Local environmentalists are not happy with a federal judge's decision to dismiss charges in the Erie Coke pollution case. Federal Judge Susan Paradise Baxter reviewed the prosecution's motion to drop charges against former Erie Coke supervisor David Stablein, and made her decision to grant it last week.

Sister Pat Lupo, co-chair of HECA - or Hold Erie Coke Accountable  - is very disappointed. Already she sent an email asking the U.S. Attorney's office in the Western District of PA if this decision closes the book on holding Erie Coke and its leaders accountable for violating the Clean Air Act and covering it up.

Although Erie Coke supervisor David Stablein plead guilty to conspiracy to Violate the Clean Air Act and tampering with a monitoring device, federal prosecutors made an unusual motion to dismiss the charges.  Their rational, that Stablein was the first to accept responsibility and cooperated with the government, setting an example for future defendants in cases like this.

In her order, Judge Baxter granted the motion to dismiss with prejudice. Sister Lupo said she is disappointed with more than just this decision. "You know we're looking at a case where everything has been dropped or minimized.  To begin with the eight felony counts were reduced to one, the fine which would have been a maximum of 4-million was really nothing when you think in comparison with all the damage that has been done to the Erie community and that fine dropped down to $700- thousand."

If it is the end of the line for holding Erie Coke responsible, Lupo would like to see a working group representing all community stakeholders, to focus on cleaning up the site to the highest standards. "We need a committee that can get the word out to the  broader community,"  she said. "The community working group idea worked very well at Tonawanda Coke and I really think that's something that needs to be done here."

She appreciates that the Erie Port Authority has already hosted public sessions to listen. "People are asking for recreational uses of that property -- they don't want hotels, they don't want another Title 5 permit industry going in there, and I think those are the things that we need to keep pushing for now."

One additional factor that can't be ignored, the government's document data base for the Erie Coke prosecution was accidentally deleted due to the age of the case, something noted in Judge Paradise Baxter's order in the David Stablein case, where she also directed the clerk to mark the matter, "closed."