Niagara County lawmakers are planning to back a bid by environmental activists to ensure the state of New York takes a close look at the operation of the Goodyear plant in the City of Niagara Falls before it and after it ceases operation at the end of the month.
Four of the legislature’s Democratic representatives, including three from districts covering parts of the Falls, have sponsored a resolution urging the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to review the plant’s environmental compliance history, existing consent orders, permits and potential soil and groundwater contamination to determine if Goodyear is following “appropriate closure, decommissioning, remediation and financial assurance requirements.”
The proposed resolution, which is on the agenda for consideration during today’s legislature meeting, comes less than two weeks before the plant’s Oct. 31 closure date.
The resolution also calls on Goodyear to “cooperate fully” with state and federal environmental agencies in assessing the environmental condition of the Falls plant and to “fulfill its legal and financial responsibilities for any necessary investigation, remediation, corrective actions and long-term monitoring.”
The resolution is sponsored by Sixth District Legislator Sam Farruggia and co-sponsored by Minority Leader Jeffrey Elder and fellow Democrats Christopher Robins, of the Falls, and Carla Speranza, of Lockport.
“This resolution is really just to show Goodyear that Niagara County is watching,” Farruggia said. “We don’t want to end up with another empty, industrial site that may have something on it.”
Goodyear announced the plant’s closure earlier this month. The timing has drawn outcry from some community leaders and local environmental advocates who have been complaining for months about the plant’s operation. During a 2022 review of the plant’s emissions, the DEC determined the plant has been releasing ortho-toluidine, a chemical carcinogen used in the production of tires, at levels seven times higher than the state health department’s safety standard.
Goodyear agreed, under a 2025 consent order with the DEC, to install emissions reduction equipment on site to temporarily reduce the outflow of O-T and other chemicals. The order required the company to install permanent emission control devices by Oct. 31, the same day the plant is now slated to close.
The consent order followed concerns raised by Dylan Keenan, a licensed professional engineer with more than 25 years of experience working for the DEC who was assigned to review Goodyear’s air permit application.
Keenan was fired by the state agency earlier this year after being disciplined for attempting to share the findings of his permit review work with officials outside the DEC, including those working for the federal U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He has since filed a lawsuit against officials with the DEC, claiming his former agency bosses retaliated against him after he accused Goodyear of intentionally falsifying data contained in the plant’s emissions test report. In his lawsuit, Keenan contends the falsified data in the reports showed Goodyear’s data reducing the actual level of O-T emissions by at least 90%.
The DEC has consistently indicated that the plant’s operation poses no “imminent” threat to public health or safety. The agency declined comment on the lawsuit, with a spokesperson saying the DEC does not discuss ongoing litigation.
In response to questions about Keenan’s claims, Goodyear spokesperson Kelly McGlumphy 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.”
Several groups, including the Clean Air Coalition, the Niagara Falls NAACP and the Sierra Club and the environmental advocacy organization Don’t Waste New York, have expressed concern about the plant closing down before testing is performed on the facility’s emissions stacks. Without those tests, environmental advocates have said it will be impossible to determine the true exposure risk in the surrounding neighborhood.
Following Goodyear’s Oct. 1 closure announcement, former county lawmaker and current Niagara Falls NAACP President Renae Kimble called on the DEC and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to strictly oversee the plant’s decommissioning process and to require Goodyear’s emission control systems to remain active during the shutdown.
Kimble also called on the company to establish and bankroll a long-term medical monitoring fund and health registry for former employees and the residents of what she described as the “historically marginalized neighborhoods adjacent to this industrial corridor who have suffered generations of exposure.”
“Goodyear has profited off the backs of Niagara Falls workers while polluting the air our children breathe,” Kimble said. “If they choose to close, they will still pay their debts to this city. We will not allow a multi-billion-dollar corporation to exploit our community, poison our environment, and then discard our workers without being held accountable. We, as a community, must draw a line in the sand today: zero evasion, total accountability”.