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RochesterEnvironment.com

Brownfield NewsLinks - Rochester, NY area  RochesterEnvironment.com

These Newslinks represent a decade of monitoring the Internet for news stories about Brownfields as they pertain to our area. 

The more recent stories are on the top and oldest at the bottom of this list.  Looking for something specific. Use Control + F and search for it on this page.

Although many of these links no longer work, I believe that it is important to be able to find that these stories have existed for ferreting out existing or impending environmental problems. The repercussions of pollution or overuse of a resource often takes a long time for us to recognize and when we finally do, it is invaluable to be able to track the history of various issues before they get to a tipping point and became a crisis.

Also, much that mankind has done to change our environment was accomplished without any knowledge of what the environment was like before changing it, but maybe we will be able to heal our environmental if we archive the news stories so we will be able to unravel the events that led up to the disaster. Students, scientists, historians, and citizens alike should benefit from being able to follow the thread of an issue back through time.

Page Contents: City Dump site in Greece | 2003 Tanker Crash | Dias Event in Holly |CSX Train Crash in 2001

 

2012

• DEC seeks public comment on site plan for brownfield - Niagara County - The Buffalo News NIAGARA FALLS—The state Department of Environmental Conservation is seeking public comments on a brownfield investigation plan for a Highland Avenue site, most of which is covered by an abandoned warehouse. Public comments may be submitted until June 8 regarding the Tract I site, as the DEC calls it. The 5.9-acre parcel is more than half-covered by the old Power City Warehouse, constructed in about 1910 as a factory for manufacturing vehicle batteries. It was last used for that purpose by Prestolite Co., which moved out in the mid-1970s.  (May 14, 2012) DEC seeks public comment on site plan for brownfield - Niagara County - The Buffalo News [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Mapping Waste: Setting the Stage to Clean up Niagara - GrowWNY So, just how contaminated is Western New York? Do we have more than our fair share of historic contamination? Are we still bringing waste here? How much? How do we compare with the rest of New York State? These were the questions that the Waste and Pollution Working Group of the WNY Environmental Alliance asked themselves as we were getting organized in early 2010. Although the members who joined this group were very knowledgeable about some aspect or waste site, we realized that we didn’t have a complete picture of the conditions of our Niagara Region. And so Mapping Waste: Setting the Stage to Clean Up Niagara was born. With support from the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo and an agreement with the Urban Design Project, School of Architecture and Planning at UB, Professors Lynda Schneekloth and Joe Gardella agreed to ‘map the waste.’  (May 7, 2012) GrowWNY [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Steve Orr: Corn Hill's old lead smelter is cleaned up | Democrat and Chronicle | democratandchronicle.com Our sister newspaper USA Today has published an impressive package on the lingering environmental threat posed by abandoned lead smelters. Its “Ghost Factories” package documents the existence of hundreds of lead-processing plants in American cities — including one that for decades was located in Rochester’s Corn Hill. The good news is that contaminants left behind at Rochester Lead Works’ old site on Exchange Boulevard have been cleaned up  (April 26, 2012) Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York | democratandchronicle.com  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• State Dept. of Environmental Conservation says dry-cleaning chemicals in ground next to daycare center in Longwood, Bronx pose big health threat  - NY Daily News Toxins found at 1095 Southern Blvd., where dry cleaner burned down in 2008, have been linked to organ damage in humans and cancer in mice Toxic chemicals deemed a "significant threat to public health” by environmental officials taint a vacant lot right next door to a daycare center in Longwood. High levels of perchloroethylene (PCE) a chemical used in dry cleaning that can cause neurological, kidney and liver damage, were found at 1095 Southern Blvd., where a dry cleaner burned down in November, 2008. "It's dangerous enough that we've cited it as a significant threat," said Rodney Rivera, special assistant for the state Department of Environmental Conservation. "If somebody wants to build on it, it would absolutely have to be remediated." (April 17, 2012) News covering New York City, National, and the World - Homepage - NY Daily News [more on Brownfields in our area]
• 04/12/2012: EPA Releases Ground Water Samples from the Lehigh Valley Site; Agency Plans Further Testing to Pinpoint Eastern Edge of Contamination (New York, N.Y.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency made available today the results of ground water sampling taken in December 2011 at the Lehigh Valley Railroad Derailment Superfund site in LeRoy, New York. This sampling is part of an ongoing investigation of the nature and extent of the contamination from that site. The results, currently available online, are consistent with previous results from quarterly sampling. These results continue to show that the heaviest contamination is in the western end of the plume area, the source area, with concentrations tailing off as the area moves to the east toward Spring Creek. In previous work, the EPA installed granulated activated carbon treatment systems on 35 private wells affected by the contamination. The EPA also sampled for contaminated vapors in nearby homes and installed vapor intrusion mitigation systems in eleven homes that needed them based on the testing. The mitigation systems have been effective in controlling the vapors. (April 12, 2012) US Environmental Protection Agency  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• EPA Releases Ground Water Results at Lehigh Valley Site - YNN, Your News Now The Enviromental Protection Agency released the results of a ground water sample taken in December from the Lehigh Valley Railroad Derailment site in LeRoy.  (April 12, 2012) TOP STORIES - Rochester - YNN, Your News Now  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• EPA plans tests in Caledonia | Democrat and Chronicle | democratandchronicle.com Reversing course, federal officials said Thursday that they would order tests to ensure a plume of toxic solvents isn’t impacting a part of the village of Caledonia in Livingston County that includes a school campus. Officials said several weeks ago that the tests weren’t necessary, but changed their opinion following a Democrat and Chronicle story that prompted calls from public officials.  (April 13, 2012) Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York | democratandchronicle.com [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Project Tracker: Cleanup at Canandaigua plaza to last until summer - Canandaigua, NY - MPNnow Canandaigua, N.Y. — The details In January, crews began cleaning up underground manufactured gas from the parking lot in the retail plaza — 659 to 699 S. Main Street in the city of Canandaigua — that is sometimes referred to as the “old Wegmans plaza.” The gas was left over from a former gas plant that shut down in the 1920s. During the winter, a structure was placed over the excavation area. DEC spokesperson Lisa King said the structure was designed to keep inclimate weather out of the site and also to assist with keeping dust, odors and noise down during construction. The structure is portable and can be moved to other areas on the site.  (April 3, 2012) Home - Canandaigua, NY - MPNnow [more on Brownfields in our area]
• The big TCE spill: A look inside our upcoming report | 520 – An Environmental Blog | Rochester Democrat and Chronicle Coming Sunday in both digital and print formats are reports on the huge plume of the toxic solvent trichloroethene, or TCE, that has tainted parts of three local counties for more than 40 years. The TCE spill of up to 35,000 gallons, or more than 200 tons, occurred during a train derailment in 1970 in a rural part of Le Roy, Genesee County. Since then, the solvent has spread into Caledonia, Livingston County and Wheatland, Monroe County. Federal officials who oversee the spill site say public health is being protected, but cleanup of the TCE remains an elusive goal. (March 29, 2012) 520 – An Environmental Blog | Rochester Democrat and Chronicle  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• 41 years later and no cleanup of Le Roy spill site | Democrat and Chronicle | democratandchronicle.com One of the most remarkable environmental messes in local history was triggered 41 years ago when a train derailment dumped 200 tons of toxic chemicals on the porous bedrock of rural Genesee County.  (April 2, 2012) Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York | democratandchronicle.com [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Enviro Groups Welcome Mandatory EPA Checkup on Hudson River PCB Cleanup | Riverkeeper Capital Region/Hudson Valley — March 29, 2012 — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that, while the Hudson River cleanup continues this year, the agency will simultaneously perform a necessary evaluation to determine just how close General Electric will be to achieving the cleanup’s environmental goals when the project is complete. According to leading environmental groups closely monitoring the progress of the cleanup, this review will evaluate whether the current plans will remove enough toxic PCBs from the river bottom to achieve the health and restoration targets EPA established a decade ago or whether the project design needs adjustments to ensure a healthy, economically vibrant river is finally restored to waterfront communities and citizens of New York State.  (March 29, 2012) Riverkeeper - NY's Clean Water Advocate [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Public hearing set Wednesday on Enfield's gas drilling moratorium | The Ithaca Journal | theithacajournal.com As George H. Moses, executive director of the nonprofit Group 14621 Community Association Inc., explains, brownfield site clean up and remediation is something the City of Rochester commonly does, but that is unique for a community organization. Rochester has a significant number of brownfields in areas that used to be used for industry, and remediation of ... (March 26, 2012) NY Daily Record [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Governor Cuomo Announces $3.45 Million in Grants to Revitalize Communities Affected by Brownfields | Governor Andrew M. Cuomo "Brownfield Opportunity Areas" Program will Create Jobs and Redevelop Neighborhoods throughout the State Albany, NY (March 20, 2012) Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced $3.45 million in grants through the "Brownfield Opportunity Areas" (BOA) program for 15 communities throughout the state. The grants will help create jobs, support environmental remediation, revitalize communities, and expand the tax base in distressed neighborhoods that have been adversely affected by brownfield sites. Brownfields are dormant properties where contamination has impeded redevelopment, turning the properties into economic and environmental drains on localities. The BOA grants support programs aimed at redeveloping brownfields. Rochester Group 14621 Neighborhood, 14621 Revitalization Plan – $194,850 (Step 2) The Group 14621 Community Association will complete a Nomination for a 757-acre site located north of the Central Business District in the City of Rochester. The area is characterized by 82 sites that are known or potential brownfields and vacant sites located near the Genesee River and along industrial and commercial corridors. The primary community objectives are to: redevelop strategic brownfield and vacant sites to revive the industrial and commercial corridors; increase tax revenues and employment; and improve residential neighborhoods. (March 20, 2012) Press Releases | Governor Andrew M. Cuomo [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Onondaga Lake cleanup continues; next up: dredging, capping contaminated lake bottom | syracuse.com Geddes, NY -- The long-awaited $451 million project to dredge the bottom of Onondaga Lake and cap parts of it, to keep mercury and other chemicals from contaminating fish, is about to begin. Dredging of the contaminated lake bottom will start this spring or summer, Honeywell officials said this week. Work is expected to continue over four construction seasons.  (March 20, 2012) Syracuse NY Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - syracuse.com [more on Brownfields in our area]
• EPA releases new online pollutant tool | Great Lakes Echo The U.S. EPA recently built a tool to help people find the chemicals polluting nearby waterways. It uses information from annual EPA monitoring reports and presents top 10 lists to determine which pollutants or polluters cause the greatest harm. People can search by city, state, watershed, industry or pollutant.  (March 20, 2012) Great Lakes Echo - Environmental news across the basin [more on Brownfields in our area]
• State to discuss cleanup of hazardous waste site in Brockport | Democrat and Chronicle | democratandchronicle.com The state Department of Environmental Conservation is holding a public meeting at 7 p.m. March 13 at the Seymour Library, 161 East Ave., to discuss clean-up proposals for an inactive hazardous waste site on State Street in Brockport.  (March 13, 2012) Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York | democratandchronicle.com [more on Brownfields in our area]
• NAIOP wants to keep Brownfields program The Upstate New York Chapter of NAIOP, a commercial real estate development association, is calling on the state Senate and Assembly to include the Brownfields program in their respective budget submissions. The association, joined by its New York City and Westchester chapters, is asking for continuation of the program which is scheduled to sunset in 2015.  (March 9, 2012) NY Daily Record  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Hochul asks EPA to decide on 18 Mile Creek cleanup - Niagara County - The Buffalo News LOCKPORT—Rep. Kathleen C. Hochul, D-Amherst, released a letter she wrote Monday to the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, urging it to make a decision on adding the Eighteen Mile Creek Corridor to the National Priorities List, also known as the Superfund list.  (March 6, 2012) The Buffalo News - breaking local news, sports, business, entertainment, weather and multimedia [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Contamination haunts Holley 10 years later | Democrat and Chronicle | democratandchronicle.com More than a decade after the spill — and more than $10 million in federal toxic cleanup program money spent so far removing chemicals from the site — it is still unclear what, if any, long-term health hazards the company’s decades-long history of air and water pollution might pose to Holley residents. Mike Basile, an EPA spokesman, said the agency expects to issue a study later this spring that outlines the extent of Diaz-related contamination as well as potential cleanup alternatives and their costs. That study will be used to help the agency decide what its next steps will be.  (February 26, 2012) Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York | democratandchronicle.com [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Toxic vapors at old landfill may cost Rochester $1 million to fix | Democrat and Chronicle | democratandchronicle.com Toxic vapors from the former Emerson Street Landfill surround nine buildings on the site — in the soil and, in some cases, beneath the structures. There is no evidence yet that the gases have seeped inside, a city official said Wednesday. Still, the city is preparing to spend $1 million to address the problem, as well as a methane leak into the First Student school bus company building nearby. "We don't have any indication that anybody is being exposed to an unhealthy condition out there," Mark Gregor, manager of the city's division of environmental quality, said of the site in northwest Rochester. "We did identify some higher-risk properties. That is what we are addressing."  (January 12, 2012) Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York | democratandchronicle.com [more on Brownfields in our area}

2011

• TCE vapors linked to birth defects near old IBM factory | Democrat and Chronicle | democratandchronicle.com ENDICOTT— A new study links congenital heart problems, low birthweight and other birth defects to soil vapors from industrial contaminants that have lurked beneath Endicott — and in subterranean pockets across upstate New York — for decades. State Department of Health researchers found infants born to mothers living in a 70-block area of Endicott, south of the former IBM manufacturing facility, had health problems at higher rates than those born in the rest of the state.  (January 10, 2012) Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York | democratandchronicle.com [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Lake Superior Region Candidate For Nuclear Waste | Ashland Current Federal agencies are looking for a replacement to Nevada's Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site, and some sights are set on the Lake Superior region of Wisconsin and Minnesota. Other places mentioned in the report include New York, New England, and parts of the western U.S.  (December 18, 2011) Ashland Current [more on Brownfields in our area]
• DEC criticized for lack of work on toxic waste site - troyrecord.com WATERFORD — Top officials in Waterford have let it be known that they are extremely frustrated with the latest round of delays in cleaning up the toxic waste dump known as the Frederichson Cooperage site. The hazardous site was first worked on by federal and state environmental officials nearly 15 years ago and the latest delays mean that dump site clean-up will not begin for another 11 months. The location along a main road into town was recently upgraded to a Level Two Toxic Waste Site by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Officials with the DEC have admitted that — after taking over the slow moving clean-up effort more than a decade ago — the agency has not always made the site a priority. During a recent public meeting with town officials, state officials also indicated that the conditions of the site were not tested until earlier this year.  (December 18, 2011) The Record : Serving Troy and its surrounding communities (Troyrecord.com) [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Superfund survives 5-2  ALBANY — New York's top court Thursday rejected a challenge brought by companies that own polluted industrial sites to state rules that can require a complete cleanup of the pollution. In a 5-2 vote, the Court of Appeals ruled the state Superfund program, enacted in 1979 after industrial pollution was uncovered in Love Canal in Niagara Falls, may legally require a cleanup to "pre-disposal" conditions "to the extent feasible." (December 15, 2011) Albany Times Union [more on Brownfields in our area]
