City of Erie Mayor Joe Schember said the news of Erie Coke's closure "came out of the blue."

He said the city started to hear rumors late Wednesday night that something might happen, but they were not sure what would happen until the news broke.

Schember said his main thoughts are with the 130 workers, now without jobs less than a week before Christmas.

He said the city and state will do everything possible to help them find other jobs.

He knows most of the workers will be shocked, angry and very disappointed with the news.

The mayor led off his weekly news conference Thursday morning with a statement about Erie Coke, urging workers to contact the state Department of Labor and Industry or the city to find out about available job opportunities.

Now, Schember said he wants to speak with top Erie Coke officials about the decision and what will happen to the bayfront property.

Long-term, the mayor said a major cleanup may have to be launched for the site.

He said it was obvious Erie Coke was having major challenges in its lengthy battles with environmentalists and the state Department of Environment Protection.

He believes the recent decision by the city not to allow the company to send its wastewater to the sewage treatment plant because of Erie Coke's failure to comply with city rules could have been the "straw that broke the camel's back," which the company acknowledged in a statement late Thursday morning.

"I think honestly it probably had a big impact because it is very expensive obviously to truck that all that waste and water somewhere else rather than just put it down the sewer," said Schember. We were in danger of losing our license to operate a water authority or sewer authority, so we had no choice. We did give them time to try to rectify it. I believe they were unable to. That seems to be what the message is.

The mayor said his primary concern is the 130 employees and making sure they know the state and city will offer help to find new jobs.

City of Erie Mayor Joe Schember addresses Erie News Now's questions about Erie Coke