprised.” said Lupo But with a laundry list of problems to handle, and a short time to do it, neither Lupo or Campbell have much confidence the plant can clean up in... Read More

Meadville, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has ordered Erie Coke Corporation (Erie Coke) to address ongoing violations of the Pennsylvania Air Pollution Control Act at Erie Coke’s coke production facility in the City of Erie. “This action requires Erie Coke Corporation to re-evaluate its methods of operation and plan equipment to ensure that the facility is operated in full accordance with its permit and the applicable rules and regulations for the protection of our citizens. DEP is committed to enforcing the commonwealth’s conditions of the permits we issue and protecting Pennsylvania’s air,” said DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell.... Read More

We’re not the only community to stare at a shuttered coke plant. A look at others around the country finds troubles similar to those now facing the Tonawanda Coke site: toxic messes left behind, doubts about how much the plant owner will pay for cleanup and nervousness about where it ranks among cleanup priorities. It took 17 years just to add a closed coke plant in West Virginia to the federal Superfund list. It cost more than $75 million to clean up a site in Ohio – nearly 38 years after the EPA first investigated contamination there. Demolishing a Kentucky... Read More