• State can require ‘complete’ Superfund site cleanup ALBANY — The state can require companies to return polluted Superfund sites to pre-industrial conditions, the New York Court of Appeals ruled Thursday in a win for environmentalists. The court said the state Department of Environmental Conservation may require polluters to restore sites to a level the judges call “complete cleanup.”  (December 15, 2011) NY Daily Record [more on Brownfields in our area]
• 11/28/2011: EPA Releases Formerly Confidential Chemical Information WASHINGTON – As part of Administrator Lisa P. Jackson’s commitment to enhance the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s chemicals management program and increase transparency, the agency is making available to the public hundreds of studies on chemicals that had been treated as confidential business information (CBI). The move is part of EPA's plan to make public the chemicals that are not entitled to CBI status. Releasing the data will expand the public’s access to critical health and safety information on chemicals that are manufactured and processed in the U.S. Newly available information can be found using EPA’s Chemical Data Access Tool.  (November 28, 2011) U.S. EPA Newsroom - News Releases [more on Brownfields in our area]
• New York state files 2nd suit over fuel spill at Rochester airport | Democrat and Chronicle | democratandchronicle.com New York state has filed a second lawsuit against Monroe County and several private companies seeking compensation related to a fuel spill cleanup at the Greater Rochester International Airport. The state sued last year, seeking to recover $595,000 it spent cleaning up a spill at the airport's now-closed fuel farm that occurred in 2003.  (November 26, 2011) Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York | democratandchronicle.com [more on Brownfields in our area]
• GE surpasses Hudson PCB dredging target for year - Times Union ALBANY -- Crews dredging PCBs from the upper Hudson River surpassed the year-end production goal set by federal regulators despite delays due to heavy rains and high water. General Electric Co. reports that it removed more than 363,000 cubic yards of sediment from the river this year before wrapping up dredging for the season on Nov. 8. The Environmental Protection Agency, which is overseeing the Superfund project, had set a goal of removing 350,000 cubic yards in the second year of dredging. (November 17, 2011) Albany, Troy, Schenectady, Saratoga News, Weather, Sports, Capitol | timesunion.com - Times Union [more on Brownfields in our area]
• 11/18/2011: EPA and U.S. Department of Energy to Develop Renewable Energy on Previously Contaminated Sites; Two Sites in Buffalo Area Among Those to be Assessed for Renewable Energy Projects (Lackawanna, New York) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory are evaluating the feasibility of developing wind or solar power production on three previously contaminated sites in New York State. EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck today visited the community near the former Bethlehem Steel plant in Lackawanna, one of two Buffalo area sites that will be evaluated, to announce the New York sites chosen for assessments. The assessments are part of the RE-Powering America’s Land Initiative through which EPA will help revitalize abandoned sites, clean up the environment and lay the groundwork for renewable energy and job creation. The Lackawanna site will be evaluated for either solar or wind power. The EPA and DOE will evaluate sites in 20 states including Lackawanna, South Buffalo and Ulster, New York.  (November 18, 2011) U.S. EPA Newsroom - News Releases [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Corps finds PCBs on LOOW site - Lewiston - The Buffalo News LEWISTON — Small amounts of contaminated soil and sludge with PCBs were found on the site of the former Lake Ontario Ordnance Works, according to the results of an investigation by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. The long-closed wastewater treatment plant on the site is in Lewiston, but the entire 7,500-acre site is located in both the towns of Porter and Lewiston. The site was used during World War II as a TNT manufacturing facility and also stored waste from the atomic bomb project and operated a bomber fuel factory for a short time in the late 1950s. The pipes at the treatment plant have since been sealed off, and secure fencing has been erected around the area by the Town of Lewiston.  (November 2, 2011) The Buffalo News - breaking local news, sports, business, entertainment, weather and multimedia [more on Brownfields in our area]
• EPA to eye adding polluted creek to list of hazardous waste sites - Lockport - The Buffalo News LOCKPORT—Eighteenmile Creek is contaminated with a variety of pollutants, including deadly PCBs, and the federal government wants to add it to its Superfund list of the nation’s most hazardous waste sites. In an announcement updated last week, the Environmental Protection Agency said it wants to add the creek to its Superfund list as a first step toward eliminating pollution that has been identified in previous studies of sediment from the creek. (November 1, 2011) The Buffalo News - breaking local news, sports, business, entertainment, weather and multimedia [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Hudson River neighbors weary of PCB dredging even as new techniques prove successful General Electric Co. was forced to dredge the PCBs from the river sediments after dumping more than a million pounds of the toxic chemical into the upper Hudson for about 30 years. It will cost the company $700 million to clean the known carcinogen — banned in 1979 — from one of the nation's most beautiful and historic waterways. After years of court battles and scientific debate, GE started dredging in 2009 around its closed capacitor manufacturing plants in Hudson Falls and Fort Edward, the company's original dumping ground.  (October 23, 2011) The Journal News | LoHud.com | Westchester, Rockland, Putnam news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, New York | LoHud.com [more on Brownfields in our area]
• 10/05/2011: Nov. 28 is Deadline to Apply for 2012 EPA Brownfields Funding (Kansas City, Kan., Oct. 5, 2011) - EPA is encouraging eligible entities to apply now through Nov. 28, 2011, for 2012 Brownfields funding. These grant funds can be used to address sites contaminated by petroleum and hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants, including hazardous substances comingled with petroleum. Available grants from EPA’s Brownfields Program include assessment grants (each funded up to $200,000 over three years; coalitions are funded up to $1 million over three years); cleanup grants (each funded up to $200,000 over three years); and revolving loan funds (each funded up to $1 million over five years).  (October 6, 2011) U.S. EPA Newsroom - News Releases [more on Brownfields in our area]
• 09/15/2011: EPA Proposes to Add Eighteen Mile Creek in Niagara County, N.Y. to the Superfund List Organizers of the inaugural Greentopia Festival are hoping the event, which is being held in the High Falls district in Rochester, becomes an annual one, and are expecting between 10,000 and 13,000 people to attend throughout the weekend.  (September 15, 2011) U.S. EPA Newsroom - News Releases [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Possible environmental threats being addressed in Greece | Democrat and Chronicle | democratandchronicle.com State environmental officials are honing in on two locations on West Ridge Road in Greece where they believe historic spills are threatening the environment and, in one case, could pose a threat to neighboring homes and businesses. The latter site, a former dry cleaning business at 1445 W. Ridge, was just placed on the state Superfund list and deemed in need of immediate attention. Preliminary testing at the property, located on the south side of West Ridge near Corona Road, found very high levels of dry cleaning solvents and related chemicals in the soil and groundwater near the back of the building.  (September 12, 2011) Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York | democratandchronicle.com [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Brownfield Site cleanup to begin Monday | www.WHEC.com Clean up is expected to start Monday at an area of contaminated land in Wayne County. (August 9, 2011) Rochester, NY News | www.WHEC.com  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• 08/04/2011: EPA Proposes Plan to Remove Contaminated Soil from Tri-Cities Barrel Superfund Site in Broome County, N.Y.; EPA to Hold Public Meeting on August 16 to Discuss Plan (New York, N.Y.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed an amended plan to clean up ground water at the Tri-Cities Barrel Superfund Site in Fenton, N.Y. using a variety of natural processes known as “monitored natural attenuation.” The ground water is contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), volatile organic compounds, pesticides and metals, which can cause serious damage to people’s health and the environment. The original cleanup plan, selected by EPA in 2000, called for the extraction and treatment of the contaminated ground water. Data collected since the original cleanup approach was selected indicate that natural processes are working to clean up the site. EPA will oversee the periodic collection and analysis of ground water samples to verify that the level and extent of contaminants are declining and that people’s health and the environment are protected. The public is encouraged to comment on EPA’s proposed plan until August 30, 2011. On August 16, EPA will hold a public meeting to discuss the plan at 7:00 p.m. at the Town of Fenton Town Hall at 44 Park Street in Port Cane, N.Y. The proposed plan is available on EPA’s website at http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/tricities/index.html, Fenton Town Hall and EPA’s New York City office at 290 Broadway, 18th floor, New York, N.Y.  (August 4, 2011) U.S. EPA Newsroom - News Releases [more on Brownfields in our area]
