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Hazardous Waste Removal - Site Cleanups - Environmental Audits
Phosgene
leak in Maryland sends two hospital. The poison gas apparently leaked out
at the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center in Aberdeen, Maryland on Thursday, 4/20.
Four workers were sent to the hospital. Details are sketchy but Lockport's
VanDeMark Chemical Company is the only known commercial producer of toxic phosgene
available for sale to users who do not make the gas on site. Its extreme danger is
the main reason, industry sources say, that phosgene production is so limited (4/21/06)
World War poison gas. The poster warning of Phosgene poison gas is from Britain and dates back to the First World War. Phosgene was a popular war gas. Today, phosgene is rarely produced for commercial sale because it is so dangerous. Companies that need it produce it under great care right on site, next to the reactors where it is to be used. VanDeMark is the only commercial seller of the gas we know of in the USA. From Lockport it is trucked all over the USA to those who need it but don't wish to take the risk of producing it on site.
Archive Material
400 gather to protest expansion of CWM toxic dump. The matter was
settled when Porter Town officials, despite considerable citizen opposition, approved a
giant expansion of the hazardous waste depository Chemical Waste Management runs off
Balmer Road. Their decision came after months of courting by CWM officials
(including an all-you-can eat (and drink) summer feast at the Niagara County Golf Course
in Lockport). Saturday, 1/26, about 400 citizens gathered to hear environmental
activists posture at the Youngstown Red Brick School House. Among those there to
posture was Niagara County Legislator Lee Simonson (R-Lewiston) who failed to get Niagara
County any of the money CWM will be paying the Town of Porter for "dumping
rights." His comments were "vintage Simonson" all the way. An
effort is underway to have the State Department of Environmental Conservation decline a
state permit for expansion. Additionally, legal action is being talked about.
(1/27/02)
Illegal PCB waste found dumped at CWM in Model City.
Three giant boxes of PCB waste electrical capacitors have been found in the toxic landfill
operated by Chemical Waste Management (CWM) more than a year after a whistle-blower
alerted authorities they had been illegally shipped and buried there.
In November of 2000 authorities began to act on reports that the national waste company,
Clean Harbors, had misrepresented the toxic PCB waste on a manifest and wound up shipping
it to the CWM toxic dumping ground in the Niagara County Town of Porter.
Federal regulations require such PCB waste to be incinerated, not
buried. Once the waste arrived at Model City local CWM staff reportedly
did not check it before dumping it. It was later buried under later-arriving
shipments of toxic trash. When the matter became public the United States
Environmental Protection Agency ordered the PCB capacitors dug up and re-shipped to a
permitted incineration facility. The boxes were finally unearthed early this week
after more than a year's delay by CWM. Authorities indicate they will be shipped out
of state for incineration. A government investigation into the matter is continuing.
CWM recently received local government approval to expand their toxic dump site.
(1/12/02)
Contract agreed for environmental clean-up of Lockport Richmond block.
The dilapidated collection of vacant buildings along the north side of Richmond
Avenue in the Lockport Canal Tourist District is about to get an environmental clean-up
for $123,000. The Lockport Common Council agreed to award the job to SLC of Lockport
last week with the stipulation that the work would be done within 60 days from the date of
contract signing. The State of New York has agreed to pay for 75% of the costs and
has already set aside $270,000. But the City hasn't got any of that money and until
the State money comes in city officials say they aren't signing any contract. And
what's holding up the State money? City officials admitted Thursday they hadn't
finished the "paperwork" that asks for it. (12/10/01)
Tiny turnout for radio station's promotional protest at toxic waste site. A
Buffalo rock radio station hoped to cash in with a big promotional event over the shipment
of 21 tons of once-Anthrax contaminated furniture to the Chemical Waste Management toxic
dump in the Niagara County Town of Porter. FM broadcast station, "The
Edge" Friday, 11/30, sent a crew of DJs out to the Model City location and
urged its listeners to show up and march in protest over the shipment of the furniture
from NBC-TV in New York to Niagara County. Well less than a hundred people spread
over a two hour period showed up for the morning drive time rally which was broadcast
"live." Those who were on hand appeared to include the radio station's
loyal core legion of groupies and familiar figures in the local environmental movement who
seek most every opportunity to posture for their various causes. (12/1/01)
VanDeMark planning $50K poison gas alert sirens for plant neighborhood. Safety
procedures continue to be planned for upgrade at the Lockport Lowertown chemical plant
that manufacturers the poison gas Phosgene and its derivatives. The super-siren
being proposed would let loose a 70-decibel alert siren to those who live within
three-quarters of a mile from the plant at 1 North Transit Road should there be future
escapes of poison gas. (11/25/01)
NYC Anthrax debris shipped to Niagara County. The Buffalo News is
reporting that debris from the New York City Anthrax poisoning at NBC-TV has been shipped
to the Chemical Waste Management toxic dump in the Town of Porter. CWM claims
the debris, including parts of TV anchor Tom Brokaw's desk and other furniture have been
"decontaminated." No explanation was given why the
"decontaminated" debris was not sent to a regular New York City area landfill
rather than shipped to the New York State's Number One toxic waste dump, more than 300
miles away in Niagara County. No prior approval was sought from local authorities
for bringing the biological poison debris into Niagara County. (11/25/01)
"Sick nuclear plant workers not collecting." The
Sunday, 11/11 issue of the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal uses that headline to update
the now year-old story about attempts
by those who worked at the defunct Simonds Saw & Steel
Company during the 1940's and early 50's to collect compensation for possible exposure to
radioactivity. Although Congress has passed legislation to approve up to $150,000 be
paid to certain ex-Simonds workers who may have suffered health effects of working with
metals containing small amounts of radioactive elements, the office of Congressman John
LaFalce indicates that no money has been paid out yet. In fact, reportedly few if
any have submitted claims. In filing a claim workers (or their families and
survivors) have to make a reasonable case that exposure to radioactivity in the workplace
resulted in sickness or death. (11/11/01)
Porter gives CWM approval to expand toxic waste site.
