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.

Apr 4

2013

Peace Bridge road project not a done deal

Governor Andrew Cuomo a month ago announced a project to reconfigure traffic routes leading to and from the Peace Bridge as all but a done deal. Not so fast. The $22 million project faces a review that officials want to expedite to finish in a year. Part of the process involves something that project planners have resisted to this point, but which Cuomo advocated for when he was running for governor: consulting with neighborhoods populated with low-income residents and minorities on projects with potential health and environmental consequences. State officials believe the project will improve traffic flow, reduce congestion and[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Apr 2

2013

Cuomo: Tonawanda health report “very troubling”

One of the nation’s biggest environmental trials wrapped up last week in federal court in Buffalo against Tonawanda Coke, almost a month after the state Department of Health released a report that found elevated levels of cancer and birth defects in neighborhoods that surround that industrial corridor. Gov. Andrew Cuomo was at University at Buffalo this morning to talk about the recently passed state budget and afterwards the press was ushered behind a black curtain in a tight corner to shout out questions on a range of topics. Someone may not have gotten the governor up to speed on how[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Mar 21

2013

GOP asked Buffalo mayoral candidate to withdraw

Republican candidate for Buffalo mayor Sergio Rodriguez tells Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney that some in the party “strongly encouraged” him to withdraw from the race, even offering him a possible job. See WGRZ for continuing coverage and an airing of interview highlights Saturday on Daybreak.

Posted 12 years ago

Mar 13

2013

Buffalo a little greener in Lower West Side

In the summer it is not unusual to see children swimming in Black Rock Canal directly across from a pipe that can spew untreated sewer, storm runoff and toxic industrial chemicals into the water. As gross and dangerous as that sounds, the following details may not be for those with weak stomachs. Consider yourself warned. Each year about 52 million gallons of untreated storm runoff, industrial waste water and sewage enter Black Rock Canal. There are 14 permitted overflow pipes in this canal alone. Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper says some of the bacteria tests it conducted in the canal showed E. coli[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Mar 5

2013

Recycling gains traction in Buffalo schools

More Buffalo schools are using green totes to recycle that will help boost the city’s recycling rate. Investigative Post reported in November that only two schools were using the totes that were distributed to residents early last year, and that the district wasn’t doing much otherwise to promote recycling, although some individuals schools were. Since then, 13 more schools have started using the city’s green totes. Allied Waste has also agreed to accept all recyclables in Dumpsters that had only accepted cardboard and paper. “In the current pilot, we have 15 sites that are recycling with the green totes/city program[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Feb 28

2013

Frustration grows in toxic Tonawanda

Martin Luther King Jr. once said that of all forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and most inhumane. I don’t have cancer or children. I moved here in September and I don’t live close to the Tonawanda industrial corridor. Until recently, I rarely ever heard of Tonawanda. But I still felt the pain and frustration of the approximately 150 people who showed up to Tuesday night’s meeting at the Sheridan Parkside Community Center, where state Health Department officials explained their recently released review of high cancer and birth defect rates in the Tonawanda industrial corridor. Read[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Feb 26

2013

Recycling excuses

Editor’s note: Investigative Post reported last November on Buffalo’s anemic recycling program. The story prompted a pledge by Mayor Byron Brown to take steps to bolster the recycling rate. Investigative Post follows up to see what the city has done. Coming soon: An update on recycling efforts in Buffalo public schools. Mayor Byron Brown’s administration has yet to meet its goal of doubling Buffalo’s curbside recycling rate in the year since green totes were distributed to residents. The city’s curbside recycling rate – based on what residents place in green totes – rose from 8 percent to 12.2 percent in[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Feb 20

2013

Can Senator Kennedy bring transparency to Peace Bridge plaza expansion plans?

Residents in Buffalo’s Lower West Side continue to be left in the dark about the Public Bridge Authority’s expansion plans for the U.S. plaza. On Feb. 11, Kathy Mecca, representing the Prospect Hill Neighborhood Alliance, and three other neighborhood leaders sent state Sen. Timothy Kennedy a letter asking him to not support using funds for any road projects related to the Peace Bridge without first demanding full transparency of what exactly those plans are for the neighborhood. Kennedy’s district includes the neighborhood around the Peace Bridge. I reported about a month ago how revenue from truck tolls and duty free[...]

Posted 12 years ago