• DEC: Number of Open Spills Down 60 Percent Since 2003 - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation 28.2 Million Recovered Through Remediation Programs in FY 2010-11 The number of open spill cases administered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's Spill Response Program involving unauthorized spills and contaminant discharges decreased by 61 percent over the past eight years, according to a report released today by DEC Commissioner Joe Martens. DEC also recovered $28.2 million during fiscal year 2010-11 through four remediation programs DEC administers. "DEC's remediation programs protect the public health and the environment by making sure pollutants, chemicals and other harmful materials are cleaned up and taken care of," Commissioner Martens said. "DEC has made great progress in cleaning up spills with 60 percent less open spills today than eight years ago. Site remediation is also an important component of economic development that allows sites to be redeveloped. This reuse of formally contaminated sites allows greenfield sites to remain green."  (July 7, 2011) Press Releases - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Clean up at Beebe Station | www.WHEC.com It's the most valuable undeveloped land in downtown Rochester and it's just sitting there. The riverfront land at the High Falls has a spectacular view and belongs to all of us but the valuable land in question is not open to the public and may never be because RG&E owns the land and News 10NBC has learned the company has no plans to make it available to the public.  (July 7, 2011) Rochester, NY News | www.WHEC.com  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Final assessment of environmental contamination at Irondequoit site nears | Democrat and Chronicle | democratandchronicle.com A final assessment of environmental contamination at Lighthouse Pointe, a necessary precursor to redevelopment of the waterfront site in Irondequoit, should begin later this summer. A local developer plans a $200 million to $250 million residential and commercial complex on the 47-acre site along the Genesee River near Pattonwood Drive. Much of the property used to be a municipal dump, and rotting trash, a buried cache of lead-based paint chips and other contaminants have been identified under the soil in the past.  (July 5, 2011) Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York | democratandchronicle.com  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Feds: Add new hot spots to PCB dredging - Times Union FORT EDWARD -- The massive PCB dredging project of the Hudson River needs to be expanded, officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service told a citizens advisory group Thursday. That's because there are a lot more PCBs in the river than was initially believed in 2002, when General Electric Co. and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agreed on a cleanup plan, said Tom Brosnan, an official with the atmospheric administration. (July 1, 2011) Albany, Troy, Schenectady, Saratoga News, Weather, Sports, Capitol | timesunion.com - Times Union [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Owner of toxic quarry offers homeowners a value protection plan | Democrat and Chronicle | democratandchronicle.com About half the 54 eligible homeowners affected by toxic chemicals dumped or spilled in a Victor quarry more than 30 years ago have signed on to a program to protect the value of their property.  (June 27, 2011) Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York | democratandchronicle.com  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• 06/10/2011: EPA Marks the Startup of the Final Phase of Hudson River PCB Dredging; 500 Jobs Created By This Cleanup Project (Fort Edward, NY) EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck was joined today in Fort Edward, New York by Representative Maurice Hinchey, Representative Paul Tonko and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joseph Martens to mark the start of the second and final phase of the Hudson River cleanup that began on June 6, 2011. During this phase of dredging, General Electric will remove about 2.4 million cubic yards of sediment from a forty-mile section of the Upper Hudson River between Fort Edward and Troy, NY that is contaminated by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). PCBs are potentially cancer-causing in people and build up in the fat of fish and animals, increasing in concentration as they move up the food chain. The primary risk to humans is due to the accumulation of PCBs in the body from eating contaminated fish. (June 10, 2011) U.S. EPA Newsroom - News Releases  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• 06/06/2011: EPA Awards $1.2 Million to Three New York Communities to Clean up and Revitalize Contaminated Properties Rochester The city of Rochester will receive a $200,000 to clean up four parcels of land located at 300-320 Andrews Street and 25 Evans Street. These parcels, covering 1.5 acres, have been used for various commercial and industrial purposes since the early 1920s, They have hosted a commercial printer, a dry cleaning equipment distributor, a bus depot and other businesses throughout their history. A 2006 assessment of the properties documented the presence of volatile organic compounds, including tetrachloroethylene (PCE), in the soil and ground water. Once the properties are cleaned up, Rochester plans to use the site for a mixed-use residential/commercial development. Rochester will additionally receive $400,000 to assess hazardous substances and petroleum contamination at various brownfields properties throughout the city. (June 6, 2011) U.S. EPA Newsroom - News Releases [more on Brownfields in our area]
• 06/06/2011: Second Phase of Historic Hudson River Cleanup Underway (Glens Falls, N.Y.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that the dredging of sediment contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) has resumed in the Upper Hudson River, marking the start of the second and final phase of the Hudson River cleanup. The historic dredging project targets approximately 2.4 million cubic yards of PCB-contaminated sediment from a forty- mile section of the Upper Hudson River between Fort Edward and Troy, NY. PCBs are potentially cancer-causing in people and build up in the fat of fish and mammals, increasing in concentration as they move up the food chain. The primary risk to humans is the accumulation of PCBs in the body from eating contaminated fish. General Electric (GE) is conducting the cleanup work with EPA oversight, under an agreement with the Agency. This final phase of the cleanup project is expected to take five to seven years to complete.  (June 6, 2011) U.S. EPA Newsroom - News Releases [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Supreme Court Declines to Take GE Challenge of Superfund - NYTimes.com The Supreme Court decided today not to take up General Electric Co.'s legal campaign over how U.S. EPA exercises its authority to order companies to clean up hazardous waste sites. GE, backed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has fought a lengthy battle against the agency's authority under the Superfund statute, formally known as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, to issue so-called unilateral administrative orders.  (June 6, 2011) The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Round 2 of Hudson River PCB dredging to begin | The Poughkeepsie Journal | poughkeepsiejournal.com FORT EDWARD, Washington County — A fleet of barges and tugs will hit the upper Hudson River soon to begin the main phase of a massive, multi-year dredging designed to finally rid the river of its most infamous pollutant. General Electric Co.'s PCB cleanup along the thin stretch of river just south of the Adirondacks could run well over $1 billion and last five or more years. It will be one of the largest and most complex federal Superfund projects ever. (May 29, 2011) The Poughkeepsie Journal | Poughkeepsie news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Poughkeepsie, New York | poughkeepsiejournal.com [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Victor homeowners in contaminated area receive property protection plan - Canandaigua, NY - MPNnow MPNnow.com — The 54 homeowners in the area affected by groundwater contamination in the town now have a property value protection plan for their review and approval. The Value Protection Plan, funded by contributions from Syracusa Sand and Gravel and the Town of Victor, mailed this week, compensates homeowners who get lower than appraised values for property sold within the area where groundwater is contaminated. (May 19, 2011) Home - Canandaigua, NY - MPNnow  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• 05/12/2011: EPA Takes Action to Protect Ground Water from Petroleum Contamination (New York, N.Y.