Chemical Waste Management (CWM) Wednesday, 10/10, received Town of Porter approval to expand its huge toxic waste site off Balmer Road. The approval, by a 3-2 vote of the Town Board came despite widespread fear and opposition throughout the community. It was a stunning victory for the national waste firm which saw the pay-off for courting town officials away from public town meetings which were overwhelmed with vocal opponents. It is widely believed that millions of tons of PCB contaminated waste, dredged from a proposed clean-up of the Hudson River will be imported to Niagara County for disposal at the expanded CWM facility---named by the US Environmental Protection Agency at the Number 2 polluter in New York State. (10/11/01)Expansion of Wilson dairy farm meets resident opposition.
The owner of the Danielwicz Diary Farm along the Youngtown-Wilson Road says he's building another barn and adding about 400 cows to his operation which already has 1200 cows and is the subject of town complaints over odor. The odor from the farm, which varies in intensity according to weather and farm operations is the apparent result of overloading the land with animal waste. Because of a loophole in environmental laws which basically allow farmers to pollute land at levels industry, business, or residential properties are not allowed to, town officials say there is nothing they can do about the Danielwicz Farm odors which, according to weather conditions, impact residents for miles around. (9/12/01)Botulism break-out blamed for massive fish kill in Lake Erie.
Thousands of dead fish that have been found during August along the lakeshore in Erie and Chautauqua counties is now being blamed on Type E botulism. The same toxins killed several thousand birds along the Lake Erie shore last year. Health officials are now speculating that the botulism may be moving in the lake food chain and warned residents along the lake not to handle the dead fish. No humans have yet been striken but are at grave risk should the toxins (which are not killed by cooking) be injested. (8/29/01)Lewiston Town Board votes against CWM toxic waste expansion.
The unanimous vote by the board Monday, 8/27 won't have any real impact on the proposed 75-acre project since all of the land is adjacent to the town of Lewiston in the Town of Porter. Porter officials have not yet set a date to vote on approval but the Town has been promised millions of dollars in benefits by the chemical waste company, CWM. It has been speculated that the huge expansion at the Balmer Road dumpsite is needed so that PCB waste dredged from the Hudson River can be sent to Niagara County rather than stored in any Hudson Valley community where residents are strongly opposed to it. (8/28/01)Cause sought for Flintkote plant fire. The abandoned Lowertown industrial fire kept Lockport firefighters busy for more than an hour starting at about 4PM Monday, 8/27. Fire investigators are still seeking a cause. Fire crews were hampered by the dangerous condition of the building along with known asbestos and chemical hazards. The building complex off Mill Street has been sitting vacant with hazardous waste in it for more than a quarter of a century while politicians and bureaucrats balk at taking action to clean up the mess and the hazards. The latest line is that the United State Environmental Protection Agency will pay the estimated cost of $300,000 to cleanup the site. Niagara County has seized the property for back taxes. (8/28/01)
County Water District short on water.
A combination of high temperatures, little rain, and contamination of the village of Middleport water supply is seen as the reason for the Niagara County Water District to report its water supply capabilities have been taxed to the limit. Middleport, which normally draws about 150,000 gallons a day from its own wells went to all County Water District water on July 11th when agricultural run-off pollution was noticed boosting nitrate levels in the village wells. County officials have issued an appeal for no open-burning (even in rural agricultural areas where it has still been permitted) because of dry vegetation and fire threat. Agricultural irrigation demand is peaking causing yet another strain on the County water district which is limited by pumping capacity. The City of Lockport, independent from the County, has had no problem with pumping adequate water. (8/11/01)Strong opposition voiced to Love Canal Museum proposal.
Over 2000 signatures on petitions from residents of Niagara Falls plea with officials NOT to spend millions of dollars to build a museum to preserve memories of the 20th century's most notorious environmental dump. But politicians and others who see a way of creating plum jobs still insist on finding a way to build the icon that would promote the polluted past of Niagara Falls. Take for example Niagara County Legislator (D-NF) Samuel Granieri board chairman of a group calling itself "Love Canal 2000." He thinks changing the name of the project to "Love Canal Interpretive Center" will make the pork barrel project more acceptable. And for money? Backers hope to tap environmental funds destined for Niagara County environmental clean-ups for the initial financial backing. Then, of course, taxpayers would be tapped for funds to finish the building, be it build in the old Love Canal neighborhood or someplace in downtown Niagara Falls. As one resident, speaking for thousands, told Granieri, "You're going to put the stigma back on Niagara Falls." (7/15/01)CWM offering Porter millions to get approval for another expansion of toxic dump.
