So hopefully this is for real that Tonawanda Coke will reduce their benzene output by 2/3rds. Sometimes I can smell the pollution from this company it is really makes it hard for me to breath.

Tonawanda Coke agrees to reduce benzene emissionsBy Janice L. Habuda



Benzene emissions from Tonawanda Coke Corp. will continue to fall under agreements signed this week between the company and regulatory agencies, officials announced Wednesday.

Regional leaders from the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Environmental Conservation discussed the agreements at a news conference outside the Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda Municipal Building, where they also announced that grants totaling $230,000 have been awarded to two groups involved in local environmental efforts.

“Our work on Tonawanda Coke is a work in progress,” said Judith A. Enck, the EPA’s regional administrator. “We’re not done. It’s continuing.”

According to Enck, the agreements, combined with earlier efforts, will reduce emissions of benzene—a known carcinogen — from the River Road facility by at least two-thirds.

“We are focused . . . on the benzene emissions because benzene has been linked to cancer, to blood disorders and to reproductive problems,” Enck said.

Officials did not give a timeline for the two-thirds reduction or any details on current benzene emission levels.

A yearlong air-quality study, performed by the DEC during 2007 and 2008, established that Tonawanda Coke is the predominant source of benzene in the town’s industrial zone.

The agreements with the state and federal environmental agencies require the company to make significant repairs to — and eventually replace — the ammonia scrubber system, among other things.

“That is Phase 1 of our enforcement together,” said Abby Snyder, regional director for the DEC. “The first thing we wanted to target was reducing benzene emissions.”

A total of $230,000 in EPA grants will go to environmental initiatives for local businesses and residents.

A $130,000 pollution prevention grant was awarded to the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute, which is based at Rochester Institute of Technology. It will be used to lend technical assistance to businesses in the town, conduct detailed environmental assessments of their manufacturing processes and improve operations to significantly reduce their environmental impacts.

A $100,000 Community Action for a Renewed Environment grant went to the Clean Air Coalition of Western New York, a citizens group that initiated air testing on its own several years ago to investigate residents’ illnesses. The coalition will work with residents to prioritize environmental risks and concerns they want addressed.

“Finally, the voice of the Tonawanda community was heard,” said Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N. Y. “This agreement, spearheaded by the EPA, along with DEC, [proves] that a community can band together and stand up for their simple right to breathe clean air.”

Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, D-Fairport, applauded the development. “Clean air is a basic human right, and I’m proud of my friends at the Clean Air Coalition for leading the fight on behalf of everyone in Tonawanda,” she said.

My friend Steve just tried cashing his pay check from Sheehan Memorial and found that the check bounced. Obviously, it is a tremendous challenge for this to occur to anyone. Right after, Steve was alerted by a memo that they wouldn't be paid the next pay period either.

Just a few weeks ago Sheehan discontinued direct deposit and it was clearly an ominous sign. I'm so pissed that they would write a bad check for their employees causing further hardship on the very people who made the hospital run.

If you can't afford to pay your vendors or your employees it is time to shut down. At least you shouldn't be accepting new patients because that is dangerous. People don't go to work when they aren't paid!

Besides the latest, the things I have learned about the inner workings of this institution are horrendous. Corrupt at the very core of existence.

Check out the link to see Steve being interview by Luke Moretti of WIVB Channel 4.

I keep receiving calls from some supposed collector, NCO Financial Systems, a debt collection company. They ask me to call 1-800-295-6724 and ask for Kevin Monroe. When I call to speak to someone they tell me that all operators are busy and to hold but nobody ever answers the phone. It will say "press 2 to leave a message" and when I do that there is no beep no nothing, just absolute silence.

They have left messages with fake English accents and in Spanish too, but they never let me know who they are calling for. A real person called today while I was home and asked for "Neal Wesley Jr". When I told them that they had the wrong number they called again with a machine asking me to call the above number.

So I called Verizon and talked to some girl who didn't even provide her name when she answered the phone, who told me that there is nothing I can do and that is why she canceled her landline was because of collector calls. Actually, the idiot at Verizon suggest that I call the "Do Not Call List", which most people know does not pertain to collection calls. I hardly even use my landline and this is so frustrating because it is so invasive because it is my HOME and I can't make it stop. I am not delinquent in any accounts and need this to stop and I don't know how to make it stop.

I really should just turn the land line off since I really don't need it. I just like having it and it is probably a stupid waste of money anyways.

I was harassed before from a collector calling for an old roommate. One of the women who called actually told me I sound gay and couldn't possibly be my roommate and I told her she was a big f'ing C and hung up. I have also been called a faggot by Rent a Center people coming to collect from a neighbor who wasn't paying. I am so sick of this kind of harassment. I have had my delinquent debts in the past which I have settled long ago and don't appreciate this abuse. I have worked extremely hard at paying back my obligations and this is really not fair that I have to deal with this.

This is the most swollen I have ever seen the Scajaquada. I don't remember having so much rain ever either. My shoes are all muddy because the earth is so saturated.



I added several more boring and mundane youtube videos to my collection highlighting the collective run-off of cars, buses and trucks from Cheektowaga to the Niagara River.

I want this bunny pen so that I could take Coco to (e:pmt)'s backyard. I think he would love it so much and it would keep him protected from hawks and Basra. I don't know if he really has ever been outside and it makes me sad for him.



Maybe next year I could afford such a frivolous item? This one costs $75. I have a lot of things I need to get besides this item that I would hardly use at all.