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a complaint to the owners and operators of several upstate New York gasoline stations for violating federal regulations governing seventeen underground storage tanks. These companies owned or operated gas stations in the towns of Lyon Mountain, Plattsburgh, Peru, Redford and Dannemora in upstate New York with underground storage tank violations. “Gas station owners have an important role to play in ensuring that ground water is not contaminated with petroleum,” said EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck. “When underground storage tanks are not properly maintained, they can leak and contaminate ground water, which in many instances in this area of New York is used for drinking water.” (May 12, 2011) U.S. EPA Newsroom - News Releases [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Flood raises PCB fears in areas around Schuylerville - Times Union GE testing mud in residential, recreational areas around Schuylerville where Hudson River overflowed | SARATOGA -- Wesley Payne's ancestors signed the Declaration of Independence and fought in the Revolutionary War. On Wednesday, the Schuylerville man tried to summon his family's hardy spirits as he sifted through wreckage caused by floodwaters, faced with a new concern that the mud left behind may be tainted with PCBs. (May 4, 2011) Albany, Troy, Schenectady, Saratoga News, Weather, Sports, Capitol | timesunion.com - Times Union  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• While Nuclear Waste Piles up in U.S., Billions in Fund to Handle It Sit Unused - ProPublica While the nuclear crisis in Japan has focused attention on the risks of spent fuel piling up at the U.S.'s reactors, one curious fact has gone largely unnoted: There is $24 billion sitting in a "nuclear waste fund" that can't actually be used to pay for a safer way to store the waste at reactors. In 1982, Congress passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, and the federal government effectively struck a deal with the nuclear industry: Reactor operators and their customers would pay a tax on the waste they produced, and the government would use the money to create a safe place to store it for generations. The idea at the time was to build a repository inside volcanic rock on Yucca Mountain, about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. That plan proved to be wildly controversial and was eventually abandoned by the Obama administration in 2010. After 29 years, there are billions of dollars in the fund and no plan for the waste. (March 30, 2011) ProPublica  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• 03/29/2011: EPA to Hold Listening Session on Whether to Add Vapor Intrusion as a Criterion for Superfund Sites (New York, N.Y.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will host its fourth public listening session on whether to include vapor intrusion threats as a criterion for considering hazardous waste sites for the National Priorities List of Superfund sites. The session will also include a discussion of EPA’s efforts to develop final technical guidance for handling vapor intrusion. Superfund is the EPA program to investigate and clean up the most complex, uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country. Vapor intrusion is the movement of pollution in vapor form from contaminated groundwater or soil into air, which is of particular concern when the vapor seeps into homes. This type of contamination is not currently considered when ranking a site to see if it should be put on the list of Superfund sites. (March 29, 2011) U.S. EPA Newsroom - News Releases [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Plans for the Port of Rochester | www.WHEC.com News 10NBC learned today there are some environmental concerns. The site near the river and ferry terminal was once used as a blast furnace to make iron, and there are tons and tons of slag buried underground. That is going to have to be dealt with as they dig out for the marina. (March 16, 2011) Rochester, NY News | www.WHEC.com  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• State-funded brownfield program disappoints | Press & Sun-Bulletin | pressconnects.com State has paid out $464M in tax credits ALBANY -- A state-funded program created in 2003 to encourage the cleanup of brownfield sites by giving out tax credits to developers is not living up to expectations, a recent study by Environmental Advocates of New York showed. Meanwhile, a review of Department of Taxation and Finance reports by Gannett's Albany Bureau shows that the Brownfield Cleanup Program has paid out roughly $464 million in tax credits over the last three years to developers. The bulk, $423 million, was used by companies to redevelop the properties, with the other $41 million going directly to environmental cleanup efforts.  (March 14, 2011) Press & Sun-Bulletin | Binghamton news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Binghamton, New York | pressconnects.com [more on Brownfields in our area]
• DEC delays decision on West Bloomfield mine | Democrat and Chronicle | democratandchronicle.com State officials will have more information, and more time, to make a decision on whether to hold a hearing on a controversial sand and gravel mining plan in West Bloomfield. (March 11, 2011) Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York | democratandchronicle.com [more on Brownfields in our area]
• A.G. SCHNEIDERMAN ANNOUNCES $154 MILLION LANDMARK BANKRUPTCY SETTLEMENT WITH GENERAL MOTORS TO CLEAN UP CONTAMINATED SITES IN NEW YORK Funds Will be Used to Clean Up & Redevelop Land GM Left Behind in Massena and Salina [En Español] NEW YORK - Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced that a United States Bankruptcy Judge in New York yesterday approved a settlement agreement with the former General Motors (GM) Corporation (now known as Motors Liquidation Company) that will dedicate $154 million to the environmental cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated sites in New York. The agreement was approved as part of the company’s plan of liquidation and involved settlements with the federal government and several States, including New York and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe. In all, the agreement will dedicate $773 million to 89 sites in 14 states around the country.  (March 8, 2011) HOME - OFFICE OF THE NEW YORK STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Brownfield site cleanup provides mixed results | Democrat and Chronicle | democratandchronicle.com ALBANY — A state-funded program created in 2003 to encourage the cleanup of brownfield sites by giving out tax credits to developers is not living up to expectations, a recent study by Environmental Advocates of New York showed. Meanwhile, a review of Department of Taxation and Finance reports by Gannett's Albany bureau shows that the Brownfield Cleanup Program has paid out roughly $464 million in tax credits over the last three years to developers. The bulk, $423 million, was used by companies to redevelop the properties, with $41 million going directly to environmental cleanup efforts.  (March 8, 2011) Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York | democratandchronicle.com [more on Brownfields in our area]
• State PSC increases gas-plant oversight | 520 - An Environmental Blog | Rochester Democrat and Chronicle The state Public Service Commission, which oversees New York’s electric and gas utilities, has begun a major analysis of how well utilities are executing the cleanup of several hundred old manufactured gas sites. Before the advent of natural gas transported by pipeline from distant gas fields, local utilities made gas for local distribution. Coal was the primary raw material, though there were others. The gas was burned for light and heat and for cooking until natural gas arrived in bulk in the mid-20th century.  (February 17, 2011) 520 - An Environmental Blog | Rochester Democrat and Chronicle  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• DEC updates progress on local contaminated sites - Utica, NY - The Observer-Dispatch, Utica, New York The state Department of Environmental Conservation has updated the progress of work it is performing on two contaminated sites in the Mohawk Valley.  (February 16, 2011) Home - Utica, NY - The Observer-Dispatch, Utica, New York [more on Brownfields in our area]
