This reported chemical spill has gotten the attention of Erie City Councilwoman Kathy Shaff who has proposed a resolution to send a formal letter to state officials about “toxic pollution” at the Erie Coke plant.
This is footage sent to us of of a reported chemical spill that happened inside of a tank in the Erie Coke plant. Investigators from the Department of Environmental Protection spent around a day and a half investigating what caused the alleged leak. “It smells terrible and everything,” said Erie resident Anabil Colon.
Anabil Colon spends a lot of time fishing down at the bay near the Erie Coke plant. He says it becomes difficult to fish due to the smell in the air. “They come here to enjoy themselves, fishing and no good,” Colon added.
A member of the group Hold Erie Coke Accountable says the company has violated multiple regulations and they want them to stop. Back in February, DEP issued an administrative order to Erie Coke to address ongoing violations of the Pennsylvania Air Pollution Control Act.
“It doesn’t surprise me from what we learned about how this operation works over the last six months. It’s consistent with a pattern of sort of poor maintenance of the facility,” said Environmentalist Mike Campbell.
Mike Campbell says he doen’t want the company to be shut down and cause job loss in the community, but rather keep up with DEP’s regulations. “We just want to see them operate cleanly and responsibly and I know that the plant manager said they want to be good neighbors and we like to see them prove that by cleaning up their act,” said Campbell.
Hold Erie Coke Accountable will be having a community meeting at east middle on April 16th at 6:30 pm. The city council meeting where that resolution will be discussed is happening on Wednesday at 9 am.
By: Tiarra Braddock
