The Tonawanda Coke Plant

Tonawanda, New York is a suburb between Buffalo, New York and Niagara Falls, New York.  Additionally, a portion of the town is next to the Niagara River – which shares a border with Canada.  The town is a typical suburb that has many families simply going about their daily routine to make ends meet.  Most of the main streets are filled with plazas that have franchise eateries and shopping centers, and the citizens do not appear to be bothered by the mundaneness.  In this same town there is an industrial park that has some multi-million dollar corporations – mostly in trucking and manufacturing practices.  It is this part of town that caused an uproar from the entire Western New York community a few years back.  Specifically, people in the northwestern part of Buffalo, Grand Island, and, most importantly, Tonawanda began noticing similar health problems taking place (Fischer, 2017; Rudchyk, 2015).  Many citizens and their children were being diagnosed with the same life-threatening illnesses to be exact (Fischer, 2017; Rudchyk, 2015).  Doctors, at times, also discovered health problems in people from the above-mentioned areas that could not identified (Fischer, 2017; Rudchyk, 2015).  This left everyone scurrying to find the cause of these terrible problems.  When the community investigation began, authorities tested everything from the water, soil, air, and even communicated with public officials from Canada to see if these problems were occurring there and if the source for the health problems came from the other country (Fischer, 2017; Rudchyk, 2015). 

After much worrying and testing, the Environmental Protection Agency, as well several research organizations, learned that the air in these areas had a high toxicity level which, in turn, transitioned into having the soil in the area being heavily contaminated (Fischer, 2017; Rudchyk, 2015).  When the toxins were examined, it was determined to have elements of acetaldehyde, acrolein, benzene, carbon tetrachloride, and formaldehyde (Fischer, 2017; Rudchyk, 2015).  All of which were well-above the legal limitations (Fischer, 2017; Rudchyk, 2015).  Soon after this discovery, many civil lawsuits were configured as well as a class action case, and even criminal court processes (Fischer, 2017; Rudchyk, 2015).  Employees of the Tonawanda Coke Corporation – the company responsible for the pollution – faced criminal charges for violating the Clean Air Act (Fischer, 2017; Rudchyk, 2015).  Many of the victims who filed lawsuits against the company had to wait – and are still waiting – for the criminal proceedings to end so that their cases could proceed and have more evidence for their claims of being harmed (Fischer, 2017; Rudchyk, 2015).  After about a year-long criminal case, Mark L. Kamholz, Environmental Manager for Tonawanda Coke Corporation, was found guilty of violating federal criminal laws and sentenced to a year in federal prison (Fischer, 2017; Rudchyk, 2015).  The company was also given a stiff fine and was ordered to also pay for a multi-million dollar study of the toxicity of the area’s air, water, and soil (Fischer, 2017; Rudchyk, 2015).  The results of the aforementioned study are still being produced, and the civil suits are still lingering in federal court as citizens are dealing with their health concerns without much assistance from their legal actions (Fischer, 2017; Rudchyk, 2015).  Some citizens have been partially relieved and allotted monies for their health problems, yet the federal civil court matters seem to be taking longer than expected (Fischer, 2017; Rudchyk, 2015).

All of this is a great example of the intricacies of white-collar crime in our times.  The Tonawanda Coke Corporation was forced to pay fines and fix any problems that were contributing to the pollution, yet they are still in business, still making millions of dollars, and only one person was convicted of a criminal offense and received a very light sentence (Fischer, 2017; Rudchyk, 2015).  The citizens in the area were not only victimized by the corporation’s negligence, but also by the federal justice system.  Meaning that the lenient sentence for the environmental manager and the lengthy civil procedures that have yet to fully rectify any of the harms that the citizens in Western New York endured is problematic.  This is, unfortunately, typical in white-collar crime cases, and the civil justice system tends to cater to wealthy defendants more so than citizens in a particular or general manner (Friedrichs, 2010; Reiman & Leighton, 2017).  Long-term problems for the victims seem to be uprooted by short prison sentences and civil matters that may take so long that any benefits from a civil proceeding for the victims may be pointless when they are delivered.    

References:

Rudchyk, M.  (2015, February 16).  Air pollution in Tonawanda (N.Y.) sickens and kills,

according to pending civil suits.  Sustainability and Environmental Justice. 

Retrieved from http://sustainabilityjjay.org/2015/02/air-pollution-in-tonawanda-n-y

sickens-and-kills-according-to-pending-civil-suits/.   

Fischer, N.  (2017, March 31).  Soil contamination studies near Tonawanda Coke explained at

public forum.  The Buffalo News.  Retrieved from

http://buffalonews.com/2017/03/31/tonawanda-coke-studies-begin/.     

Friedrichs, D. O.  (2010).  Trusted criminals:  White collar crime in contemporary society (4^th

            ed.).  Belmont, CA:  Wadsworth. 

Reiman, J., & Leighton, P.  (2017).  The rich get richer and the poor prison get prison:

            Ideology, class, and criminal justice (17^th ed).  New York:  Routledge.