• State 'fix' losing credit - Times Union Builders make lucrative use of state tax credits meant for site cleanup ALBANY -- It could take years to fix the state program that, while intended to clean polluted sites, has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars flowing into a relative handful of costly mega-projects with mini-cleanups. In three years, the Brownfield Cleanup Program cost taxpayers more than $464 million in tax credits, which are cash payments directly from the state treasury, but created only about $340 million in cleanups, according to a Times Union analysis of annual reports by the state Department of Taxation and Finance.  (February 7, 2011)  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Dorschel Group sues to recover costs of cleaning purchased land | A company affiliated with the Dorschel Automotive Group has sued six parties, including Sunoco Inc. and another local auto dealer, to recover unexpectedly high environmental cleanup costs at a property in Henrietta. The property, at 3865-75 West Henrietta Road, has been remediated and certified under the state Brownfield Cleanup Program and is now being used by Dorschel for storage and service areas. But the company incurred more than $700,000 in cleanup and other costs for which it is seeking compensation, according to legal papers. (January 18, 2011) Democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Knolls leaks cost $1.8M - Times Union NISKAYUNA -- The federal government has hit the private company in charge of the cleanup of radiation-tainted buildings at Knolls Atomic Power Labs with a $1.8 million penalty because of poor performance that caused radiation leaks into the air and the Mohawk River. The U.S. Department of Energy took that action last month against URS, which has been running the cleanup for about two years as part of a $69 million contract to demolish two Cold War-era research buildings. (January 5, 2011) Home - Times Union  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Gates chemical leak to be cleaned | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle Nearly a quarter-century after a major release of industrial solvents came to light in Gates, New York state officials have come to a decision on a $3.2 million cleanup plan. The cleanup work will address extensive groundwater and soil contamination by trichloroethene, or TCE, and other potentially dangerous solvents that leaked years ago from Erdle Perforating, a sheet-metal company at 100 Pixley Industrial Parkway in southern Gates. (January 4, 2010) Democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York   [more on Brownfields in our area]

2010

• Nuclear Waste Cleanup At N.Y. Site Nears Completion : NPR For six years, workers processed nuclear waste at a plant outside Buffalo. In its short life, the West Valley Demonstration Project polluted soil, air and water, and may have sickened employees. Four decades later, hundreds of cleanup workers are still at the site decontaminating buildings that will eventually be torn down. Now, workers are preparing to install a massive underground wall designed to stop the spread of a radioactive plume that threatens the region's groundwater. As the West Valley cleanup nears completion, reporter Daniel Robison looks at an environmental disaster that led to a new understanding of how to deal with nuclear waste. (December 27, 2010) NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Great Lakes cities recycle brownfields into economic hope | Great Lakes Echo Abandoned urban lots are community eyesores that increasingly represent economic opportunity. Neglected, ignored and often contaminated with toxic chemicals, these so-called brownfields carry a lot of social ills, said Robert Colangelo, executive director for the National Brownfields Association. But finding a way to reuse them is more important than ever.  (December 21, 2010) Great Lakes Echo - Environmental news across the basin [more on Brownfields in our area]
• EPA: More than twice as many PCBs in Hudson River than originally thought - saratogian.com SARATOGA SPRINGS — The second phase of Hudson River PCB dredging, scheduled to start next May, will be more far-reaching than originally planned and go forward with or without General Electric Co.’s cooperation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Friday. Phase I, conducted in 2009, revealed there are more than twice as many PCBs in the 40-mile stretch of river from Fort Edward to Troy than originally projected eight years ago. EPA and independent scientists spent the past year evaluating Phase I results before deciding how the next phase, expected to last five to seven years, will be carried out. (December 17, 2010) The Saratogian : Serving the Saratoga Springs, N.Y. region (Saratogian.com) [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Enviro groups say EPA’s PCB cleanup plan is a compromise HUDSON VALLEY – The US Environmental Protection Agency Friday announced its requirements for the next phase of General electric’s cleanup of toxic waste in the Hudson River that includes a compromise plan that gives concessions to GE but results in “major improvements” for the health of the river and people who live along it, according to four major environmental groups. Clearwater, National Resource Defense Council, Riverkeeper and Scenic Hudson have been pushing for a safe and effective cleanup. Scenic Hudson President Ned Sullivan commented for the four groups. “EPA’s proposal is a compromise. If implemented as proposed it would make the Hudson much cleaner and safer and we are hoping General Electric moves forward with it,” he said. (December 18, 2010) New York State News on the Net! [more on Brownfields in our area]
• 12/17/2010: EPA Announces Requirements for Next Phase of Hudson River PCB Cleanup (New York, NY) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today presented GE with requirements for the next phase of the cleanup of the Hudson River. The second phase of the cleanup – which is designed to address potentially cancer-causing chemicals released for decades from two GE plants into the Hudson – would require GE to remove far more contaminated sediment from the river before sealing or “capping” any remaining PCBs. The decision follows months of consultation with GE, the State of New York and a wide range of stakeholder groups as the Agency analyzed technical information and decided how best to proceed with the second phase of the project. GE has until January 14, 2011 to review EPA’s decision and notify the Agency whether they will proceed with this phase of the cleanup, scheduled to begin in May 2011 GE plants discharged approximately 1.3 million pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) during a 30 period ending in 1977, contaminating nearly 200 miles of the Hudson River. These potentially cancer-causing chemicals can build up in fish over time, posing a serious risk to those who eat them.  (December 17, 2010) U.S. EPA Newsroom - News Releases [more on Brownfields in our area]
• DEC: Thousands of gallons of oil leaked into Hudson after Indian Point fire | LoHud.com | The Journal News BUCHANAN — Indian Point faces possible fines from New York's environmental regulators for the release of thousands of gallons of oil after an electrical fire shut down a nuclear reactor there in early November. "At this time ... enforcement personnel are continuing to investigate the cause and extent of the release to the environment of transformer oil," John Parker, Department of Environmental Conservation regional counsel, wrote in an e-mail to The Journal News. (December 13, 2010) LoHud.com | The Journal News | Westchester, Rockland, Putnam news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, New York [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Rep urges EPA to set high standards in Hudson River PCB cleanup WASHINGTON - Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) today urged U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson to ensure that high standards are used in Phase 2 of the EPA's ongoing efforts to remove toxic polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination in the Hudson River Superfund Site.  Hinchey helped lead the effort to ensure that clean up of the Hudson River Superfund site would be paid for by General Electric (GE).  From 1947 to 1977, GE dumped as much as 1.3 million pounds of PCBs into the river. “PCBs cause cancer in humans, badly damage the environment and need to be removed from the Hudson River," said Hinchey. "That's why I've asked Administrator Jackson to set high performance standards for Phase 2 of the EPA's cleanup process.  That means using environmental dredging to remove the contaminated sediments from the river whenever possible, and relying on capping, which encases contaminated portions of the riverbed in plastic, only when absolutely necessary.  Doing this cleanup in the most effective manner possible is vital to restoring the ecology of the river, protecting public health, and allowing residents of the Hudson Valley to once again fully enjoy fishing and other recreational uses in this incredible American Heritage River."  (December 11, 2010) New York State News on the Net! [more on Brownfields in our area]
• PCBs capping plan rallies opposition - Times Union ALBANY -- Only days before a federal decision on future dredging of PCBs from the Hudson River, the state and environmental groups are warning against releasing a plan they claim could allow more PCBs to remain behind in the river. Both the Department of Environmental Conservation and a coalition of environmental groups wrote the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week, warning against a potential plan that could allow more PCBs to be capped over and left on the river bottom.  (December 9, 2010) Home - Times Union [more on Brownfields in our area]
