The goal of the Tonawanda Coke Soil Study was to understand how pollution from the Tonawanda Coke Corp. plant may have impacted the soil in surrounding neighborhoods.

When industrial plants emit chemicals, some of these chemicals are eventually deposited in the soil after traveling through the air.

The Tonawanda Coke Soil Study will provide communities around the Tonawanda Coke plant with important information about what pollutants are found in their soil; whether these pollutants may have originated at the Tonawanda Coke plant; and how widespread the pollution is.

This knowledge is important because it is the first step in cleaning up any pollution: By identifying the severity and extent of the problem, the research results can inform future efforts to remediate the environment.

“I lived in the shadow of Tonawanda Coke all my life, and I thought this was an important project that the community needs to be involved in,” says community advisory committee member Anne Bazinet, a resident of the Town of Tonawanda who had her soil sampled as part of the study. “It’s important to determine if any of the byproducts from Tonawanda Coke affected the community — if their particles landed on our yards, what they could have been, and what kind of potential clean-up there may need to be, if any.”

More than 300 soil samples from properties including homes, schools and churches have been tested through the study, providing homeowners and other property owners with information on what chemicals are in their soil. Property owners received a copy of lab results for their property.

Soil samples were taken from the areas around the Tonawanda Coke Corp. plant that researchers thought were most likely to be affected. This included southeastern Grand Island, the City of Tonawanda, the Town of Tonawanda and North Buffalo.

Unfortunately, no. The study team took more than 300 samples from properties near the Tonawanda Coke plant, with sampling locations chosen strategically based on factors including geography, prevailing winds and the research team’s past experience with soil studies in Western New York.

The team only had funds to test a select number of properties in the study area, but the sampling strategy has provided an accurate picture of how pollution is distributed in the communities being studied, researchers say. 

Soil samples were collected with the permission of property owners. After soil was tested, property owners received a copy of lab results for their property, along with information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on general health risks associated with chemicals found on their property.

Property owners were also offered the opportunity to speak one-on-one with the study team to learn more about what the results on their property meant. These individual consultations were performed by phone, by email or in person by Joseph Gardella Jr., PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the UB Department of Chemistry, who led the soil study and has decades of experience studying the environmental impact of industrial pollutants on communities. Property owners who had specific concerns about health risks were given information on whom to contact for additional guidance.

The soil study team also held numerous “Talks with Tammy” events, during which participants and other community members had the chance to meet with Tammy Millilo, PhD, one of the study’s core researchers, to ask questions and learn about the study.

Soil sampling was conducted by UB researchers and community partners. A laboratory certified by New York State to conduct environmental testing (ALS Environmental, in Rochester, New York) analyzed the samples. Additional advanced testing was done and the University at Buffalo and SUNY Fredonia.

The study team was led by Joseph A. Gardella Jr., PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the UB Department of Chemistry, who has about 40 years of experience studying the environmental impact of industrial pollutants, with important projects focused on air and soil pollution.

Outside of the study team, scientists at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS-DEC) reviewed and provided feedback on methodologies and results throughout the study.

The community has been the focus of the study since it began. Hundreds of local residents, as well as school districts and churches, have participated by having their soil sampled from their properties. Some residents participated in sample collection. 

Researchers sought and received community input on the soil study through a community advisory committee that helped to guide the project. This committee met monthly during the sampling phase of the study and provided necessary feedback throughout the study.

The study was conducted according to a plan ordered by a federal judge after Tonawanda Coke Corp. was convicted of violating the Clean Air Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and sentenced to fund the soil study.

In 2017 and 2018, scientists worked with community members to collect hundreds of soil samples from communities around the plant. These samples were taken with the permission of property owners.

After collection, a laboratory certified by the New York State Department of Health to conduct environmental testing, tested the soil samples for a wide variety of chemicals, including those found in coke oven emissions.

With soil sampling complete, scientists conducted further analysis (source apportionment) to determine whether pollutants originated from the Tonawanda Coke plant. This part of the study considered factors that included geography, prevailing winds and comparisons of chemicals found in samples on the site of the former Tonawanda Coke plant, and the soil samples taken in the surrounding communities.

