New York coke producer found guilty of pollution

A federal jury on Thursday found Tonawanda Coke Corp, accused of years of illegal air pollution, guilty of violating federal clean air regulations and found its environmental manager guilty of hiding plant deficiencies from U.S. regulators.

The jury in U.S. District Court deliberated just one day before returning its verdicts against Tonawanda Coke, which has operated for 30 years in the Buffalo suburb of Tonawanda in upstate New York and produces a coal-based additive called coke that is used to make steel.
 
It found the company and Mark Kamholz, its environmental manager, guilty of 14 charges, including violations of the federal Clean Air Act from 2005 to 2009 as well as violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, having to do with the disposal of benzene sludge on the plant's property from 1998 to 2009.

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