Categories for GreenPost

Mar 21

2014

Scajaquada Creek: a Buffalo toilet

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Scajaquada Creek meanders through Buffalo’s most-prized park and yet it reeks of sewage and chemicals. This creek is literally a toilet, especially after heavy rainfall. Don’t believe me? Have a look for yourself: I snapped this photograph last summer while riding my bike through Delaware Park near Hoyt Lake. I smelled something putrid and this was the source. The chemical trails made rainbows in the water. Fish, some several feet long, ate the decay and whatever else was in this mess. I came back 30 minutes later and a group of immigrants  had dropped their fishing lines near here. Raw sewage overflows[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Mar 12

2014

Asian carp found in unsuspecting spot

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Asian carp found breeding in the Upper Mississippi. That means they are spreading much faster than any scientist had originally thought. The biggest fear is when these voracious eaters with no known predators will reach the Great Lakes. A story from National Geographic.

Posted 11 years ago

Mar 5

2014

Obama’s budget a setback to sewer upgrades

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Projects that keep billions of gallons of raw sewage out of Western New York waterways are at risk if Congress approves a budget that slashes aid for states burdened with antiquated sewer infrastructure. Cities and suburbs with outdated sewer systems require billions of dollars in improvements to combat the pollution from sewer overflows usually caused by heavy rain or snowmelt. In Buffalo, anywhere from 1.7 billion to 4 billion gallons of raw sewage polluted local waterways each of the past three years. In comparison, the bankrupt city of Detroit dumped 7 billion gallons of raw sewage into waterways in 2011. Cleveland[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Mar 4

2014

Tonawanda Coke neighbors voice concerns

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Residents breathing air by Tonawanda Coke were put at risk for years because the company released dangerous amounts of toxic chemicals. Preliminary residential soil tests also turned up contamination. The company and an employee were convicted last year. Residents, some with cancer, want a portion of the fines for comprehensive studies. A story from WGRZ.

Posted 11 years ago

Feb 21

2014

Telvock on Tonawanda Coke explosion

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Shredd & Ragan of 103.3, The Edge, spoke with Investigative Post’s Dan Telvock about his exclusive reporting of events surrounding the Jan. 31 explosion and fire at Tonawanda Coke.

Posted 11 years ago

Feb 17

2014

Benefits of a 100% renewable New York

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How does this sound for New Yorkers: saving $2,000 in annual energy costs. Or saving $4,100 per person in energy, health and climate costs each year? Those are just two estimates the Solutions Project presents if New York were to rely 100 percent on renewable energy by 2050. Sound crazy? Well, it isn’t. At least not to Mark Jacobson, a senior fellow at Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, who partnered with scientists at Cornell University and University of California-Davis to research how feasible it would be to convert New York’s energy infrastructure to renewable wind, water and solar. Their[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Feb 12

2014

Attorney general wants microbeads banned

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Microbeads are tiny pieces of plastic in over 100 beauty and cosmetic products. Toxic chemicals attach to the beads and fish eat them. Research led by SUNY Fredonia’s Assistant Professor of Chemistry Professor Sherri Mason found high levels of microbeads in Lake Erie. Now, lawmakers and the attorney general want them banned.

Posted 11 years ago

Feb 7

2014

Picture the difference in population density

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Census statistics provide hard numbers for how densely populated Buffalo’s West Side is near the Peace Bridge compared to the Lewiston Queenston Bridge north of Niagara Falls. But numbers alone don’t provide a clear view of just how striking the differences are between the neighborhoods near the two bridges. Aerial photographs below taken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers provide some context to why many West Side residents want truck traffic moved to the Queenston Lewiston Bridge and a small group of federal employees embarked on a short-lived study to consider such a move. Roughly 15,000 people live in the[...]

Posted 11 years ago
Investigative Post