Investigative Post

An alliance of environmental, community organizations and local governments support a plan to build massive data centers in two upstate towns, including Somerset in Niagara County.  Project backers contend the data centers would help the environment, provide jobs to displaced workers and replenish the tax coffers of local governments.  “It really is a win-win-win for […]

You’d think that the construction of a million square feet of manufacturing space on a brownfield along the Buffalo River would warrant a thorough environmental investigation before shovels bit into the soil. And you’d be wrong. The Tesla plant in South Buffalo was built on a former Superfund site — once home to Republic Steel, […]

  The developers of a proposed wind farm on the shores of Lake Ontario have put the project on hold. Apex Clean Energy has been working on plans to build 47 wind turbines in the towns of Somerset and Yates, about 50 miles northeast of Buffalo. Many residents oppose the projects, saying the wind turbines […]

 The former American Brass plant on Military Road in North Buffalo keeps getting cited for federal and state environmental and safety violations. The plant, now owned by the German company Aurubis AG, is over a million square feet and home to 650 workers. It produces about 160,000 tons of metal each year for use […]

Pam Atwater lives on six and a half acres in the Niagara County Town of Somerset. Her home is primarily fueled by energy from the solar panels on the rooftop of her barn and a geothermal system that heats and cools her house. Despite her embrace of renewable energy, Atwater leads a group fighting to […]

 Only half the projects eligible for state aid to improve sewage and drinking water systems received funding in recent years, according to a report issued Thursday. The problem, according to Environmental Advocates of New York, is that the $200 million a year the state has allocated for the work falls well short of what’s needed. […]

A university research team released a report Wednesday that found — to no one’s surprise — that some of the soil around the Tonawanda Coke plant is contaminated with a host of toxic chemicals. The affected areas include two areas near the plant in the town and city of Tonawanda. Contamination was also found across […]

There’s been a tug of war for 15 years between CWM Chemical Services, which has proposed expanding its hazardous waste landfill in Porter, and opponents of the project. Since Investigative Post last reported on the proposed expansion, opponents have filed paperwork with the state that aim to show the community is a bad fit for […]