If you go to The Ken-Ton Bee website and type Tonawanda Coke in the search box there are at least 10 stories that pop up regarding how this company allegedly has wronged the area.

Each of these stories also discusses how the Clean Air Coalition of Western New York, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New York State Department of Conservation are trying to get the River Road coke manufacturing plant to adhere to regulations so that daily operations don’t harm those in and around the facility. That’s 10 online articles that describe how Tonawanda Coke allegedly has polluted the Tonawanda area’s air, water and soil. Additionally, there are at least another 10 articles regarding this company that were printed before The Bee had online capabilities. So that’s 20 articles about how the firm has negatively impacted the area. These articles also describe the four-year fight by the coalition to get this place cleaned up. Of these articles, there may be two that note how Tonawanda Coke is attempting to fix the problems. And they are only fixing these problems because they are being forced to by the EPA and DEC.

While writing these articles is crucial to informing the public, we are starting to feel as sick about Tonawanda Coke as the residents who live in the industrial corridor. It’s a shame that it may take a lifetime for this plant to be up to par with state and federal codes, and that Tonawanda Coke’s owner and CEO J.D. Crane would probably rather die choking on the toxic fumes his company emits than say, “It’s my fault, and I’m sorry.”

While being a journalist requires an unbiased view, it seems like we’ve been fighting alongside the coalition, EPA and DEC to get results. We had hoped that Crane would be forthcoming instead of providing only one letter to the editor to express his stance once the media started targeting him for answers. We thought this would be a fair confrontation in that both sides — the community and Crane — would immediately see eye-to-eye and find a compromise to all this environmental madness. Such has not been the case, and we’re gnashing our teeth at the thought of having to write yet another article, likely within the next month, of how Tonawanda Coke has failed to comply with the clean-up demands.

Of course, we also hope for positive news that would include a headline that reads, “Tonawanda Coke is environmentally safe, Crane pays fines.” Until then, we’ll try not to exhaust ourselves or our readers when reporting on what’s happening with this facility’s operations.