Soil sampling in the Tonawanda Coke Soil Study was completed in two phases. In the first phase, researchers worked with community members to take soil samples from neighborhoods around the Tonawanda Coke plant, with the goal of screening for pollutants. Sampling in this phase was done, where possible, in an evenly distributed grid. In Phase II, the soil study team returned to areas of interest, including locations with higher levels of pollution, to collect more samples.

More than 300 soil samples from properties such as homes, schools and churches were tested through the study, providing property owners with information on what chemicals are in their soil. Participants received a copy of the lab results for their property. Members of the Tonawanda Coke Soil Study scientific team provided interpretations of the data for site owners at their request.

The soil study team focused on collecting samples at 6 inches below the surface of the ground. The objective of the soil study, as ordered by a federal judge, was to investigate the impact of pollution from the Tonawanda Coke plant on soil in surrounding communities, and scientists thought that sampling at 6 inches would provide a more complete picture of this impact than sampling at shallower depths.

When air pollution is emitted from an industrial site, some of these chemicals are eventually deposited in the soil after traveling through the air. This is the pollution that the study team investigated.

Because many properties in Western New York are well-maintained, with topsoil added during landscaping or gardening, sampling at the surface of the ground or only a couple of inches below may not capture the historical impact of the Tonawanda Coke plant’s emissions on the environment.

The decision to focus on 6-inch samples was made after scientists analyzed findings from soil samples taken at different depths.

During the course of the study, the team took soil samples at both 2-inch and 6-inch depths from numerous properties in the study region. Many of the 6-inch samples contained indicators of historic impact, such as quantities of pesticides that have been phased out, that were not present at the 2-inch level. With very few exceptions, the 6-inch samples also contained higher levels of selected pollutants that may be associated with Tonawanda Coke than the 2-inch samples.

The soil study team shared final findings with the public at a virtual community meeting on Feb. 24, 2022. 

Information on the study's results is available in a summary of findings produced by the soil study team, and in a news release shared with local media outlets. Additional information about the study is available on the soil study website.

To keep the public informed about the research, the soil study team has:

• Held multiple public meetings to update the community on the study's progress, share findings, get feedback and answer questions.
• Presented on soil sampling results at public school board meetings in districts that had soil sampled.
• Held numerous “Talks with Tammy” events, during which participants and other community members had the chance to meet with Tammy Milillo, PhD, one of the study’s core researchers, to ask questions and learn about the research.
• Contacted and met with elected officials on multiple occasions to discuss the study and share findings.
  
• Sought and received community input on the soil study through a community advisory committee that met monthly during the sampling phase of the study.
• Distributed about 25,000 flyers door-to-door in neighborhoods involved, informing residents about the study.

Property owners who agreed to participate received individualized reports detailing the chemicals found in the soil sample taken from their property. 

After these reports were delivered, important findings were shared with the public, including elected officials, through public meetings and other forms of communication.  

Soil testing results from individual properties cannot be made public out of respect to the privacy of property owners, whose data is protected by confidentiality agreements. However, the study team has shared generalized community findings with the public during community meetings.

Findings from Phase I soil sampling were shared at a public meeting in January 2019, and findings from Phase II soil sampling were shared at a public meeting in November 2019.

With soil sampling complete, scientists conducted further analysis to try to determine whether pollutants may have originated from the Tonawanda Coke plant. This part of the study considered factors that included geography, prevailing winds and comparisons of chemicals found in samples on the site of the former Tonawanda Coke plant, and the soil samples taken in the surrounding communities.

The soil study team shared final findings with the public at a virtual community meeting on Feb. 24, 2022. 

Information on the study's results is available in a summary of findings produced by the soil study team, and in a news release shared with local media outlets. Additional information about the study is available on the soil study website.

Soil sampling was conducted with the permission of property owners, and data from individual properties is protected by confidentiality agreements. These agreements enabled scientists and community partners to gain access to and collect soil samples from private properties. The study team cannot violate the confidentiality agreements.

