It was 10:15 Am. People were enjoying another warm day on the bayfront, when all of a sudden, it looked like a storm was coming in. CLICK FOR VIDEO
""All of a sudden, I saw this big black cloud. And I thought, "Oh my gosh. Is it going to rain?" said Tiffani Tronoski.
It was not a rain cloud. It was smoke coming from nearby Erie Coke. It exited the plant's smokestack, and headed west, settling at Dobbins Landing and the area of the Bayfront Convention Center.
Tronoski works at the bait shop on Dobbins Landing.
" All of a sudden, it just sort of came and settled down right around this area and I thought, that maybe it was the ice fog. Until I went outside and I smelled it and it smelled really bad," she said.
The smoke stayed in the area for several minutes. The putrid smell stayed even longer. It created concern among those with health problems.
"It was traveling a long way and it was coming down. So yes, I was worried about breathing it in because I have breathing issues, said Get Miller, of Meadville.
"I was clear up at 11th and State and I smelled it up there and I came down and I was like, "What's going on?" I have emphysema, asthma, chronic bronchitis," said Buddy Brenizer, of Erie.
Erie Coke is facing over $6 million in environmental fines for intentionally and repeatedly violating air pollution laws. But this latest incident was not intentional. It was caused by a power outage that shut down blowers in the plant's smokestack. When power was restored, the buildup was released all at once.
It is unknown if the plant will face any additional fines due to the incident.
"We're going to be collecting samples. Air samples and water samples as well to find out the potential impact that this could have on the water," said Freda Tarbell, of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Erie coke is in enough hot water already with environmental agencies, and members of the public who want cleaner air on the bayfront. If there's anything the company did not need, it was another pollution incident at the plant...accidental or not.
Erie Coke will face violations because of Wednesday's incident. It must issue a report to the state DEP detailing what happened, how it responded, and how it will prevent similar incidents from happening again.