Tag: Environment

Aug 23

2017

Feds pull plug on radioactive remediation

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Federally funded work to remove radioactive gravel from numerous hotspots in Niagara County has run out of money and come to a halt. Left in limbo are property owners in Niagara Falls and Lewiston, who were told by Environmental Protection Agency officials that there is no firm date of when – or whether – they will return to finish the clean up. Eric Daly, the EPA’s project manager, said he gave his superiors “options of what I could do and what I needed to do.” “What came back to me was we want you to shut down, meaning trailers out[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Aug 16

2017

When it rains, sewage gushes into Niagara River

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The Lower Niagara River is no stranger to sewer overflows. An Investigative Post analysis of state data shows the Niagara Falls sewer system has spewed more than a half-billion gallons of raw sewage mixed with storm water into the Lower Niagara River since May 2016. Even moderate rainfall can overwhelm the sewer system, causing untreated sewage mixed with storm water to gush into the Lower Niagara. The problem gained the attention of Governor Andrew Cuomo after a July 29 discharge turned the Lower Niagara into a black, smelly disruption for tourists on a busy Saturday at Niagara Falls State Park.  That incident was[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Jul 12

2017

Dispute over Wheatfield landfill test results

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The Department of Environmental Conservation on Tuesday said a toxic landfill in Wheatfield isn’t leaching chemicals onto nearby properties. But Michael Stag, a New Orleans attorney representing current and former residents in a lawsuit, contends that the state got it wrong. In addition, he warned state authorities more than a month ago that his testing found dangerous levels of chemicals inside homes, not the soil. In December 2015, the DEC deemed the landfill a significant risk to public health. The state designated it a Superfund site after removing 80-dump truck loads of Love Canal waste buried there in 1968. Some residents[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Jul 11

2017

Removing the muck from Scajaquada Creek

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The ongoing restoration of Scajaquada Creek has reached one of the most-polluted sections in Delaware Park. For three years Investigative Post has reported on the creek’s disgusting condition. The chief causes of the pollution are the Buffalo and Cheektowaga sewer systems, which spew raw sewage into the creek when deluged by storm water. As a result of decades worth of sewer overflows, the creek bottom is layered with black foul smelling muck. Both Buffalo and Cheektowaga do have plans to address the sewer overflows problems. On Monday, crews began dredging a badly polluted section of the creek by Hoyt Lake.[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Jun 21

2017

Mayor won’t enforce recycling rules

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The curbside recycling rate in Buffalo continues to lag behind the national average. In 2016, Buffalo reported a curbside recycling rate of 15 percent, a negligble increase from the previous year. That’s still well below the national average of 25 percent for curbside programs. The curbside rate is based primarily on paper, plastic, glass and other materials that residents place in the green totes. Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown visited the Modern Disposal plant on Tuesday to accept a $62,500 check for the city’s recycling education fund. The city’s contract with Modern requires the company to finance a portion of the city’s program outreach[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Jun 13

2017

Headway on toxic former General Motors plant

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It has been a long wait for Virginia Golden and her neighbors in the Delavan-Grider community. For over a decade, they’ve wanted the state to clean up the former General Motors plant. There is finally progress to report less than a month after Investigative Post’s investigation. The state Department of Environmental Conservation has added a portion of the former General Motors auto manufacturing facility to its Superfund program, making it eligible for state funds for remediation. The state hired a consultant to begin the investigaton of the property at 1001 E. Delavan Ave., where oil laced with PCBs from past[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Jun 5

2017

iPost reporting cited for excellence

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The New York State Associated Press Association has honored Investigative Post for its reporting on two environmental stories. The AP selected Looking for Lead  (in all the wrong places) as the best investigative television story for midsized markets. The three-story package documented Buffalo’s failure to test for lead in the drinking water of inner-city neighborhoods despite the prevalence of lead poisoning in children who live there.  The story aired in August 2016 and was co-produced with WGRZ. Another story, Decades Later, Love Canal Landfill Still Poses Risk, placed third in the investigative reporting category among midsized radio markets. The story, which[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Jun 1

2017

State lawmaker’s plan to combat lead poisoning

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Lead poisoning in Buffalo is a public health crisis. In fact, Investigative Post reported in November 2014 that the city is “ground zero”  for lead poisoning problems. Even low levels of lead in children’s blood can cause permanent damage, such as learning and developmental disabilities. On Thursday morning, Assemblyman Sean Ryan announced his plan to combat this problem. Ryan cited in the speech Investigative Post’s reporting in proposing a package of state legislation that he said will help prevent exposure to lead in paint and water. His first proposal would amend the state’s definition of elevated blood lead level to match what the federal[...]

Posted 8 years ago
Investigative Post