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Nov 26

2012

Can fracking threaten the Great Lakes?

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It is against the law to drill for natural gas under the Great Lakes, but that doesn’t mean they are safe. Lois Gibbs, an environmental activist famous for leading the charge to clean up the Love Canal in Niagara Falls, points out that it is still legal to drill for natural gas underneath rivers, streams and creeks that feed into the Great Lakes. Gibbs says the natural gas industry is already starting hydrofracking around the Great Lakes. “This is insane,” she wrote. “It’s unbelievable, hundreds of chemicals injected all around our fresh water lakes that both the U.S. and Canada have[...]

Posted 13 years ago

Nov 25

2012

Q&A: Stephanie Simeon

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Stephanie Simeon is executive director of Heart of the City Neighborhoods, a non-profit housing development corporation serving Buffalo’s Lower West Side. Simeon, 31, is a native of Brooklyn who moved to Buffalo to attend the University at Buffalo, where she earned an undergraduate degree in social science and master’s degree in urban planning. She serves on the board of the Erie County Commission on the Status of Women. Last year she was selected by Business First as one of the region’s top 40 young people under 40. Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney interviewed Simeon on Nov. 20. A 4 minute, 45[...]

Posted 13 years ago

Nov 21

2012

Become an environmental crime stopper

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Polluting a stream and getting away with it? Violating the Clean Air Act without detection? Now, anyone with a smartphone can help bust abusers of the environment. New York State Crime Stoppers announced a new phone app that makes it very easy for people to instantly report environmental crimes to the appropriate agency. Cellfare created the app in collaboration with Crime Stoppers, Waterkeeper Alliance, state police and local law enforcement agencies across the state. Not only is there an “Environmental Tip Submit” button, but users can also send tips of other criminal activity, such as robberies and assaults. I just downloaded the app and gave[...]

Posted 13 years ago

Nov 20

2012

‘SUNY is not for sale’ to oil and gas

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Kevin Connor, the co-director of the watchdog group Public Accountability Initiative, said on his website today that the University at Buffalo sent a strong message to the oil and gas industry on Monday when it pulled the plug on its embattled Shale Resources and Society Institute. “SUNY is not for sale,” Connor wrote. The shale institute released a study in May that was favorable to hydrofracking, which is the practice of using water and other chemicals to dig deep into dense shale formations underground for natural gas. But Connor’s watchdog group found numerous inaccuracies in the study. He also said[...]

Posted 13 years ago
Investigative Post