Dan Telvock

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.

Jun 17

2013

Link between air pollution and learning disabilities

Researchers have found a link between traffic-related air pollution and more attention deficits in young boys in Boston. The researchers from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in Manhattan said this is the first time that an association is made between black carbon exposure and decreasing attention skills among low-income, urban children. The study found boys were more susceptible than girls. Black carbon is an indicator of combustion sources such as diesel and has a wide range of public health impacts. The researchers made the association after adjusting for numerous factors, including IQ, blood-lead levels, stress and tobacco exposure. “Inattention and hyperactivity are[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Jun 12

2013

Half-hearted effort to inform Peace Bridge neighbors

Seven days ago the state’s point person for the Peace Bridge gateway project said her team was busy translating handouts and power-point presentations in anticipation of Tuesday’s meeting, when the public would see the road plans for the first time. “The handouts, boards and power point are being worked on as we speak. Some will be done in Spanish and Burmese and thus will be in translation,” Maria Lehman, an engineer with the state Department of Transportation assigned to manage the project, wrote in the email last week. However, none of the presentation was translated for the meetings at D’Youville[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Jun 11

2013

Ugly month for sewer overflows in Erie County

For the first time, the numbers are flowing in on sewer overflows across the state and it isn’t pretty. In Erie County, almost 7 million gallons of untreated sewage were discharged into local waterways in May. This information wasn’t publicly available on the Internet until the Sewage Pollution Right to Know Law went into effect last month. Based on what’s reported so far, the biggest repositories of raw sewage were Ellicott Creek (2 million gallons), Scajaquada Creek (1 million) and the Niagara River (679,000). Heavy rain or snow melt is often the cause of these overflows. The ground water seeps through cracks in the sewer[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Jun 8

2013

Peace Bridge neighbors to finally see some plans

Buffalo’s West Side residents will get their first opportunity to see and comment on plans for what the state is calling the “NY Gateway Connections Improvement Project to the U.S. Peace Bridge Plaza.” That’s a clever name for a project that involves work on roads leading to and from the plaza, rather than expansion of the plaza itself. For more detail on this project, read our April 4 report. Tuesday’s meeting is at D’Youville College at 329 Porter Ave. in the Porterview Room on the second floor. The open house parts are from 3-5 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. Presentations will be at[...]

Posted 12 years ago

May 25

2013

Asthma plagues Peace Bridge neighborhood

D’Youville Porter School is a few blocks from the Peace Bridge. Some 660 students attend the elementary school. A quarter have asthma. Instruction at the school includes reading, writing and, for some pupils, how to use an inhaler. “It is very difficult for these kids who are having asthma problems,” said Assunta Ventresca, director of health related services for Buffalo schools. Asthma is an epidemic on the Lower West Side. The victims, sometimes wheezing and struggling for breath, are in one in of every three households. Studies found asthma rates are nearly four times the national average in the neighborhoods[...]

Posted 12 years ago

May 24

2013

Sewer overflows now public

The stinky truth is finally public. The state Department of Environmental Conservation has begun publishing sewer overflow reports from across New York. The reports, which are in Excel format, are posted here. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the “Sewage Pollution Right to Know Law” in August. The law requires public sewage treatment plants and sewer systems to notify the DEC whenever there is a sewer overflow of untreated or partially treated sewage and stormwater into waterways. Combined sewer systems, like the one in Buffalo, take both untreated sewage and stormwater into one pipe before making its way to a treatment plant. But[...]

Posted 12 years ago

May 22

2013

Asthma epidemic near Peace Bridge

An Investigative Post report produced in partnership with WGRZ has found a strong link between Peace Bridge pollution, especially diesel truck fumes, and high asthma rates in the neighborhood adjacent to the bridge. An analysis of scientific studies and other data shows asthma rates on the Lower West Side are about four times the national average and residents with asthma can be found in nearly one in three households in the neighborhood. Seven public schools on the West Side report more than 500 students suffer from asthma, including one-quarter of pupils at the elementary school located just two blocks from the bridge entrance. A federal study has established a link between diesel[...]

Posted 12 years ago

May 21

2013

EPA spotlights Tonawanda’s ‘citizen science’

If it weren’t for local residents and “citizen science,” Tonawanda Coke may still be illegally spewing out tons of toxic benzene from a bleeder valve and hiding it from state regulators. The Environmental Protection Agency published a video today that focused on the efforts of local residents who about four years ago collected data with the guidance and help of the Clean Air Coalition of Western New York to bring attention to the dangerous pollution in an industrial corridor that has 53 plants in a 2-mile radius. What they found was shocking: the carcinogenic chemical benzene at levels well beyond[...]

Posted 12 years ago