A licensed professional engineer who lost his job with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation after raising concerns about the operation of the Goodyear plant in Niagara Falls has asked a court in Albany to take another look at his disciplinary case.
Dylan Keenan, who was removed from his position with the DEC in July, filed a petition on Oct. 2 in Albany County Supreme Court in an effort to vacate the arbitrator’s decision that ultimately led to his firing. The petition asks the court to assign a new arbitrator to consider facts in the case.
Keenan contends, in his new petition and in legal claims he previously filed in state and federal courts, that DEC management retaliated against him after he began alerting supervisors to discrepancies he said he found in Goodyear’s 2023 emissions report while reviewing the company’s air permit application to the DEC.
In emails to DEC staff, Keenan warned the Falls plant appeared to be emitting toxic chemicals, including a suspected carcinogen called ortho-toluidine, at levels exceeding public safety standards.
He later faced multiple counts of disciplinary action for attempting to convey his findings to representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency without his supervisors’ permission.
Keenan previously filed a lawsuit in federal court, arguing that the DEC retaliated against him in violation of his right to free speech. In a previously filed lawsuit, he has also accused his former DEC bosses of attempting to compel him to “soft pedal” his findings, which he argues would have resulted in him violating ethical and legal standards he is required to follow as a licensed engineer in New York state.
“Basically, I was counseled because I did not look the other way like my supervisor and colleagues in the region,” Keenan said in an interview with the Niagara Gazette. “I was not a team player.’
A spokesperson for the DEC declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
Keenan filed his petition one day after Goodyear announced it will close the company’s plant off 56th Street in the Falls by the end of October. The move follows the July 2023 issuance of a notice of violation the DEC issued to Goodyear after determining the Falls plant was not compliant with emission standards for the release of ortho-toluidine, a chemical used in the production of tires that has been connected to incidents of bladder cancer among workers. As part of the consent order, Goodyear was directed to install new pollution control technology aimed at reducing emissions and to take other corrective measures at the facility.
In response to questions from the newspaper, a spokesperson for Goodyear issued the following statement:
“The health and safety of associates and the communities where we operate are our top priority. The DEC and New York State health authorities have affirmed that our Niagara Falls facility poses no imminent threat to public health.”