Categories for Co-produced with WGRZ

Dec 14

2017

More progress for Scajaquada Creek

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Two Western New York communities will get almost $6 million from the state for projects that will reduce the amount of untreated sewage spewing into Scajaquada Creek. The Western New York Regional Economic Development Council awarded the Town of Cheektowaga $5 million. The town will use the funding to repair damaged sewer pipes that get inundated with stormwater, which causes untreated sewage to be discharged into the creek. In addition, the Village of Depew received a total of $780,000 for two sewer-related projects. One of the projects will reduce untreated sewage from entering Scajaquada Creek by repairing damaged sewer lines and storage[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Dec 7

2017

Many localities not reporting sewer overflows

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Many local governments across the state fail to report sewer overflows discharged into water bodies, an environmental group reported Thursday. In addition, about one-third of the reported sewer overflows since 2013 did not include the volume, which the group said could be in violation of state law. An Investigative Post analysis shows the Village of Kenmore is this year’s worst offender in Western New York of failing to report the volume of sewage and stormwater overflows. The state passed the Sewage Pollution Right to Know law in 2013. It requires cities, towns and villages to publicly report information about all[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Dec 6

2017

LPCiminelli scaling back operations

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LPCiminelli, the embattled construction firm reeling from the indictment of three of its executives, is shuttering half its business. The company is selling off its heavy construction equipment at an auction next week in anticipation of closing its general contracting arm. Rather than building facilities, LPCiminelli will focus on development and construction management. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter delivered Sundays to your inbox. The company has been under siege for three years, since Investigative Post exposed what federal investigators later determined was corruption in the state’s awarding of a contract to LPCiminelli to develop the Tesla solar panel manufacturing plant[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Nov 21

2017

Sewage inundating Buffalo waterways

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Kevin Koone comes up empty at his favorite fishing hole on the Buffalo River whenever he catches a whiff of raw sewage. “When it’s real strong, the fish don’t bite. It just ruins the fishing down here,” he said in August, while fishing at Mutual Riverfront Park at the foot of Hamburg Street in South Buffalo. The source of the stench: The 255 million gallons of sewage and stormwater runoff that flow into the river upstream every year. Sewage discharges this summer that discolored the Niagara Gorge caused an outcry, but fouled waters are an even bigger problem in Buffalo.[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Nov 20

2017

UB Foundation invests in fracking

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The University at Buffalo Foundation quietly invested in an offshore fund that finances fracking and oil companies, even as the university declares itself a leader on combating climate change, leaked documents reveal. The private foundation, whose assets top $1.1 billion, is technically separate from the public university and does not disclose information about specific investments – despite mounting pressure from a student-led campaign for divestment from fossil fuel companies. But, in data made public Friday through the so-called “Paradise Papers,” a massive leak of documents from an offshore law firm, the foundation is named as a shareholder in a fund[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Nov 13

2017

Zemsky pressed on Buffalo Billion projects

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Howard Zemsky, the state’s economic development czar, told state Assembly members Monday that state officials are pushing IBM to create more high-tech jobs in Buffalo. “The kinds of jobs that we’re going to see at the IBM center are not going to continue to be call center jobs,” Zemsky said. The state pledged $55 million to renovate and equipment the six floors of Key Center’s south tower to lure IBM here on the promise of creating good-paying, high-tech jobs. But, as Investigative Post reported last week, many of the employees at the company’s office downtown work call center jobs for[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Nov 9

2017

IBM another Buffalo Billion letdown

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Bringing IBM to Buffalo was meant to create good-paying jobs and develop a technology hub downtown. Three years ago, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the state would spend $55 million on equipment and office space for the company to set up a “center for cutting-edge software development.” In exchange, IBM and its partners agreed to create 500 jobs over five years. State officials made the point over and over: these would be good-paying, high-tech jobs. But many of the employees in IBM’s Buffalo office, at least so far, are working in low-skilled, relatively low-paying, call center jobs. Most of them[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Nov 8

2017

Failing kids with lead poisoning

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Sherry Slaper was at wit’s end trying to help her lead poisoned daughter. She followed the orders of the Erie County Health Department by painting over the lead paint on her window sills and staircase, throwing away cheap Chinese toys that can contain traces of lead and obsessively cleaning her Kaisertown apartment. But her daughter’s lead levels did not drop. “It was a storm of emotions,” Slaper said. “You go from being angry to scared to sad.” Could it be the water, she thought? To be safe, she installed a water filter on her kitchen faucet. Then — and only[...]

Posted 7 years ago
Investigative Post