Chemical Waste Management has announced it is seeking to have 75 acres of land on the eastern border of its property south of Balmer Road in the Niagara County Town of Porter rezoned so that it can further expand is massive toxic waste dump. Sources say the company is anticipating the possible import to Niagara County of millions of tons of PCB-contaminated sludge from a pending clean-up of the Hudson River. CWM is offering the Town of Porter 50-cents on every ton of toxic dumped in the proposed expansion area with a guarantee of $3-million by May 1, 2007. If the town approves, the expansion plan still must obtain state and federal approvals. Niagara County was not included with Porter in the financial incentives being offered for local approvals. (6/15/01)Two ordered jailed for illegal dumping, storage of hazardous waste. A well-known Williamsville man has been ordered sent to prison after sentencing in U.S. Federal Court on Monday. 76-year old Francis "Franny" Kindel who has lived at Orchard Park in recent years was sentenced to 29-months in jail plus two years supervision after his release. Kindel was President and owner of Tri-Electronics on Cayuga Drive until its sale in 1997. US EPA enforcement officials accused Kindel of dumping hazardous waste onto the ground and into the sanitary sewer system between 1989 and 1996. The waste included plating acids with heavy metal content and lead. Also sentenced to jail was the Tri-Electronics supervisor of operations, 38-year old Robert Zilliox of Buffalo. He received a 28-month sentence and three years of supervision after his release. (6/12/01)
Lockport garbage found contaminated with radioactivity. Somebody's been dumping radioactive waste in Lockport municipal garbage it was disclosed on Monday, 4/23. A Lockport garbage truck was reported held at the American Ref-Fuel incinerator in Niagara Falls on the previous Friday after sensors detected radioactivity above background levels on the truck. The truck and trash were ordered returned to Lockport where crews searched through the tons of refuse with radioactivity detectors looking to find the container of radioactive material. It was found to be tissues contaminated with radioactive medical waste. It is illegal to dispose of radioactive material in municipal garbage. Jack Bradshaw of Allegheny Environmental Services, Inc., a company with its regional office in Lockport, said the reason the dangerous and illegal practice is done is usually cost avoidance. Allegheny provides fully permitted, insured, and licensed disposal of radioactive material, Bradshaw said, but some companies balk when they learn the high cost. Lockport officials say the garbage truck that contains the radioactive material was on a downtown pickup run on Friday when the toxic load was picked up from someplace. Those reponsible have not been apprehended. The cost to the city for disposal, delay, and investigation is expected to be several thousand dollars. (4/24/01)
Niagara County site named #2 polluter in New York State.
The dubious distintion goes to the CWM Chemical Services operation at Model City in Niagara County's Town of Porter. The ranking, assigned by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, was for just-released data for the year 1999 and indicates the Niagara County operation sent 6.2-million pounds of toxins into the environment. It was the only Niagara County industry ranked in the top ten polluters although the AES coal-fired electric generating station at Somerset was ranked #12. (4/13/01)
The plant was formerly operated as a felt and composite laminate plant, but is now vacant and in disrepair. The Site is bisected by William Street, which divides the Site into north (300 Mill Street) and south (198 Mill Street) portions (see Figure). William Street is no longer open, but pedestrian use is common. Neighborhood children have been observed walking through the Flintkote Plant Site as a shortcut to school. Some of the buildings are in a state of serious disrepair and pose a significant physical hazard to trespassers. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has confirmed the presence of asbestos containing materials within the buildings. When the USEPA makes a decision about the scope of the potential asbestos removal, the USEPA will keep the public informed.
The Preliminary Site Investigation included the following activities:
• Completion of 32 borings throughout the Site to determine the areal extent of waste.
• Collection and analysis of 38 waste samples to determine the chemical makeup of the waste.
• Collection and analysis of 7 sediment samples from Eighteenmile Creek to evaluate sediment contamination.
• Installation of 6 monitoring wells to evaluate groundwater contamination.
The primary waste encountered at the Site is ash. This ash covers an area of about 3.6 acres and totals about 25,545 cubic yards. It contains lead at levels characteristic of hazardous waste and other metals at concentrations above soil cleanup objectives. This ash also contains semivolatile organic compounds. Similar contaminants have been detected in Site surface soil, subsurface soil, groundwater, and sediments in Eighteenmile Creek and the millrace adjacent to the Site.
The information obtained in the Preliminary Site Investigation is being evaluated to determine if the Site should be listed in the Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites. In addition, Niagara County has submitted a Brownfield Grant application to the Department to complete a full Site Investigation and a Remedial Alternatives Report. A Site Investigation is a detailed investigation conducted to identify and evaluate the nature and extent of contamination at a site. The Remedial Alternatives Report uses the data obtained during the investigation to offer various remedial afternatives and to identify the preferred remedial alternative for the site. (3/28/01)
Hundreds of Lockportians jammed the main ballroom at the Lockport Best Western Inn Tuesday, 2/6, to learn what the United States government was going to be doing about cleaning up the former Simonds Saw and Steel site off Ohio Street. And of even more interest was government policies for paying "benefits" to those who may have suffered from chronic occupational exposure to radioactive milling debris at the site.
The audience was told that the plan for decontamination of the site is a subject of extensive study by the United States Army Corps of Engineers which has taken responsibility for the cleanup. Those studies have just begun. Of more interest to the assembled audience was that the United States Department of Energy will be leading the government service of providing health benefits for those who may have been seriously impacted by chronic work exposure to radioactive uranium and thorium at the Simonds site during 1940's and 50's. Those were years fabrication work involving radioactive materials was going on there. The U.S. Government appears to be the only recourse for financial recovery since the Simonds family carefully shielded themselves financially when they sold out to Guterl Specialty Steel and Guterl eventually went bankrupt.
