50949_WKBW_7_Problem_Solvers_658x90.png

Actions

Amigone Funeral Home and neighbors face off, again

Posted at 9:55 PM, Oct 19, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-19 23:24:32-04

Ron Labuda's lived in the Town of Tonawanda for almost his entire life. He remembers when Amigone Funeral Home Crematory's opened, vividly.

"It was horrible. The odors, the smoke-- it was terrible," he said.  For years, neighbors like Labuda have clashed with the Sheridan Drive funeral home.  

They claim it's exposing the public to harmful toxins that cause people's eyes to tear and sting.

"If he starts it up and you have something going on in the backyard, you have to run back into your house," Labuda added.

When the State Attorney General shut down the crematory in 2012, many neighbors thought the fight was over. But now, that doesn't appear to be the case. 

"We've noticed in the last month or two that operations have started up," Attorney Kevin Stocker said. 

In 2012, Amigone received a permit from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.  the permit did allow the crematory to reopen provided the funeral home made significant upgrades to control pollution and orders.  But neighbors said that didn't happen, which is why they've filed a lawsuit, through Stocker.

"We're going to go back to court to try and address te permit, we want them shut down, again," Stocker said.

The lawsuit looks to set a date where residents can seek financial damages and also seeks to force Amigone to relocate its crematory.

"We have nothing against Mr. Amigone and his funeral home, we have nothing against his crematory.  Just move it outside of our residential neighborhood," neighbor Robin Stein said.

7Eyewitness News reached out to Amigone Funeral Home.  We are waiting to hear back.

Have a news tip, question or comment?

 

Take WKBW Everywhere, on all your devices.  Download below!

Phone or Tablet: Apple, Android
Set-top Device: Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV
Amazon Alexa

Personalize your news, get the latest 7 First Alert Forecast, and watch 7 Eyewitness News video wherever, whenever.

Learn more here about what 7 Eyewitness News provides on all these devices.