Tag: Environment

Mar 5

2013

Recycling gains traction in Buffalo schools

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More Buffalo schools are using green totes to recycle that will help boost the city’s recycling rate. Investigative Post reported in November that only two schools were using the totes that were distributed to residents early last year, and that the district wasn’t doing much otherwise to promote recycling, although some individuals schools were. Since then, 13 more schools have started using the city’s green totes. Allied Waste has also agreed to accept all recyclables in Dumpsters that had only accepted cardboard and paper. “In the current pilot, we have 15 sites that are recycling with the green totes/city program[...]

Posted 13 years ago

Feb 28

2013

Frustration grows in toxic Tonawanda

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Martin Luther King Jr. once said that of all forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and most inhumane. I don’t have cancer or children. I moved here in September and I don’t live close to the Tonawanda industrial corridor. Until recently, I rarely ever heard of Tonawanda. But I still felt the pain and frustration of the approximately 150 people who showed up to Tuesday night’s meeting at the Sheridan Parkside Community Center, where state Health Department officials explained their recently released review of high cancer and birth defect rates in the Tonawanda industrial corridor. Read[...]

Posted 13 years ago

Feb 26

2013

Recycling excuses

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Editor’s note: Investigative Post reported last November on Buffalo’s anemic recycling program. The story prompted a pledge by Mayor Byron Brown to take steps to bolster the recycling rate. Investigative Post follows up to see what the city has done. Coming soon: An update on recycling efforts in Buffalo public schools. Mayor Byron Brown’s administration has yet to meet its goal of doubling Buffalo’s curbside recycling rate in the year since green totes were distributed to residents. The city’s curbside recycling rate – based on what residents place in green totes – rose from 8 percent to 12.2 percent in[...]

Posted 13 years ago

Feb 20

2013

Can Senator Kennedy bring transparency to Peace Bridge plaza expansion plans?

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Residents in Buffalo’s Lower West Side continue to be left in the dark about the Public Bridge Authority’s expansion plans for the U.S. plaza. On Feb. 11, Kathy Mecca, representing the Prospect Hill Neighborhood Alliance, and three other neighborhood leaders sent state Sen. Timothy Kennedy a letter asking him to not support using funds for any road projects related to the Peace Bridge without first demanding full transparency of what exactly those plans are for the neighborhood. Kennedy’s district includes the neighborhood around the Peace Bridge. I reported about a month ago how revenue from truck tolls and duty free[...]

Posted 13 years ago

Feb 14

2013

Health department coy on further study of Tonawanda’s high cancer rates

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After several back-and-forth emails and a refusal to return phone calls, it appears the state Health Department won’t commit to conducting further studies to determine why so many people living near Tonawanda’s industrial corridor have cancer. The Health Department thus far will only commit to a public forum on Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. in the Sheridan Parkside Community Center. At this meeting, health officials will provide an overview of its health review and answer questions. Here is the Investigative Post story about the review. The department took almost four years to conduct its review, prompted by a 2009 air[...]

Posted 13 years ago

Feb 14

2013

Tonawanda has a polluted history

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Investigative Post introduces a new feature that uses Storify, a publishing platform that enables the curation of online content, including stories, video and social media. Our first Storify post, prepared by Jeremy Izzio, our intern this semester from Fredonia State University, focuses on pollution in the Town of Tonawanda. Take a look and let us know what you think. [View the story “Tonawanda: A History of Pollution” on Storify]  

Posted 13 years ago

Feb 13

2013

Pinpointing high cancer rates in Tonawanda

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The state Health Department’s review of cancer rates and birth defects for the Town of Tonawanda that were released Tuesday can be a bit confusing because the author used a complicated method to come up with the elevation rates. I reported on the review Tuesday and WGRZ aired a version of the story during its 11 p.m. newscast. You can read and view the story here. Basically what the health department found was elevated cancer rates in neighborhoods surrounding the industrial corridor. The review does not make any cause-and-effect conclusions. In other words, it doesn’t place any blame on any[...]

Posted 13 years ago
Investigative Post