Tag: pollution

Jul 17

2014

The Scajaquada is a crippled creek

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Municipalities dump more than a half billion gallons of sewage mixed with untreated stormwater into the creek annually. That putrid cocktail has fouled the creek’s water in a variety of ways. Sludge composed of decaying human feces and other contaminants is up to five feet deep in places along the creek bottom. Fecal bacteria is present at levels up to 20 times higher than what’s considered safe for recreational use. Avian botulism, which has paralyzed and eventually killed hundreds, if not thousands of birds over the years, lurks in a stretch that cuts through Forest Lawn Cemetery and Delaware Park.[...]

Posted 9 years ago

May 6

2014

EPA investigating Battaglia Demolition

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The federal Environmental Protection Agency confirmed Tuesday that it’s investigating Battaglia Demolition for potential environmental violations. The EPA investigation comes less than a month after Investigative Post reported how residents on Peabody Street and elsewhere in the Seneca Babcock community have complained for a decade about quality of life problems they blame on the construction and demolition debris business owned by Peter Battaglia. Our report also revealed how the business continues to operate without one, and possibly two, state permits. The state Department of Environmental Conservation has cited Battaglia for operating a concrete crusher without an air permit and at[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Apr 14

2014

‘Big victory’ for Buffalo water quality

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The Buffalo Sewer Authority will spend $380 million on upgrades to its century-old sewer system over the next 20 years that will drastically reduce the amount of raw sewage and untreated stormwater flowing into the Niagara River and its tributaries. The authority agreed to the improvements under pressure from the Environmental Protection Agency, which determined in 2004 that the city was violating the Clean Water Act. “This is a big victory,” said Judith Enck, EPA’s administrator for Region 2 that includes New York. “We think this formal agreement will make a big difference in terms of improving water quality in[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Apr 7

2014

Scajaquada Creek revisited

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I was compelled to return to the scene to prove a point: the portion of Scajaquada Creek that runs through Delaware Park is disgusting. One person criticized the post “Scajaquada Creek: a Buffalo toilet” because the photograph I used is from last summer. I felt comfortable using the photograph because I know it is a common sight. I run three times a week and Hoyt Lake is a part of the path I take for my 10ks. I’ve become too familiar with the problems of this section of Delaware Park. I’ve also become accustomed to smelling sewer wafting from underneath[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Apr 3

2014

Buffalo’s decade-long dust bowl

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The Weaver family and their neighbors on Peabody Street may be the only people in Buffalo who don’t look forward to warm weather. That’s when concrete crushing kicks into full gear at Battaglia Demolition, a construction and demolition processing facility that abuts their homes in the gritty Seneca Babcock neighborhood about a mile southeast of downtown. “I can’t open my windows because of all the dust from the rock crushing,” Jan Weaver wrote to the state Department of Environmental Conservation last fall. Between 80 to 200 diesel trucks a day rumble down Peabody Street loaded with concrete, scrap metal and[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Mar 26

2014

Air pollution a major killer

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Air pollution killed 7 million worldwide last year, the World Health Organization reports. Put another way: dirty air is associated with one in eight deaths. While the problem is more prevalent in rapidly developing Third World nations, we in WNY deal with the problem, as well. A story from the New York Times.

Posted 10 years ago

Jan 15

2014

Another call for probe of Peace Bridge project

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Tuesday’s Buffalo Common Council meeting could be an interesting one when it comes to Peace Bridge matters. That’s when Council is scheduled to vote on North District Common Council Member Joe Golombek’s resolution that calls for a federal investigation of the environmental review process undertaken by the state Department of Transportation for its proposed project at the Peace Bridge. The $28.5 million project would reconfigure roads and ramps leading to and from the Peace Bridge plaza. Perhaps more noteworthy is the review concluded the project would not improve air quality, countering claims made months earlier by proponents of the work. The[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Nov 13

2013

A smell surrounding Peace Bridge air study

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State officials proclaimed a month ago that air monitoring results near the Peace Bridge showed no serious pollution problem in the adjacent neighborhood plagued by high asthma rates that studies have linked to bridge traffic. In fact, officials went so far as to declare: “the data suggest that there are no significant differences between air quality in the plaza neighborhood and in the City of Buffalo overall.” However, an Investigative Post analysis has determined that conclusion is “not scientifically valid,” in the words of Sherri Mason, associate professor of chemistry at SUNY Fredonia, one of nine experts interviewed for this[...]

Posted 10 years ago