There were few former Simonds employees from the 40's and 50's at the Lockport forum since most have now passed on due to age. However families of those who have died were there in force, apparently hoping that they will be able to cash in on government financial settlements being made available from the recently passed Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. Also present were many workers for Guterl who did not work with radioactive material but are still hoping to somehow get in on the benefit stream. In order to obtain the government money former employees or their families will have to demonstrate that health problems, and in some cases death, was caused by exposure to radioactivity. Such afflictions as cancer would be a prime possibility for claim under the government program since it has been previously established that certain forms of cancer can be caused by radioactive exposure. Because for the past forty years there have been few if any publicized suspicions of any radioactivity impacting worker health at Simonds or its successor company, Guterl Specialty Steel, those who seek government funds will have a difficult time establishing a connection.
That's where lawyers come in. A number of attorneys were at the forum in a not-too-veiled attempt to solicit potential clients. And they were encountering a receptive audience. One Lockport attorney has already organized a "class action" suit. Others, some from out-of-town are expected to eagerly seek "a piece of the action." (2/7/01)
Update: 3/30/01: The federal government administration is moving to shift agency control of a new compensation program for sick Cold War-era nuclear weapons plant workers. It this program which former workers at Simond Saw & Steel and/or their surviors hope to tap for benefits. The Office of Management and Budget has drafted an executive order that would move the program from the Labor Department to the Justice Department. The shift is supported by Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, who says the Justice Department is better suited to oversee the program. The shift in responsibility could delay payments under the program. The program calls for payments of $150,000 plus medical care to workers with cancer or incurable lung disease because of their Cold War-era exposure to radiation, beryllium or silica.
City getting $237,500 from NYS to clean up Richmond Avenue block. The money comes from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and is meant to address the junk, asbestos, hazardous waste, and ground contamination along the Richmond Avenue block in Lockport's tourist district. The condition of this area has been a constant feature of reports on the Lockport Home Page for the past four years. The latest money is in addition to $1-million previously granted the city from the Department of Housing and Urban Development several years ago. However, in all that time, the city has taken no action on clean-up. (1/27/01)
Congressman says: EPA planning to ship tons of PCBs to Niagara County. Congressman Jack Quinn (R-Hamburg) says he fears the Environmental Protection Agency is planning to approve the shipment of tons of PCB (poly-chlorinated-biphenyls) toxic sludge from the Hudson River to Niagara County. The EPA is about to order the removal of 2.65-million cubic yards of PCB-hot sediment from the Hudson River in an area where General Electric was allowed to dump it for decades. The government is promising residents along the Hudson if the sediment is removed it will not be deposited in their counties but shipped elsewhere. Congressman Quinn says he's learned that the destination of choice is Balmer Road in Niagara County where Chemical Waste Management owns a portion of a former military reservation that it has turned into (with government approval) a toxic waste dumping ground. (12/6/00)
The Niagara Gazette reported Thursday, 11/30, that toxic PCB liquids have been dumped at the Model City Niagara County landfill of Chemical Waste Management. The hazardous waste company says the toxic liquids are in electrical capacitors that were never drained before shipment. CWM never checked to see if the capacitors were empty before ordered the drums of them dumped into their landfill in September of this year. Since then, the company says, the PCB waste has been buried under 40 to 50 feet of other toxins and it doesn't want to did them up for proper (incineration) disposal.
CWM blames Clean Harbors, another waste company for the mess-up. Clean Harbors reportedly labeled the large electrical capacitors as "empty" of PCB liquids, when, in fact, they were not. Clean Harbors had been hired by a plant in Kentucky to send the toxic waste to a special incinerator in Texas. The company has yet to explain how the material was sent to Niagara County instead, and ordered for land disposal. The Model City site is not permitted by federal regulation to bury liquid PCB waste.
Federal authorities are reported investigating. Reports in the Gazette indicate that as many as 150 gallons of toxic liquids, in 180 large discarded electrical capacitors "got lost" by Clean Harbors after leaving the Kentucky plant. (11/30/00)
There is a possibility that workers who claim radiation-related illness from time spent working on uranium milling at the former Simonds Saw & Steel Mill at Lockport could qualify for extra benefits as a result of an agreement between the Republican controlled U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. The national legislation could provide as much as $1-billion over five years to uranium miners and weapons plant workers, sources told the Lockport Home Page Friday, 10/6.
About 15,000 persons nationwide appear to qualify for the program. Besides miners, workers in plants and transporters could qualify, sources say. In cases such as the Lockport situation, legal action would probably be necessary for the local workers to qualify and, as in all cases, a direct relationship between any illness and claims of radioactive material exposure would have to be verified.
Uranium miners already may qualify for federal payments capped at $100,000. The legislation worked out Thursday would expand this compensation and open up the possibility of those who worked in defense related plants which handled uranium materials to be included. Before the legislation would take effect it would have to go through a number of administrative procedures and be approved by the President. Supporters hope that money might start becoming available in mid-2001. The basis for the payment scheme is contained in House of Representatives Resolution 4205. (10/6/00)
Army Corps Of Engineers promises "study." As previously reported here, the United States Army Corps of Engineers has taken over jurisdiction for portions of the former Simonds site believed contaminated with radioactive debris. Thursday, 10/5, a spokesperson for the Engineers will begin a "study" of the situation in Lockport. A report is expected early in 2001, the spokesperson said. (10/6/00)
Measurements made by Dr. Peter Buckholtz at various locations surrounding the former Simonds Saw & Steel Plant have turned up basically negative for any significant radioactivity that could be attributed as from the plant property. The measurements were made late in the week of September 4th and early in the week of September 11th.