• ENVIRONMENT: Superfund proposal raises questions - News Articles - Rochester City Newspaper Governor David Paterson's recently announced proposal to end the state's involvement in federal Superfund cleanups has members of the environmental community scratching their heads. The exact proposal is unclear. But Erik Kriss, a spokesperson with the state Division of Budget, says New York's not pulling out of the program entirely. He cited only one change: Department of Environmental Conservation staff would no longer perform monitoring activities at federal Superfund sites.  (November 17, 2010) Rochester NY News, Events, Restaurants, Music, Entertainment, Nightlife - Rochester City Newspaper  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• 11/04/2010: EPA Reaches Multi-state Agreement with Major Used Oil Recycler for Improper Handling of PCBs (New York, N.Y. -- Nov. 4, 2010) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced two separate settlements with one of the nation's largest oil recycling companies. The action will resolve violations of federal toxic substance regulations at the company's facilities in New York and several New England states. Under the settlements, Safety-Kleen Systems, Inc. agreed to pay a total of $210,000 in penalties and improve its procedures for sampling and handling polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). PCBs are potentially cancer-causing chemicals and can affect the immune, reproductive, nervous and endocrine systems. (November 4, 2010) U.S. EPA Newsroom - News Releases [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Kodak pollution case ends | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle A 15-year-old consent decree between Eastman Kodak Co. and federal authorities — a pact that required major investments in pollution control by the company — has officially come to an end. Both company and federal officials say Kodak met all terms of the decree, which settled a federal investigation into pollution-related problems and required an overhauling of the company's then-aging 31-mile industrial sewage system. (November 03, 2010) Democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York [more on Brownfields in our area]
• New dioxin rules might force more cleanups - Midland Daily News: News MIDLAND (AP) — The government has spent many millions of dollars in recent decades cleaning up sites contaminated with dioxin, but tough new pollution standards proposed by the Obama administration could require additional dioxin cleanups at scores of abandoned factories, military bases, landfills and other locations declared safe years ago, officials say. If the guidelines receive final approval, federal and state officials will examine sites with known dioxin contamination to identify those needing work and what the work will cost. The Environmental Protection Agency plan has escalated a decades-long debate over the danger of dioxin, a family of chemical byproducts from industries such as pesticide and herbicide production, waste incineration and smelting.  (November 4, 2010) Midland Daily News: Community focused. Community driven. Making a difference 7 days a week. [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Polluted former General Motors sites in Central New York to get $33M for cleanup | syracuse.com Salina, NY -- The former GM Inland Fisher Guide plant property in Salina and parts of Ley Creek will be cleaned up with $33 million set aside for Central New York in the largest environmental trust fund in U.S. history, state and federal officials said Wednesday. The local cleanup money is part of a $773 million deal the White House announced Wednesday among the federal government, the old General Motors, 14 states and St. Regis Mohawk Tribe. (October 21, 2010) Syracuse NY Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - syracuse.com  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• DEC Certifies Completed Cleanups at Two Rochester Sites - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation City of Rochester and Erie Harbor Successfully Remove Contamination and Prepare Sites for Redevelopment Two formerly contaminated brownfields in Rochester are officially cleaned up and poised for redevelopment, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis announced today. The sites along Gregory Street and Mount Hope Avenue are the latest clean-ups completed under the state's Brownfield Cleanup Program, an initiative that provides significant benefits such as potential tax credits for the investigation and removal of pollution to help protect public health, enhance natural resources and increase opportunities for economic development. "Now that years of past contamination have been properly addressed, these sites have a bright future," Commissioner Grannis said. "No matter the economic climate, it is always good policy to encourage economic investment in environmental priorities like the cleanup of polluted sites. Communities become safer, properties get back on the tax rolls and additional housing, commerce and other opportunities are created." (October 13, 2010) Press Releases - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Manchester crash causes diesel fuel spill - Canandaigua, NY - MPNnow Manchester, N.Y. — A two-vehicle crash at about 6:50 a.m. Monday morning caused about 75 gallons of diesel fuel to spill at the intersection of County Road 7 and County Road 13, Ontario County deputies said. (October 5, 2010) Home - Canandaigua, NY - MPNnow [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Questions remain as cleanup crews work on St. Lawrence oil spill MONTREAL — As cleanup crews continued their work late Wednesday, many questions about Tuesday night's oil spill into the St. Lawrence River were yet to be answered. Little is known about the exact cause or source of the spill — which by Wednesday morning coated a portion of the shoreline in east-end Montreal with a stinky molasses-coloured soup — or the chain of events following calls by residents to the fire department on Tuesday night. (September 29, 2010) Montreal Gazette - Breaking News, Quebec, Opinion, Multimedia & More [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Residents explore legal options in toxic-emissions case - City & Region - The Buffalo News About 40 residents who live in areas affected by emissions from the Tonawanda Coke plant met privately Tuesday with a team of environmental lawyers to discuss possible lawsuits against the operators of the River Road plant in the Town of Tonawanda. The exploratory meeting, held in Buffalo’s Northwest Community Center, came on the heels of a class-action lawsuit that was filed in State Supreme Court against Tonawanda Coke Corp. owner James D. Crane and the plant’s environmental manager, Mark L. Kamholz.  (September 9, 2010) The Buffalo News - breaking local news, sports, business, entertainment, weather and multimedia [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Greece oil spill cleanup progressing | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle More than half of the transformer oil spilled by copper thieves in northern Greece about three weeks ago has been cleaned up, though the thieves remain at large. About 4,800 gallons of the petroleum-based mineral oil was spilled into the soil at Russell Station, the now-closed power plant located north of Ling Road. The spill occurred as thieves were removing copper from a large electric generator that the plant owner, Rochester Gas and Electric Corp., had stored behind a barbed wire fence. (September 7, 2010) Democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York [more on Brownfields in our area]
• EPA: Hudson PCB dredging in NY could take 7 years | poughkeepsiejournal.com | Poughkeepsie Journal ALBANY — The next phase of Hudson River dredging could take seven years or more, longer than past estimates of as little as five years, the federal Environmental Protection Agency said Friday. The agency made the statement in a response to a draft report from an independent panel reviewing last year's PCB dredging along the upper river. The peer review panel said this month that it could take more than five years to perform the job well. (August 29, 2010) poughkeepsiejournal.com | Poughkeepsie Journal | Poughkeepsie news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Poughkeepsie, NY [more on Brownfields in our area]
• EPA Takes Aim at Toxics in Dyes, Flame Retardants, Detergents - Rochester, News, Weather, Sports, and Events - 13WHAM.com WASHINGTON, DC, August 18, 2010 (ENS) - The potential human health risks of chemicals widely used in dyes, flame retardants, and industrial laundry detergents have prompted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to study and potentially ban their manufacture and use. The EPA today released "action plans" that address benzidine dyes, hexabromocyclododecane, HBCD, and nonylphenol, NP/nonylphenol ethoxylates, NPEs used in both consumer and industrial applications (August 30, 2010) Home - Rochester, News, Weather, Sports, and Events - 13WHAM.com [more on Brownfields in our area]
• No Oil Detected in Lake Ontario - YNN, Your News Now Cleanup efforts continue outside the old power plant in Greece at Slater Creek. NYSEG officials said crews from Rochester Gas and Electric are working with a local environmental business to clean up mineral oil.  (August 21, 2010) TOP STORIES - Rochester - YNN, Your News Now  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• www.WHEC.com - Q&A with Clayton Ellis about oil spill at Russell Station News 10NBC spoke with Clayton Ellis, RG&E spokesman, about the oil spill at RG&E's Russell Station property. (August 19, 2010) www.WHEC.com - Rochester, NY News [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Oil spill affecting Lake Ontario, Slater Creek blamed on thieves | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle Next Page 1 | 2 Previous Page Containment booms now criss-cross Slater Creek in northeast Greece as crews work to clean up a 4,800-gallon oil spill caused by thieves who struck on the grounds of the shuttered Russell Station power plant. A sheen of oil was first reported last weekend on the creek and nearby Lake Ontario, and cleanup began Monday after the source was located: a Rochester Gas and Electric Corp. transformer the size of backyard storage shed that was drained of petroleum-based mineral oil as thieves made off with copper wire inside it.  (August 19, 2010) Democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Railroads' guarded secret: Not even HAZMAT teams are told what's on train | stargazette.com | Star-Gazette Trains carrying deadly chemicals rumble through our backyards every day, but railroad companies hauling them refuse to publicly disclose exactly what those substances are, or how often they travel through the area. Only the railroads are required to know what's in the cars they're shipping, said Federal Railroad Administration spokesman Warren Flatau.  (August 14, 2010) stargazette.com | Star-Gazette | Elmira news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Elmira, New York [more on Brownfields in our area]
