"Tonawanda Coke on Wednesday was ordered to pay $24 million for what a judge called 'singularly inexcusable' conduct that left much of the community wondering if the company created a public health crisis.

The judge ordered about half of that money to go toward a University at Buffalo study that could resolve some of those doubts and decide, once and for all, whether Tonawanda Coke’s environmental crimes created health problems among residents of Grand Island and the Tonawandas.

The study was at the heart of Chief U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny’s sentencing of Tonawanda Coke and its now-retired environmental controls manager, Mark L. Kamholz.

Skretny sentenced Kamholz to a year in prison for his role in the crimes."

Phil Fairbanks reports for the Buffalo News March 19, 2014. [2]