Dr. Buckholtz said no samples were encountered that showed activity that justified sending away anything for a full lab analysis. Three different radiation detector instruments were used in the field perimeter survey starting along Ohio Street. All measurements were made on public properties. Only one area was found where sample readings were "above normal background." But these readings were so low that no conclusion of the presence of even small amounts of radioactive material was justified. The two radioactive metals reported used at the Simonds site, Uranium and Thorium, give off radioactivity in various combinations of alpha, beta, and gamma rays.
Buckholtz cautioned that the results of his brief survey don't guarantee that no radioactive debris has left the site. To make a more comprehensive survey, entry onto private property would be necessary, he said. (9/15/00)
Radioactive contamination at the former Simond Saw & Steel site in Lockport is catching outside media attention. Lockportians, of course, have known about the problem for decades. But a USA Today series of feature reports on the effect of the radioactivity in the former Simond workplace along with many other such examples has sparked Buffalo media interest. WGRZ-TV jumped on the bandwagon Wednesday, 9/6 with their own "investigative report." On Thursday, 9/7, the Buffalo News headlined a new story. "Revisiting a deadly atomic history." The News quotes Lockportian Ed Cook, now 84, recalling his days of working with radioactive uranium and thorium at the plant. The Niagara Falls Gazette then jumped on board the media feeding frenzy on with a headline declaring "Nuclear Horror Lingers." And lastly, on Friday, 9/8, the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal comes out with its stories based on the USA Today articles.
And where has been the Lockport Home Page in all this media activity? "Well," says Bob Rooney, Lockport Page Editor, "the story today is the media frenzy and we're putting up an account on our environmental page." As for the story itself, a factual report was published about two years ago here at the Lockport Home Page and a segment of that report still is online in our Special Reports section. (9/7/00)
Army Engineers Plan To Take Responsibility For Cleanup
Update 9/8/00: The United States Army Corps of Engineers announced Friday, 9/8 in Washington that it expects to add the Lockport Simond Saw & Steel site (9.1-acres) to its clean-up list. The announcement came after a week of media attention of the long neglected Lockport environmental endowment. A spokesperson of the Army Corps could not even give an estimate of a date when the Engineers might begin actual cleanup.
Thursday, 8/24, the Somerset Group, its owner John Syms and his wife Eileen filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York against the federal government and Olin Corporation due to environmental contamination of the former Lake Ontario Ordnance Works (LOOW) in the Towns of Porter and Lewiston, Niagara County.
In 1970, the Somerset Group acquired 132 acres of LOOW property without knowledge of the contamination, and still owns 39 acres of the contaminated property. The Syms property was contaminated with radioactive waste from the Manhattan Project, as well as toxic and explosive chemicals from various defense programs conducted at LOOW, including a TNT factory, and a rocket fuel plant operated by Olin. It is less than one half mile from the Niagara Falls Storage Site (NFSS), the government storage area for radioactive waste from nuclear weapons. The plaintiffs' efforts to develop an industrial park on the site were stymied by a 1972 abatement order issued by the New York State Department of Health, prohibiting any use of the site due to radioactive contamination.
By 1992, the Government presented that the radioactive contamination had been removed from the Site to the NFSS. However, with recent reports that the NFSS is leaking, which is connected to the property via a drainage ditch, and through recent testing conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers, which discovered explosive, toxic and asbestos waste contamination on the property, plaintiffs filed the action to demand immediate remediation of their property.
Although the Syms have cooperated with ongoing efforts of the Department of Defense to conduct an investigation of the contaminated property, the investigation has been ongoing for many years with no remediation in sight. The government has failed to address numerous environmental concerns on the property and in the community surrounding the site and the LOOW. "The time has come for the government to start cleaning up the property and the LOOW in order to protect this community", said John Syms. The plaintiffs seek $25 million in damages, largely arising out of their inability to use the land or conduct business on their property due to the contamination. Their claims arise under federal and state environmental statutes, and common law theories including public nuisance.
The plaintiffs are represented by environmental lawyers Linda Shaw and Alan Knauf from the Rochester law firm of Knauf Koegel & Shaw, LLP. Ronald Kuis, an environmental attorney and registered professional nuclear engineer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been acted as a technical expert on the case. "The property at issue in this case should have never been sold by the government to private citizens. Given the new information being revealed about radiation levels outside of the NFSS, the Syms site, the NFSS and all of the contaminated LOOW property should be a top priority for immediate cleanup by the federal government", said attorney Linda Shaw. A trial date has not been set. (8/25/00)
The Buffalo News is reporting that a coal-burning electric generating plant at Nanticoke, Ontario is responsible for increased air pollution in Erie and Niagara County. The power plant, the News reports in a May 26th front page story, has actually increased its air pollution levels over the past few years as it has increased its power output. Being about 65 miles downwind from the plant, the Niagara Frontier gets the pollution fall-out. That pollution, including Nitrogen Oxide gas in the air, is said to be responsible for increased ozone levels in the Buffalo area resulting in the number of days of "smog" complaints. The News cites as the source of its information, the "Citizens Campaign for the Environment" The environmental group blames lax pollution control equipment at the power plant as the cause for the high levels of pollution. (5/26/00)
The New York State Environmental Conservation Toxic Release Reporting data has been made public for 1998 and two Niagara County firms a Niagara County firm ranks second on the new state list of top polluters. CWM Chemical Services at Model City is ranked Number 2 polluter in the state with a reported release of 6.2-million pounds of toxics into the environment. Most of those releases have gone into the ground. The Somerset coal-burning power plant, now operated by AES, was ranked #8 on the state list for 1998. (2/10/00)
From the 1930's through 1970 agricultural fungicides were manufactured, formulated, and distributed by the Barker Chemical Company at 8473 West Somerset Road. When the plant closed, lagoons of waste chemicals were left and although water levels seasonally rise and fall, the hazardous chemicals remain on the property. Now, in January 2000, local officials are finally starting to move toward a cleanup. According to public papers the property is now owned by the Mazzo family in Tennessee and property taxes haven't been paid for the past two years.
