Jul 12
2016
Telvock talks radioactive hotspots with WBFO
On WBFO’s Press Pass, Investigative Post’s Dan Telvock discusses his reporting on the radioactive hotspots in and around the Niagara Falls area.
Posted 8 years ago
Dan Telvock is Investigate Post's environmental reporter. A native of the Finger Lakes region, he was an award-winning newspaper reporter in Virginia for 13 years, including stints at The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg and The Winchester Star, before joining Investigative Post. He founded and operated The Landry Hat, a blog that covered the Dallas Cowboys, from 2005 to 2008, while also working as a reporter.
Jul 12
2016
On WBFO’s Press Pass, Investigative Post’s Dan Telvock discusses his reporting on the radioactive hotspots in and around the Niagara Falls area.
Jul 5
2016
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[...]
May 31
2016
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[...]
May 26
2016
Pre-apprentice programs that prepare minorities to enter the building trades are critical to diversifying the construction workforce, a national expert said Wednesday at an event hosted by Investigative Post. Buffalo needs a “big pot of money” for apprenticeship programs bolstered by community groups that work together to promote diversity in the construction trades, said John Goldstein, a national expert in workforce diversity in construction. “That seems like one critical piece that might be missing,” said John Goldstein, a national expert in workforce diversity. That money could come from contractors, foundations or be included in project labor agreements, he said. Download Goldstein’s[...]
May 25
2016
A year after getting serious about recycling, Niagara Falls has increased its recycling rate by 50 percent and cut the amount of trash it dumps in landfills by almost 20 percent. The city’s recycling coordinator credits the success and the 17 percent curbside recycling rate over the past year to an effective marketing campaign led by a quirky mascot named Totes McGoats, whose outfit cost $100. “The whole purpose wasn’t to be a man in a mask,” Brook D’Angelo, the recycling coordinator for Niagara Falls, said about the mascot. “The whole purpose was to have another way to educate the[...]
May 25
2016
Dan Telvock of Investigative Post reports on the progress of curbside recycling programs in Buffalo and Niagara Falls. Produced by Jonny Moran.
May 5
2016
The Erie County Legislature passed on another opportunity Thursday to approve the county executive’s $3.75 million lead prevention plan that includes eight new employees to inspect homes and help families that have children with elevated blood lead levels. Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown’s 11-point lead hazard control plan released Wednesday was not enough to persuade county legislators to move forward with a separate action plan proposed by County Executive Mark Poloncarz. The city’s commissioner and assistant director of permits and inspection services told county legislators Thursday afternoon that the city plan focuses on education, collaboration with the county health department and[...]
May 3
2016
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[...]