Tonawanda, NY – Today, Jan. 4, 2021, Amigone Funeral Home’s Sheridan Park Crematory in the Town of Tonawanda is to resume operations, per a consent order it reached with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

The agency temporarily shut down the facility in September, after its stack emitted a thick black smoke for about an hour one morning, in violation of its air permit.

Senator Sean Ryan (D-Buffalo), Assemblymember Bill Conrad (D-Tonawanda), and several members of the Tonawanda Town Board joined together in September to call on the DEC to permanently revoke the crematory’s permit and force its relocation. While the procedures implemented by the DEC are a positive step, local leaders and neighbors of the facility still believe further action should be taken.

“While the fine and new consent decree from the DEC are a good first step, I'm not convinced that Amigone's crematory should be able to continue to operate, with the health and safety of Tonawanda residents at risk,” Ryan said. “We have been through this before, and the public has a right to be highly skeptical of what's happening at Amigone. I have questions, and the public has questions about the health impact on surrounding neighborhoods. The DEC must organize a virtual public forum as soon as possible to ensure the public can ask questions about the path forward for Amigone. It's what the public and the Tonawanda community deserves.”

“Clearly, the crematory at Amigone was in the wrong, or it wouldn’t have been made to pay a fine to New York State,” Conrad said. “While I’m happy to see the DEC listened to our concerns about the crematory and instituted additional regulations, I’m disappointed that the neighbors only received a brief reprieve from the fumes and debris – and are now left bracing themselves for the next incident. It seems to me that even with these increased regulations our community will not be adequately protected.”

Under the DEC consent order with Amigone, the crematory has installed new mechanics and software designed to reduce pressure inside the exhaust stack, which may help prevent and mitigate the discharge of smoke. They have also installed a monitor that will continually check the temperature inside the stack and revised their operating procedures to allow the manufacturer to shut down the plant in an emergency. A stack test is to be conducted next week, with emissions samples being sent to DEC for analysis.

Amigone’s Sheridan Park Crematory, located at 2600 Sheridan Drive, was shut down in 2012, for violations of its state permit. It installed new pollution controls and was allowed to reopen in 2018. Still, neighboring residents have said the crematory regularly spews forth noxious odors and ashy particulate that diminish the quality of their lives and pose threats to their health.

“We’ve been here before with this crematory,” Conrad said. “I’m glad the community’s well-placed outrage and the follow-up actions of town and state lawmakers yielded some changes. But the end result is woefully insufficient.”

Tonawanda Town Councilwoman Shannon Patch agreed.

“I am disappointed that DEC has decided to reinstate this permit, but sadly I’m not surprised,” she said. “A fee and a slap on the wrist aren’t enough. They will continue to pump black smoke into our air, and that is not OK. Tonawanda residents deserve better.”