Testing at the site by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is still incomplete but sources say the DEC has tested the water and has found it to be of an acid nature. In some spots the water is so strongly acid that it is hazardous for human contact. A pH of between 1 and 2 has been measured. Areas in the 11-acre site are devoid of vegetation and the ground there has "blue-green residue" indicating that copper sulfate or similar copper or nickel containing chemicals may have been dumped there. Copper sulfate has found common use in killing vegetation and is often used by agricultural chemical formulators.
According to local officials the concern now appears to be focused on fencing in the area and putting up hazard signs to keep area children away. Authorities are attempting to contract the property owners to have them pay for this work, but, if they refuse, local government will pay for the expensive fencing which could run into thousands of dollars. The Niagara County Health Department has declared the Somerset property a "public health hazard." (1/27/00)
Residents of Center Street, in Lockport's Lowertown were ordered evacuated at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday night because of the release of a chemical from operations at North Transit and Mill Street, shortly after 9 P.M. Police, fire, and Hazmat emergency crews rushed to the scene. First reports are that a "reaction" had overheated at the VanDeMark Chemical Complex. Authorities were not able to get immediate information from officials at VanDeMark---now operating as VDM/Vanchem. The company consists of two entities of the VanDeMark Group of companies and was just sold to new French ownership. Information on the chemical emergency was not being immediately released by plant personnel but The Lockport Home Page was told, about 9:30 p.m. that the poison gas, phosgene, is not the gas that escaped. Sources at the scene describe the gas as a "irritating gas that burns the eyes and respiratory tract. " They had no other information to release. (This information was first flashed on The Lockport Home Page at 9:45 p.m.)
First word came not from VDM/Vanchem but reportedly from a 405 Mill Street resident who called police and complained of a burning, irritating gas in the air.
Lockport police set up road blocks over an area going out several blocks from the VanDeMark complex. When the evacuation was ordered officials could not locate a facility to bring the residents to. Later, City Hall was to be opened up for use as a reception area and also the Lockport School District was to be contacted to open up the High School. Lockport Mayor Ken Swan was ordered notified.
About 10 p.m. one emergency responder at the scene was heard telling others that the chemical released was "propargyl chloroformate." He repeated the name twice, spelling it out. If this is correct, it is a rare chemical not listed among 300,000 entries in the computerized listings available to The Lockport Home Page. However, VDM/Vanchem is known to work extensively with the chemical family of chloroformates.
At 11:20 p.m. authorities said the situation at VDM/Vanchem had "stabilized" and the fire chief in command at the scene said that residents evacuated from Roby, Plum, and Center Streets could return to their homes. Emergency responders, however, had switched to using coded messages over their radios so that further information on the matter would not get out to the public. Secrecy, which had begun to be imposed on the incident scene shortly after 10 p.m. was being enforced. Information was not forthcoming from authorities. The Lockport Home Page, began making inquiries to VDM/Vanchem at 10 p.m. and when we receive a response from the company that information will be promptly passed along here at the website.
At Midnight street barricades were being taken down and fire and police responders were returning to their stations. The fire chief declared the incident "terminated." . When information regarding the mater is released by authorities it will be published here at the Lockport Page in special updates. As of early morning, there were several chemical names being mentioned as the chemical that leaked from VDM/Vanchem but nothing could be verified. One report, Monday morning at 8 a.m., over WLVL radio, identified the chemical which leaked as "chlorocarbonic acid" but that chemical name was not listed among the 300,000 in the on-line chemical properties data base available to The Lockport Home Page. Another radio broadcast report, over WBEN in Buffalo, identified the gas only as "an acid."
During Monday, 12/27, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) said it was investigating the Sunday night at VDM/Vanchem.
At 12:19 p.m. on. Monday, 12/27, The Lockport Home Page received by FAX the following statement from VDM/Vanchem:
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At approximately 9:00 p.m, on Sunday, December 26th, propargyl chloroformate stored in a reactor over the holiday weekend, warmed -up and blew out a pressure relief rupture disk vented to the Company's scrubber system. This rupture disk is part of the safety systems installed to protect the reactor from failing due to over-pressurization. The pressure relieved from the reactor vented to a catch tank and scrubbing system which destroyed most of the chloroformate. A small amount of the propargyl chloroformate and the by product of its destruction, propargyl alcohol, was believed to be released during the incident. For a short period of time the force of the pressure relieved from the reactor allowed some of the chloroformate to pass through the company's scrubber. A neighbor near the plant smelled the chloroformate and reported it to the police. An alarm system at the VanDeMark plant alerted employees. The Fire Department organized an evacuation of the area impacted by the release but canceled it after a short period of time. The Fire Department assisted Company personnel in monitoring the incident and keeping people away from the area impacted by the release. The chloroformate was cooled down and the plant was secured by 10:30 p.m, Repairs to the plants pressure relief system and isolation of the odor was completed shortly thereafter,
Propargyl Chloroformate is a liquid chemical intermediate produced at VanDeMark used to make an additive for the paint industry. It readily reacts with moisture and is corrosive to the eyes and respiratory system It is toxic by inhalation after exposure for long periods of time or at high concentrations. There were no injuries to VanDeMark personnel and no reports of residents being treated at Lockport Memorial Hospital due to the incident. One firefighter reported to Lockport Memorial Hospital and was treated for minor irritation and released back to duty. The Fire Department was on the VanDeMark site from shortly after 9:00 p.m. Sunday until 1:30 a.m. on Monday.
