Pixabay Photo: Electric Towers during Golden Hour
Since 2008, the Niagara Falls Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company facility (Goodyear) has been releasing a known carcinogen into the air of a New York State (NYS) designated “environmental justice community”. The facility uses a chemical called ortho-toluidine (OT) to make an agent that prevents rubber from cracking. It has been known since 2008 that OT is a human carcinogen. In fact, 78 former employees of the Goodyear facility in Niagara Falls developed bladder cancer after decades of working in the plant, and more recently, people who live near or downwind from Goodyear are being diagnosed with bladder cancers.
In the fall of 2023, the Sierra Club Niagara, Clean Air Coalition of WNY, Don't Waste NY, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Niagara Falls and the Interfaith Climate Justice Center of WNY became aware of the toxic emissions from the Goodyear plant.
The EPA, along with the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), met with us virtually on January 14, 2025. The EPA decided they would let the NYS DEC continue to take its time to regulate Goodyear’s air emissions, rather than issue an Emergency Order.
After our virtual meeting on January 14, we obtained a copy of the consent order which the DEC had signed with the leaders at Goodyear. (It had been signed on the same day as our meeting). The consent order allowed Goodyear 22 months to install equipment that would reduce OT emissions by 90%. Members of our coalition told the DEC that Goodyear should be required to accurately monitor the current OT emissions coming from all 13 stacks, as well as any fugitive emissions before they install the equipments. We also asked that Goodyear make the required changes much more quickly, since OT is a documented bladder carcinogen. The DEC has not followed our requests.
Goodyear has until October of 2026 to install emissions cleaning equipment. After installation, there should be a 90% reduction in OT emissions. However, DEC did not require any accurate baseline measurements of emissions coming from all 13 stacks or from other emissions that can come from other areas of the building, such as windows or vents, so it will be difficult to know if they are meeting their goal.
We recently had a press conference during which we presented an award to Dylan Keenan. Dylan was the DEC whistle blower who brought this toxic air pollution problem to light. He is the licensed air pollution engineer who had been assigned to the Goodyear facility. He alleges that they were falsifying their data on OT emissions and his superiors asked him to water down his own report of what was going on at Goodyear. Dylan went to the EPA and the higher levels of the DEC to bring attention to the issue because he was concerned that the OT levels being emitted were much higher that Goodyear was reporting and could be a serious health threat to those living in the Niagara Falls community near or downwind from the plant. Dylan was fired by the DEC in 2023.
The "Goodyear Coalition" (which includes the Sierra Club and the other groups mentioned above) will be keeping a close watch on this problem to ensure that the DEC monitors Goodyear and enforces the high air quality standards they say they are enforcing.
If you are interested in joining us in this fight, please email us at Niagara Sierra.