Tonawanda Coke faces $161,100 in fines

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Tonawanda Coke faces $161,100 in fines for “disturbing” violations investigators said they discovered after a Jan. 31 explosion at the plant that rattled homes and businesses up to a mile away.

In total, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the plant and Kirchner LLC, which supplies temporary workers, with 17 serious violations, including two repeat ones, plus three minor infractions. Some of the alleged violations put employees at risk of falls, amputations and crushing injuries, according to the agency’s press release. OSHA defines a serious violation as “when death or serious physical harm could result from hazards about which the employer knew or should have known.”

The alleged violations include failing to inspect and maintain safety systems, having obstructed emergency exits, missing guardrails, unguarded saws, improperly stored oxygen tanks and failing to determine workers’ exposure to a cancerous pollutant called hexavalent chromium.

The Jan. 31 explosion was caused by overpressure in a coke oven manifold that released coke oven gas in an enclosed area where it ignited, according to the OSHA press release. A flare stack failed to burn off the excess coke oven gas, exposing employees to asphyxiation, as well as explosion and fire hazards, OSHA said. Tonawanda Coke makes foundry coke used to melt iron.

“Had this company taken proper precautions and ensured that safety systems were working, this explosion would not have occurred,” Michael Scime, OSHA’s area director for Buffalo, said in a prepared statement.

“Equally disturbing, however, are the additional, preventable hazards the employer allowed at the plant. These conditions exposed workers to potential amputations, falls, crushing injuries, injury by unexpectedly activated machinery and an inability to exit the workplace swiftly if fire, explosions or other emergencies arose.”

The noontime explosion was so strong that at least one person called the Town of Tonawanda dispatch center wondering if there had been an earthquake.

Tonawanda Coke gate security also turned away some first responders, which is a common occurrence, according to reports Investigative Post received from the Town of Tonawanda Police Department through a Freedom of Information request.

The confrontation between first responders and Tonawanda Coke security got heated at times, as detailed in an unrelated April 4, 2013, police complaint summary report: “Security advised if they insist on giving responders a hard time they will be arrested for obstruction.”

But sources told Investigative Post that there were injuries.

Two days later on Feb. 6, the company filed an incident report with the Department of Environmental Conservation to “clarify” that three employees required evaluation. The report said one employee had been blown to the ground by the force of the explosion, another had inhaled dust blown into the air by the explosion and a temporary worker had dust blown into his face and eyes, which required outside medical attention.

This isn’t the first time OSHA has cited Tonawanda Coke for violations.

Since 1989, OSHA fined Tonawanda Coke more than $116,000, with the company paying about 60 percent through negotiations. Since 2009, OSHA has cited the plant for at least 16 violations.

In addition, the company was convicted in March 2013 on federal charges of releasing toxic pollutants that endangered workers and nearby residents. As a result, the company was ordered to pay $24 million in fines and its environmental controls manager, Mark L. Kamholz, was sentenced to a year in jail.

The $161,100 proposed fine is the maximum, according to Scime.

Tonawanda Coke representatives did not immediately return messages seeking comment. The company can contest the violations and negotiate with OSHA to reduce the fines.