VanDeMark is continuing their investigation of the cause of the release this morning. The amount released, estimated to be less than 10 pounds, will be available after the investigation is completed.
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(First report: 12/26/99 at 9:45 p.m.
Latest update: 12/27/99 at 4:00 p.m.)
Niagara County Cancer Rate Highest In Western New York
Figures released this week by the New York State Department of Health indicate the rate of lung cancer in Niagara County is the highest in Western New York and well above national averages. Rates for other forms of cancer are higher here, too, the Health Department statistics indicated. For lung cancer in males the rate is reported at 90 per 100,000 people (per year) and for females 47 per 100,000. The main cause of lung cancer is smoking. However, secondary causes are related to air pollution and Niagara County has a long history of chemical contamination in the air, mostly originating from the industrial strip along the Niagara River from Buffalo to Niagara Falls. Experts say it often takes as many as forty years for such cancers to develop which ties in with the large amounts of air pollution from the Niagara River industrial complex back in the period before 1970. Prevailing winds dump much of the high stack chemical exhaust from Niagara Falls into northern and eastern portions of Niagara County. (12/11/99)
Property City Seized For Taxes Now Suspect In Ground Pollution Case
Property the City of Lockport acquired in a tax default many years ago is now reported a suspect in a case of petroleum contamination in the ground. City officials never bothered to have an environmental audit done of property seized at 1 Bristol Avenue when they took it over for unpaid taxes. Now, State Department of Environmental Conservation officials are requiring the city to have a tests made on the property which could cost as much as $5000 for openers. The property in question had been occupied by O'Byrne's Feed and Grain Mill where, it was well known at the time, large gas and oil storage tanks were located. Those kinds of tanks, above or below ground, are "red flags" for property contamination but the city ignored those warnings in taking on the property. Now, City taxpayers could be liable for hundreds of thousands of dollars in clean-up costs if tests show the contamination originated on the seized property. City officials, defending their actions, say they believe the source of contamination is to the west of the city owned property where yet other petroleum storage tanks had been part of a oil company operation. That firm, too, however is out of business with no recourse for authorities to fall back on for financial assistance. (12/11/99)
Niagara County Liable For Millions In Dump Repairs, Clean-ups
About a year ago when Niagara County Refuse Director Richard Pope announced there would have to be a new county garbage tax to make up for a shortfall in his operation revenues, property owners were told it was only temporary, perhaps for one year. Now it appears to be permanent. Last week, just days after having no bids by commercial companies to take over the county landfills which taxpayers had been told were "worth millions," word is leaking out that the Refuse District faces costs of $9.5-million to $12-million for repairs and monitoring of three waste dumps. Pope, in a statement to the Buffalo News blames "state and federal regulations" for the expense. Others see the reason as being poor landfill design, inadequate maintenance and mismanagement over many years. The landfills are leaking and the state is merely insisting that the county repair the leaks. But since the landfills have not received proper maintenance over the years the "leaks" appear to have gotten out of hand and become quite expensive to fix. The county garbage tax is running in the range of 16 to 23-centers per thousand dollars of assessed valuation for all county property taxpayers except those in Cambria, Newfane, Wilson, and the Town of Niagara---areas were government leaders wisely declined to join the County Refuse District. (10/11/99)
Lockport's Dussault Foundry Proposed For "Brownfields" Status
The highly polluted and dangerous Dussault Foundry site at the base of Washburn Street is finally getting some attention from bureaucrats. A September meeting has been scheduled of a "Brownfield Working Group" for a list of 30 Niagara County sites for "study" to see if they are polluted. The Foundry site, according to a report in the Buffalo News, will be among the sites selected. A "Phase I" study will be funded to see if pollution "could" exists there. That proposed study, one expert said, is a waste of money since "anyone with eyes, a nose, and a knowledge of Lockport history that goes back over ten years knows this site is highly polluted...work should proceed directly to Phase 2 and clean-up." The site also reportedly owes about $250,000 in unpaid taxes which the city allowed to increase yearly with ineffective collection action. The site was a subject of a Lockport Home Page pictorial about six months ago.
