NIAGARA FALLS, NY (WKBW) — The Goodyear Tire and Rubber plant on 56th Street in Niagara Falls will close Oct. 31, ending 80 years of operation in the community.
The company announced Thursday it is shuttering the Niagara Falls location and another facility in Texas, affecting a total of 85 jobs. The exact number of local workers losing their jobs remains unclear, as Goodyear has not yet filed a WARN notice with the state.
In a statement, Goodyear said it made the decision to fully exit the chemical business "to focus on its core products and services."
State Senator Rob Ortt, whose district includes Niagara County, said the closure represents a significant economic loss for the region.
"Bad day for Niagara — you're losing a large taxpayer, and you’re losing maybe millions and millions of dollars from an agreement," Ortt said.
Ortt expressed disappointment over the apparent acceptance of the closure by local and elected leaders.
"But I'm just disappointed that they're allowed to leave... and it's just accepted... right... by elected leaders... and public leaders as sort of oh well," Ortt said.
Ortt said he is especially concerned about the workers who will be left without income.
"They don't have incomes — they don't have salaries now because another manufacturer is leaving Niagara Falls — is leaving Niagara County and New York State," Ortt said.
While the closure will be an economic blow to the city, it will also remove a major cancer-causing chemical that has been spewing into the air from the facility without proper safeguards.
Matteo Anello has lived around the corner from Goodyear on 59th Street for 70 years. He told me that despite concerns about the chemical, the closing is not a victory, and he worries about the future of the site.
"I feel bad for the employees. I feel bad for management," Anello said.
Anello said questions remain about whether those living near the plant have been affected.
"Questions have been raised now that the information has come out, and the most worrisome part is, has there really truly been an effect to the people living in the neighborhood? We don't know that," Anello said.
Anello also raised concerns about what a cleanup of the 56th Street site would look like, pointing to a long history of chemical contamination in the area.
"The other concern is the cleanup. I'm well aware of what happened with Occidental, DuPont with Olin Matthewson. I can go down the streets and point to areas where I know incredibly that those chemicals are buried under nice-looking mounds of green grass-that certainly is a concern," Anello said. "Heaven knows what's going to be left behind.”
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