Categories for GreenPost

Nov 7

2013

Fighting asthma in poor neighborhoods

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Asthma is a serious problem in Buffalo. We’ve reported in the past about the sky-high asthma rates on the West Side in neighborhoods near the Peace Bridge. The East Side isn’t much better, according to some of those studies. Both sections of the city are poor and susceptible to respiratory illnesses. Consequently, the Environmental Protection Agency teamed up with the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo to educate low-income families on ways to reduce asthma triggers in homes. The EPA provided a $54,840 grant that the Community Foundation matched. The money will help 80 families. Judith Enck, the EPA’s regional administrator[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Nov 6

2013

Lake Erie’s “50 and 2 Rule”

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Lake Erie holds 2 percent of the water but 50 percent of the fish. That may be a rough estimate, but the director of Ohio State University’s Stone Laboratory told Michigan Public Radio that the “50 and 2 Rule” is an example of how each of the five lakes have their own unique characteristics.

Posted 11 years ago

Oct 22

2013

State’s sewage right to know act is failing

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New York State Assemblyman Sean Ryan (D) is urging the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to enforce the sewage right to know act. Ryan made the announcement on Friday in Buffalo. The law went into effect and calls for the public to know how much sewage is being discharged into local waterways. Despite that, Investigative Post in June found many of the reports are incomplete. “No one swims in their toilet,” said Assemblymember Ryan. “We don’t want to swim in waterways that are contaminated.” Since the law went into effect in May, there have been 252 sewer discharges[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Oct 17

2013

This will blow your mind

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Our Earth is changing rapidly. There is no doubt. But people around the globe have a hard time seeing shrinking lakes and forests and urban sprawl from thousands of miles away. Until now. TIME magazine and Google partnered with NASA and the U.S Geological Survey to create a series of “stunning” timelapse satellite photographs that show how the world has changed over nearly three decades. Google also has some of the most shocking visuals. At the right-hand corner of the box of satellite images you can type in a location, such as Buffalo, and witness the changes that have occurred here. But Buffalo’s[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Oct 14

2013

NY has leg up on algae bloom battle

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New York had the most laboratory confirmed algae bloom warnings of any state since May, according to a new report. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean the Empire State has the biggest problem with the toxic nuisance. Blooms are in lakes, rivers and streams across the country. Without nationwide monitoring, there’s a “haphazard state-by-state approach,” the report concludes. In other words, some states test regularly and other states test very little, if at all. The blooms, often called blue-green algae, consist of bacteria that produce toxins. Runoff from farms that use fertilizers containing phosphorous are one of the chief sources of the blooms. The[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Oct 8

2013

What is this stuff in Union Ship Canal?

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Don’t think contaminants from past industrial uses are actually leaching into local waterways? Think again. As we reported last week about the plan to open a beach for public swimming at Gallagher Beach in the Outer Harbor, there are serious concerns about leaching contaminants entering Lake Erie from nearby toxic Superfund sites. The Bethlehem Steel and Hanna Furnace properties are the two closest to the beach and both still pose a significant health risk. I visited the beach and nearby properties numerous times during the research for the article. One spot I visited was the Union Ship Canal, next to where[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Oct 2

2013

NY AG sues Amigone to stop crematory

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State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman’s office filed a lawsuit Tuesday to prevent the Amigone Funeral Home from reopening its crematory in the Sheridan Park area of the Town of Tonawanda. For years, nearby residents have complained about the offensive odors, noise and pollution emitted from the crematory. With the help of the Clean Air Coalition of Western New York, residents took their complaints to the Department of Environmental Conservation and the attorney general’s office. In July 2012, the attorney general’s office successfully convinced the crematory to shut down its operations. However, a year later, Amigone announced plans to reopen the[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Oct 1

2013

New York avoids dirty coal top 100 list

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Western New York may have the top greenhouse gas producers in the state, but the three coal plants don’t rank as high when compared with others across the country, according to a report from Environment America Research and Policy Center. The report ranks the top 100 worst greenhouse gas polluters, none of which is in New York. The report also provides some context to why President Obama is targeting coal-fired power plants as a way to curb greenhouse gas emissions. “In 2011, the U.S. power sector contributed 41 percent of all U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide, the leading pollutant driving[...]

Posted 11 years ago
Investigative Post