Tag: Environment

Jul 5

2016

Radioactive hot spots pepper Niagara County

Published by Dan Telvock

The first hint of radioactive waste near John Grace’s home in Lewiston came from his son who carried a radiation meter for his government job. The meter would beep every time his son drove over the gravel driveway. “He said ‘something’s not right here,’ ” said Grace, who lives at 738 Upper Mountain Road. Turns out, he was right. Gravel in the driveway was first tested some 40 years ago by the federal Department of Energy and found to have radiation levels some 70 times greater than what’s found in the local natural environment. The driveway was still hot when[...]

Posted 9 years ago

May 31

2016

Suit seeks to halt Battaglia Demolition

Published by Dan Telvock

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman will ask a judge to halt the operations of a South Buffalo construction and demolition debris facility that’s been the subject of a longtime dispute with neighbors, the city and state environmental regulators. The Attorney General’s Office said in a statement Tuesday night that the lawsuit, expected to be filed Wednesday in Erie County Supreme Court, charges that the dust, noise, odors, vermin and truck traffic at Battaglia Demolition off Peabody and Seneca streets “have created a public nuisance under New York State law, and that the facility is illegally operating without required state environmental[...]

Posted 9 years ago

May 3

2016

Lead poisoning worse than previously disclosed

Published by Dan Telvock

Buffalo’s lead poisoning problem – already recognized as serious – is much worse than previously reported by state and local health officials. Officials to this point have only released data that shows the number of children with blood levels that exceed the state’s threshold. Those numbers approached 300 last year. But new data obtained by Investigative Post shows that the number of children whose lead levels exceed a stricter federal threshold exceeded an estimated 1,100. Put another way: At least three times more children have harmful blood lead levels than previously disclosed. This in a city already regarded as Ground[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Apr 27

2016

Buffalo snubs county on lead poisoning

Published by Dan Telvock

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz’s lead prevention proposal is stuck in the County Legislature’s Finance and Management Committee after city officials twice declined invitations to appear to answer questions. The absence of city officials at these committee meetings is a continuation of a pattern on the part of City Hall officials, which Poloncarz administration officials fear is playing into the hands of suburban Republican legislators who appear reluctant to support the county executive’s initiative. Majority Leader Joseph Lorigo said during an April 7 committee meeting that he had invited Louis Petrucci, the city’s assistant director of permit and inspection services,[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Apr 20

2016

Quick Hit: Who’ll get the lead out?

Published by Dan Telvock

One word sums up the exchange between Erie County Legislator Kevin Hardwick and Health Commissioner Gale Burstein about lead poisoning prevention funding: awkward. Hardwick cited Investigative Post’s lead poisoning reporting during an April 7 Finance and Management Committee meeting when he asked if Burstein or anyone else with the county had inquired with city officials about what additional role, if any, the city might be willing to commit to. The Erie County Health Department has primary responsibility for inspecting homes for lead hazards and employs 12 health sanitarians who inspect about 2,500 housing units a year. Burstein has said they[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Apr 5

2016

Dan Telvock talks sewer overflows on WBFO

Published by Dan Telvock

On WBFO’s Press Pass, Investigative Post’s Dan Telvock discusses his reporting on the region’s sewer overflows and how they impact Scajaquada Creek and other waterways.

Posted 9 years ago

Mar 28

2016

Cut to U.S. clean water funds could hurt WNY

Published by Dan Telvock

The House and Senate budget proposal includes a large cut in clean water funding that could threaten dozens of sewer repair projects in Western New York. Senator Charles Schumer visited Buffalo on Monday to urge Congress to reject the budget proposal to cut 30 percent, or $414 million, from the national Clean Water State Revolving Fund. States tap into this fund to offset the costs of sewer infrastructure improvements. Projects to stem overflows into the Buffalo River, Scajaquada Creek and other local waterways could be at risk, he said. “We can’t afford such a cut to the Clean Water Act, which[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Mar 24

2016

Quick Hit: Buffalo Water has no answers on lead

Published by Dan Telvock

The Buffalo Water Board’s one-page info sheet about its lead testing program fails to provide much substance, especially for a city that still has a serious lead poisoning problem involving its housing stock. The water board’s online info sheet is in response to the catastrophe with Flint, Michigan’s water supply. What the water board has yet to release is the number of service lines – the stretch of pipe of that connects houses with water mains running under streets – that contain lead. The topic has not surfaced in any of board meeting minutes for at least three years. I[...]

Posted 9 years ago