Property owners who agree to participate in the soil study have access to the raw data for their own properties. Each participant receives a copy of lab results related to the pollution on their property (if any is found).

Multiple measures were in place to ensure the study met high scientific standards.

Scientists at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS-DEC) reviewed and provided feedback on methodologies and findings at various points over the course of the study.

Soil analysis was conducted by ALS Environmental, a laboratory certified by the EPA and NYS-DEC to perform environmental testing, along with UB and SUNY Fredonia researchers who have many years of expertise in environmental chemistry and employ strict quality control procedures.

The study team was led by Joseph A. Gardella Jr., PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the UB Department of Chemistry. Gardella has about 40 years of experience studying the environmental impact of industrial pollutants, with important projects focused on air and soil pollution.

Property owners who agreed to participate in the soil study received a copy of lab results related to the pollution on their property (if any was found), and these results can be reviewed by independent experts if property owners want to seek a second opinion. This review would take place outside the formal soil study.

A federal judge ordered Tonawanda Coke Corp. to fund the $711,000 study — officially known as “Determining the Environmental Impact of Coke Oven Emissions Originating from Tonawanda Coke Corp. on Surrounding Residential Community” — after the company was convicted of violating the Clean Air Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. A federal appeals court rejected the company’s appeal in 2016, and initial funding for the study was released that year.

The study was conducted according to a plan ordered by a federal judge after Tonawanda Coke Corp. was convicted of violating the Clean Air Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. As part of its sentence, the company was ordered to fund the soil study, which involves determining the extent and distribution of pollutants that settled out of the air from the Tonawanda Coke plant’s emissions. No funding was set aside for a clean-up effort.

No. The federal judge that ordered the Tonawanda Coke Corp. to fund the soil study also ordered the company to fund a second, separate environmental health study.

The health study, which is being conducted by a different team, is a study of 10 years or more that investigates how emissions from the Tonawanda Coke plant and other sources may have affected — and may continue to affect — the health of surrounding communities. More information on the health study is available online here.

The soil study project work performed by Citizen Science Community Resources (CSCR) was covered by a subcontract between the Research Foundation for the State University of New York and CSCR.

When administering sponsored research, the research foundation has the fiscal responsibility to ensure that only documented project related expenses, directly related to the project’s scope of work, are reimbursed with the sponsored funds.

The subcontract contained a specific statement of work to be performed by CSCR. CSCR has been paid for all properly documented work within the scope of the contract. Additional invoices submitted by CSCR containing non-project expenses or insufficient documentation cannot be paid under the subcontract.

CSCR’s claims to the U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services for the Western District of New York that it has not been paid for work under the contract were unsubstantiated. Probation officials confirmed UB’s proper administration of the study, according to a March 2019 order by the federal judge who presided over the criminal action against Tonawanda Coke.

The judge’s order states that the probation office "received all documents and information necessary to confirm to its satisfaction that the scope and financial expenditures associated with the Soil Study are consistent with the study as approved."

In 2019, a community organization, Citizen Science Community Resources (CSCR), announced that it would help residents who live near the Tonawanda Coke plant test their soil. That testing promoted by CSCR is not connected to the court-ordered study led by UB.

To prevent cross-contamination and other problems, the EPA and DEC have strict requirements for how soil should be sampled. All soil sampling in the UB-led study has been done in accordance with these requirements.

Through the court-ordered study that UB is leading, scientists have worked with community members and local school districts to take hundreds of soil samples from neighborhoods that may have been in the path of emissions from the Tonawanda Coke plant, and from local schools. Property owners who have participated in the UB-led study were given a copy of testing results from their properties and offered the chance to speak to researchers about what the results mean.

Soil testing results from individual properties cannot be made public out of respect to the privacy of property owners, whose data is protected by confidentiality agreements. However, the study team has shared generalized community findings with the public during community meetings. Information about the study and its findings will be posted to the Tonawanda Coke Soil Study website.