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.

May 17

2013

Eric Mower says ‘no mas’

  A public relations firm cast in a bad light by its no-bid contract with the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority that paid up to $325 an hour is walking away from the work. Eric Mower + Associates sent the BMHA a letter today (Friday) saying it won’t compete for the new contract the authority put out to bid earlier this week. “In this climate we can’t help our client right now,” said Greg Loh, the firm’s managing partner. When asked what he meant by “this climate,” Loh responded: “I think that speaks for itself.” The housing authority, landlord to some 10,000 low-income[...]

Posted 12 years ago

May 17

2013

City Hall progress on recycling

Two recent developments appear to signal that Buffalo officials are getting more serious about recycling after a series of reports by Investigative Post documenting serious shortcomings in the city’s efforts. One is a symbolic measure: The Buffalo Common Council on Tuesday passed a resolution calling on the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority to gets its recycling act together. As we reported May 1, even though the City Charter mandates that all commercial and multi-family complexes recycle, the authority doesn’t have a comprehensive recycling program for its 27 developments that serve some 10,000 low-income and elderly residents. Council Members Joseph Golombek Jr.[...]

Posted 12 years ago

May 16

2013

New York’s energy-related CO2 emissions lowest per capita

Whether levels of carbon dioxide did or did not reach the grim milestone of 400 parts per million at a Hawaiian observatory this month doesn’t take away from the fact that we are still very dependent on fossil fuels. Rising above the mark is inevitable. A host of scientific studies show there could be catastrophic results if global temperatures reach what has been called the “danger zone,” a 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) increase above pre-industrial global temperatures. Scientists believe the 400 parts per million level is the limit before global temperatures rise above that danger zone. This is important[...]

Posted 12 years ago

May 14

2013

Buffalo finally hires recycling coordinator

Buffalo has its first recycling coordinator in four years. Commissioner of Public Works Steven Stepniak has selected Susan Attridge for the job that has been vacant since 2009. Attridge was hired May 2 at an annual salary of $54,500. She lives in Hamburg and will have to move to the city as a requirement for all Civil Service positions. The city hasn’t officially announced her hiring. The job had been funded but vacant, with many of the duties handled by Raymour Nosworthy, the son-in-law of University Common Council Member Bonnie Russell, an ally of Mayor Byron Brown. The city advertised the position[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Apr 30

2013

Shining light on sewer overflows

Update: The DEC released a statement today that sewage discharges will be reported on its website. You can visit the page here. “DEC is developing regulations for a second part of the law that requires publicly owned treatment works and publicly owned sewer systems to notify the public directly of discharges.  DEC plans to release the draft regulations this fall for public comment.” There is a good chance that thousands of gallons of untreated stormwater and sewage spill into local waterways when it rains in Buffalo and people wouldn’t have any idea it happened. That’s all about to change, but not at the[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Apr 18

2013

NY’s toxic disposal of mercury thermostats

New York has a dismal record when it comes to collecting thermostats that contain mercury and legislation that might help hasn’t passed both chambers for years. The result is that these toxic thermostats end up in landfills and leach into land and water—nearly a ton of mercury annually in New York alone.  Keeping mercury out of landfills and the environment is important because it is a toxic pollutant that can make fish inedible and cause brain and liver damage, along with behavioral and developmental problems in children and fetuses. The EPA conducted a study in 2004 that found more than[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Apr 10

2013

Schools fail on health and physical education

If Buffalo Board of Education members want to pinpoint two reasons why almost half of city schools are failing they can look at the district’s physical and health education programs. The problem is they’ve been turning a blind eye. The youngest students aren’t getting enough exercise and about 45 percent of Buffalo’s seventh graders are overweight, which does impact academic performance according to national studies. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that the school system isn’t in compliance with state regulations for its physical and health education programs and hasn’t been for at least a decade. The state Department of Education[...]

Posted 12 years ago
Investigative Post