Also targeted for "study" is a 10.9-acre site on West Somerset Road along the western boundary of Barker. Referred to as the Barker Chemical site, the area is believed to be heavily polluted with agricultural chemicals. It too, will be the subject of a "Phase One Environmental Audit Report" to confirm what area residents have known years. In all, county officials propose spending about $200,000 to "study" well-known polluted area in Niagara County. Little or no money will be used to correct problems. (8/22/99)
Niagara County Moves To Take Over Flintkote Hazard Site In Lockport
Niagara County is reported ready to foreclose on the old Flintkote site on Mill Street in Lockport for failure to pay county taxes since 1989. The property, according to a report in the Buffalo News, will go up for public auction on August 24th. The buyer must assume liability for environmental clean-up and, if there are no buyers, then the Niagara County assumes that liability according to environmental law. The city of Lockport has consistently failed to act on the environmental hazard site claiming it did not want to become liable for environmental clean-up costs. But where the city has failed to act, residents may finally see some action from Niagara County after 20 years of governmental finger-pointing and stalling. The News reports $14,800 in back county taxes are owed on the property along with $51,342 in city and school taxes. Asked to comment on the hazardous nature of the site, Lockport City Treasurer James W. Ashcraft was quoted by the News as making the incredulous statement, "To the best of my knowledge, it's never been proven there are hazardous materials there." (8/14)
Update: 8/25/99: Mayor Ken Swan makes comments to the media that conflict with those of City Treasurer, Ashcraft. Says Swan to the Union-Sun & Journal, "We had an engineering group look at it a couple years ago (1997), and they advised us not to get involved with it....We do know there is some hazardous material in the soil on the island just behind the plant." The mayor said that the city at one time had made an offer to demolish the plant and cover it over but the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) refused to approve the plan. Government records show that 17 drums of Cresylic Acid and PCBs were found in the building in 1979 and removed by the DEC.
See our Special Report with pictures detailing the hazards in February.
State Confirms Lockport Page Report Of Radioactive Hazard at Old Simonds Steel Site
New York State environmental officials have confirmed information in a January "Special Report" here at the Lockport Page regarding radioactive waste at the former Simonds Saw & Steel plant off Ohio Street on Lockport's West End. Advisory notices have been sent to neighboring property owners saying that at some points radiation levels are as much as 100 times higher than normal background levels. On June 14th sampling was reportedly done on the site to confirm earlier reports published here at the Lockport Page. Those samples confirmed that debris from radioactive uranium and thorium was on the ground near rail spurs, up to approximately 1000 feet west of Ohio Street. The latest radioactive contamination is reported in a field overgrown with brush. The property title is now in the name of the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) which took title in connection with its work in bringing Allegheny Ludlum to take over part of the former Simonds site. These transactions took place after a Simonds successor, Guterl Special Steel Corporation, went bankrupt. Allegheny Ludlum has been careful to disassociate itself with any of the contaminated portions of the Simond site. There was no immediate word what course of action, if any, government officials will take to remediate the radioactive areas. However, according to environmental law, the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency appeals exposed to potential liability in any cleanup costs which are estimated in the high millions. (7/5/99)
Lockport escaped a major disaster Tuesday afternoon, 5/4, when a tractor trailer truck, loaded with huge industrial cylinders of poison gas crashed at the intersection of North Transit and Niagara Streets. The gas was identified as Carbon Monoxide, an extremely poisonous gas which could have wiped out much of the center city population if the tanks had ruptured. The situation at the crash scene was complicated because carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless poison gas and it was not immediately possible to determine if gas was leaking from the cylinders after the crash.
Lockport police say the truck driver, 46-year old Mack O. Sullivan of Mobile, AL was driving a tractor trailer when he hit a car at the intersection of North Transit Street and Niagara. Police say the truck failed to stop at the intersection. The crash sent the driver of the car to Lockport Memorial Hospital with face injuries. Police say the driver and his wife (riding with him) were uninjured. According to public papers, Mr. Sullivan was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle, failure to stop at a stop sign, and driving without insurance. He reportedly showed police a driver's license from Florida which had been suspended. Police say he was jailed but promptly released on $250 bail.
Sullivan was reported driving for Jack B. Kelly, Inc., a company which hauls gases and dangerous chemicals all over the United States. A "safety spokesman" for the truck company is quoted as saying it knew Sullivan had been in an accident in Florida five years ago and reportedly didn't have insurance but a lawyer managed to get the charges dropped. The spokesman indicated the company believed that Sullivan had the proper insurance for the Lockport haul but city police are denying that claim. The truck company spokesman said the poison gas was being delivered to a Lockport industry but the identity of the industry was not immediately made public. However, the truck was on a route traveled by vehicles hauling gas to and from the Van DeMark Chemical complex on North Transit where large quantities of the same carbon monoxide gas is used. Van DeMark is one of the few merchant producers of the poison gas, phosgene. The industrial process for manufacturing phosgene involves reaction of carbon monoxide with another poison gas, chlorine. (5/5/99)
New York City officials are reported considering sending the city's unwanted trash and garbage to Niagara County for dumping and incineration. The city has been having a difficult time coming up with replacement dumps for the soon-to-be-closed "Fresh Kills" landfill on Staten Island. That dump is scheduled to close in 2001. State Department of Environmental Conservation officials reportedly have advised New York City planners that there is "excess capacity" in Niagara and several other upstate New York counties. New York City Deputy Mayor has remarked "there is a real opportunity" for upstate New York to be a "very viable option" for New York City trash.
The proposed destination for a large amount of the trash is reported to be the American Ref-Fuel incineration facility at Niagara Falls. That's the location where Lockport and several other communities on the Niagara Frontier currently send their trash. The company is reportedly engaged in an aggressive marketing effort to bring the New York City garbage to Niagara County. The by-products of the combustion from trash burned at Niagara Falls usually drifts eastward with prevailing winds and starts to drift down over areas starting about ten miles to the east of the incinerator including Lockport and large portions of Lake Ontario. By-products of trash incineration include vapor from heavy metals (such as mercury) along with a certain low percent of dioxins. The amount of toxic material released to the atmosphere depends largely on the consistent proper operation of exhaust emission controls at the incinerator plant. (4/8/99)
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