Investigative Post

There are 53 industrial plants in a 2-mile radius in Tonawanda and it has the highest concentration of air polluters in New York State. The Clean Air Coalition hosted a “Toxic Tour” Saturday morning and if you haven’t been on one, it’s worth the 90 minutes to get a feeling of what is happening in […]

A new report from the Environment America Research & Policy Center highlights how fracking has more problems than just environmental ones. The study states that the state governments are expending big money for new infrastructure and road repairs because of fracking efforts. But there’s more: A 2010 study in Texas found homes within 1,000 feet […]

Canadian scientist and environmentalist David Suzuki coined the phrase “A Biocentric viewpoint is needed now,” but it’s become the mantra of a white paper that the Western New York Environmental Alliance released this week. Suzuki wrote in his first research paper after leaving his day job that environmentalism has failed because the worldview is that […]

Got questions about hydrofracking? Turn to Grist for at least five answers. Here’s Grist’s Fracking FAQ. One tidbit that popped out at me was this: A study published in May 2011 in the peer-reviewed Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found a link between methane in drinking water supplies and proximity to shale gas […]

A redevelopment grant from National Grid will bring more life to the former contaminated brownfield site that’s now the Buffalo Bolt Business Park on Oliver Street in North Tonawanda, the company announced Monday. The site is the former home of Buffalo Bolt Corporation and Roblin Steel. The state Department of Environmental Conservation has certified the […]

Charles F. Zukoski, the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs for University at Buffalo, this week called for a committee to review policies and practices for research, scholarships and publications in light of the controversy with the university’s Shale Research and Society Institute’s (SRSI) study on shale gas exploration. Artvoice also has some […]

The state Department of Environmental Conservation has launched an investigation of the Lackawanna Incinerator Site on South Park Avenue that has already been noted to have high levels of lead and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, both carcinogens. The DEC will determine the nature and extent of contamination to the soil, surface water and groundwater on the […]

My boss Jim Heaney tells me it’s been well over a decade since a media outlet in Buffalo assigned a reporter full time to cover the environment, the job I was hired to do. So I guess I’m the living embodiment of  the adage “everything old is new again.” My assignment is covering environmental issues […]