TONAWANDA, N.Y. — “Where did the money go?”
Grand Island Supervisor Nate McMurray knows the answer.
The University at Buffalo has it, and that's the issue.
The university and SUNY are stewards of $12.2 million Tonawanda Coke was ordered to pay after it was convicted of violating the federal Clean Air Act in 2013.
Judge Williams Skretny ordered the fine be used to fund a couple of studies intended to benefit the residents of Tonawanda and Grand Island.
They are the communities most affected by the plume of exhaust churned out over the years from the smokestacks at Tonawanda Coke.
But six year later, local government leaders, along with environmental group Citizen Science, are demanding a say in how the millions are spent.
“We believe we should have a say in the accounting of these monies, and nobody knows where any of the money is going,” Tonawanda Supervisor Joe Emminger said.
City of Tonawanda Mayor Rick Davis went farther, calling UB’s administration of the fine money “a dictatorship.”
The elected leaders are calling on Skretny to intervene. The judge declined comment on Wednesday but has previously indicated the U.S. Probation Office is the appropriate venue for this dispute now.
2 On Your Side did ask UB for a representative to speak on camera about all this. Instead, there was a statement which reads in part, “Both studies (funded by Tonawanda Coke) are being carried out according to plans approved by the court.”
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