The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation released the results of air monitoring at the former Tonawanda Coke site on Monday.
The DEC says it noticed an immediate drop in benzene following the shutdown of the facility in October.
According to a DEC press release, their review of the data found no chemical concentrations that would be of concern in the short and long term exposures and no public health concerns.
Samples were collected by residents living near the plant.
DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said in a released statement, "For too long, Tonawanda Coke has been a blight on this community, and its owners will be held accountable for any damage to this community and the environment. In response to concerns raised by local residents, DEC assessed neighborhood air quality by analyzing monitoring data and samples. We found that air quality distinctly improved after the shutdown of Tonawanda Coke and that benzene, a toxic air pollutant, dropped precipitously. DEC and our partners at U.S. EPA are a constant, on-site presence at this site to ensure public safety and a comprehensive investigation of the site is being launched to identify any contamination at the site, and develop a cleanup plan through a transparent, public process that ensures community input at every step."
A federal judge found Tonawanda Coke guilty in September of violating its probation by having a higher than acceptable opacity of its emissions.
Prosecutors argued Tonawanda Coke released poisonous gas from its coke oven operations, violating its probation from a 2013 criminal conviction for violating the Clean Air Act, among other federal laws.
Tonawanda Coke released a statement following a ruling announcing its shutdown, saying in part, "largely due to the financial obligations of its criminal sentence, significant and unanticipated expenses, the loss of a funding source, and the multiple and coordinated enforcement actions brought by various government agencies, Tonawanda Coke cannot continue operations."
Officials say the NYS DEC and EPA are still on-site stabilizing and assessing environmental conditions and investigate any contamination at the site.