Tag: Environment

Sep 25

2012

Toxic Town of Tonawanda

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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 your backyard. The next tour is Oct. 13. The odor of petroleum from NOCO, the sweet-smell of benzene from Tonawanda Coke (oxymoron, I know), and the ominous puffs of smoke from the Huntley Power Plant overpower this town. Single-family homes are nestled right in the[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Sep 22

2012

Study says costs of fracking are big

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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 of a well saw values drop as much as 14 percent. Texas has earmarked $40 million in road repairs in the area called the Barnett Shale region and Pennsylvania estimated $265 million is needed to repair damaged roads in the Marcellus Shale region. The study[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Sep 21

2012

WNYEA White Paper: ‘A biocentric viewpoint is needed now’

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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 humans are consumers of earth, not a part of it. The white paper came from the Western New York Environmental Alliance Habitat and Natural Resources Working Group, Jay Burney, Joseph Schmidbauer, Larry Beahan and Art Klein. In it they wrote: It is time for us[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Sep 20

2012

Grist Answers 5 Fracking Questions

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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 drilling. Seven months later, the EPA said for the first time that chemicals used in fracking had been found in drinking water in Pavillion, Wyo., home to hundreds of natural gas wells. And in July 2012, the U.S. EPA said its tests of wells around[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Sep 18

2012

Former N. Tonawanda Brownfield Site Gets Grant

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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 23-acre light-industrial and manufacturing business park as clean and shovel ready for new development after the state and city spent about $3.4 million on clean-up efforts. Lumber City Development Corporation, which helps the city with redevelopment efforts, applied for the funding. “This grant of $190,000[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Sep 16

2012

‘Frack’-tured faculty at UB over shale gas study

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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 eye-opening documents in its investigation of the controversy. That SRSI study used data from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to show that instances of pollution related to hydrofracking declined 60 percent from 2008 to August 2011 because of regulation. Hydrofracking is the practice of[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Sep 11

2012

Lackawanna incinerator under study

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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 1.57-acre property, as well as: Identify sources of contamination. Assess the impact any contamination is having on public health and the environment. Provide information on proposed remedies. According to a DEC fact sheet, the City of Lackawanna owns the property and uses it for its[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Sep 10

2012

Introducing iPost’s green blog

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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 in Buffalo and Western New York. My work will include in-depth investigations, analysis, daily stories, blog posts and social media. I will be out in the community a lot, especially in the coming months to meet people and learn about what environmental challenges exist in[...]

Posted 12 years ago
Investigative Post

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