Dan Telvock is Investigate Post's environmental reporter. A native of the Finger Lakes region, he was an award-winning newspaper reporter in Virginia for 13 years, including stints at The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg and The Winchester Star, before joining Investigative Post. He founded and operated The Landry Hat, a blog that covered the Dallas Cowboys, from 2005 to 2008, while also working as a reporter.
Nov 16
2013
Responding to an Investigative Post report, state environmental officials announced Friday they will resume air quality testing near the Peace Bridge. Unlike the last round of testing, the monitoring will include the summer, when pollution levels are higher.
Nov 13
2013
State officials proclaimed a month ago that air monitoring results near the Peace Bridge showed no serious pollution problem in the adjacent neighborhood plagued by high asthma rates that studies have linked to bridge traffic. In fact, officials went so far as to declare: “the data suggest that there are no significant differences between air quality in the plaza neighborhood and in the City of Buffalo overall.” However, an Investigative Post analysis has determined that conclusion is “not scientifically valid,” in the words of Sherri Mason, associate professor of chemistry at SUNY Fredonia, one of nine experts interviewed for this[...]
Nov 7
2013
Asthma is a serious problem in Buffalo. We’ve reported in the past about the sky-high asthma rates on the West Side in neighborhoods near the Peace Bridge. The East Side isn’t much better, according to some of those studies. Both sections of the city are poor and susceptible to respiratory illnesses. Consequently, the Environmental Protection Agency teamed up with the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo to educate low-income families on ways to reduce asthma triggers in homes. The EPA provided a $54,840 grant that the Community Foundation matched. The money will help 80 families. Judith Enck, the EPA’s regional administrator[...]
Oct 24
2013
The Cuomo administration has relented and agreed to test Gallagher Beach in South Buffalo for possible contamination before deciding whether to open it for swimming. In fact, crews began work this week to collect water, soil and sediment samples. An employee on the job for Ecology and Environment Inc., the contractor hired to collect and analyze samples, said the testing is the most comprehensive the firm has conducted for a beach. The decision to conduct comprehensive tests follows two Investigative Post stories earlier this month (found here and here) that reported the beach rests in a harbor basin contaminated with[...]
Oct 22
2013
New York State Assemblyman Sean Ryan (D) is urging the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to enforce the sewage right to know act. Ryan made the announcement on Friday in Buffalo. The law went into effect and calls for the public to know how much sewage is being discharged into local waterways. Despite that, Investigative Post in June found many of the reports are incomplete. “No one swims in their toilet,” said Assemblymember Ryan. “We don’t want to swim in waterways that are contaminated.” Since the law went into effect in May, there have been 252 sewer discharges[...]
Oct 17
2013
Our Earth is changing rapidly. There is no doubt. But people around the globe have a hard time seeing shrinking lakes and forests and urban sprawl from thousands of miles away. Until now. TIME magazine and Google partnered with NASA and the U.S Geological Survey to create a series of “stunning” timelapse satellite photographs that show how the world has changed over nearly three decades. Google also has some of the most shocking visuals. At the right-hand corner of the box of satellite images you can type in a location, such as Buffalo, and witness the changes that have occurred here. But Buffalo’s[...]
Oct 14
2013
New York had the most laboratory confirmed algae bloom warnings of any state since May, according to a new report. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean the Empire State has the biggest problem with the toxic nuisance. Blooms are in lakes, rivers and streams across the country. Without nationwide monitoring, there’s a “haphazard state-by-state approach,” the report concludes. In other words, some states test regularly and other states test very little, if at all. The blooms, often called blue-green algae, consist of bacteria that produce toxins. Runoff from farms that use fertilizers containing phosphorous are one of the chief sources of the blooms. The[...]
Oct 8
2013
Don’t think contaminants from past industrial uses are actually leaching into local waterways? Think again. As we reported last week about the plan to open a beach for public swimming at Gallagher Beach in the Outer Harbor, there are serious concerns about leaching contaminants entering Lake Erie from nearby toxic Superfund sites. The Bethlehem Steel and Hanna Furnace properties are the two closest to the beach and both still pose a significant health risk. I visited the beach and nearby properties numerous times during the research for the article. One spot I visited was the Union Ship Canal, next to where[...]