• 07/28/2010: EPA Publishes Latest Data on Industrial and Toxics Releases in the U.S. / Data on Toxics Release Inventory available the same month it is collected WASHINGTON – As part of the Obama Administration’s continuing commitment to open government, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published the latest data on industrial releases and transfers of toxic chemicals in the United States between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2009. EPA is making the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data available within weeks of the reporting deadline through its Web site and in the popular tools, TRI Explorer and Envirofacts. The database contains environmental release and transfer data on nearly 650 chemicals and chemical categories reported to EPA by more than 21,000 industrial and other facilities.  (July 28, 2010) U.S. EPA Newsroom - News Releases [more on Brownfields in our area]
• DEC REPORTS: 15,000 Spills Tackled, 39 Major Cleanups Completed, $21 Million Recovered in 2009-10 - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation Annual Remediation Report Highlights Progress Across New York The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) tackled 15,000 spills across the state, completed major cleanups of 39 large-scale contaminated sites and collected nearly $21 million in fines and reimbursements related to cleanups in the 2009-10 fiscal year, according to a report recently released.  (July 12, 2010) Press Releases - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Manufactured gas leaves toxic legacy in region | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle Cleanup plans are being laid to transform a rubble-strewn corner of downtown Rochester from a historically polluted lot to highly desirable waterfront property. The parcel at Front and Andrews streets, on the west bank of the Genesee River near the top of the Upper Falls, was home to a 19th-century manufactured gas plant — a factory where coal was heated to produce gas that was piped to homes, businesses and curbside streetlamps.  (June 20, 2010) Democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Parma to clean up arsenic-laden field | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle PARMA — Recent soil tests confirm a playing field in Parma's Town Park is tainted with arsenic-contaminated dirt. And the state Department of Health has given the town two options for fixing the problem: either scrape the contaminated dirt off the field and fill it back up with clean dirt, or bury the field with an additional foot or so of clean soil. (June 8, 2010)  Democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York [more on Brownfields in our area]
• 04/14/2010: EPA to Provide Grants to Support Brownfields Job Training; Programs will Prepare Upstate New York Residents for Green Jobs (New York, NY) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the Research Foundation of the State University of New York in Buffalo and the Workforce Investment Board of Herkimer, Madison and Oneida Counties, New York have each been selected to receive $200,000 in federal grant funds to train local community members in environmental job skills. The two $200,000 job training grants are being awarded under EPA’s brownfields program. Brownfields are abandoned or underused industrial or commercial sites at which redevelopment or expansion is hampered by environmental contamination. Both organizations will recruit students from among unemployed and underemployed residents in local areas, and provide them with the skills they need to find environmental jobs cleaning up contaminated sites in their communities. (April 14, 2010) U.S. EPA Newsroom - News Releases [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Brownfields tax credits snag talks -- Times Union - Albany NY Environmentalists call break corporate welfare, side with governor ALBANY -- One snag in negotiations over the late state budget is Gov. David Paterson's call to limit tax breaks for big developments on formerly vacant, polluted sites, which the administration said would save more than $1 billion.  (April 7, 2010) Albany NY News - Times Union - Serving Albany, Saratoga, Schenectady, Troy [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Officials locate source of East Bloomfield contamination - Canandaigua, NY - MPNnow East Bloomfield, N.Y. — The gasoline contamination source detected recently in a test well near the East Bloomfield town highway garage has been found and removed under the supervision of the state Department of Environmental Conservation. (April 4, 2010) Home - Canandaigua, NY - MPNnow [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Groundwater contamination found at Labelon site in Canandaigua - Canandaigua, NY - MPNnow Canandaigua, N.Y. — Groundwater contamination at the site of the vacant Labelon building downtown will postpone plans for the building’s redevelopment. “It’s premature to talk about remediation at this point,” said Bart Putzig, regional hazardous waste remediation engineer with the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).  (March 24, 2010) Home - Canandaigua, NY - MPNnow [more on Brownfields in our area]
• 03/15/2010: EPA Makes Chemical Information More Accessible to Public WASHINGTON – As part of Administrator Lisa P. Jackson’s strong commitment to increase information on chemicals, for the first time, EPA is providing web access, free of charge, to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Substance Inventory. This inventory contains a consolidated list of thousands of industrial chemicals maintained by the agency. EPA is also making this information available on Data.Gov, a website developed by the Obama Administration to provide public access to important government information. This action represents another step to increase the transparency of chemical information while continuing to push for legislative reform of the 30 year old TSCA law. (March 15, 2010) U.S. EPA Newsroom - News Releases [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Brighton site gets DEC plan for cleanup | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle Removal of contaminated soil and an attempt to address tainted groundwater are part of a proposal to clean up potentially harmful solvents spilled at a former dry cleaner on Monroe Avenue in Brighton. (March 11. 2010) Democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York [more on Brownfields in our area]
• 03/08/2010: EPA Submits Final Report on First Phase of Hudson River Dredging For Independent Scientific Review; 45-day Public Comment Period Begins Today (New York, N.Y.) After completing the first phase of dredging PCB-contaminated sediment in the upper Hudson River, EPA today released a detailed technical assessment of the work to a panel of independent scientific experts for review. The EPA report and a similar one prepared by the General Electric Company (GE) are being submitted to the panel in accordance with the agreement under which GE performed the first phase of the dredging, to ensure that the Hudson River dredging project is evaluated using the best scientific and technical information. The EPA report details the effectiveness of the first phase of dredging, as well as the challenges encountered during the first dredging season. It also lays out the Agency’s modifications to the engineering performance standards for dredging resuspension, residuals, and productivity proposed for the second phase of the project, set to begin in 2011. (March 8, 2010) U.S. EPA Newsroom - News Releases [more on Brownfields in our area]
• 03/04/2010: EPA Announces Superfund Cleanup Progress for FY 2009 WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released today the annual summary of the Superfund program’s fiscal year (FY) 2009 progress. The report shows that the program continues to make significant progress in achieving its mission of cleaning up the country’s most complex, uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites and protecting the health of nearby communities and ecosystems from harmful contaminants. (March 4, 2010) U.S. EPA Newsroom - News Releases [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Environmental groups claim science, not what they call ‘corporate interests’ should guide Hudson River cleanup CAPITAL REGION/HUDSON VALLEY— As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and General Electric Co. (GE) prepare to release their final reports on Friday, March 5, on the first phase of GE’s legally mandated cleanup of toxic PCBs the company dumped in the Hudson River, leading environmental groups are stressing that ‘objective science’ and the EPA - not ‘corporate interests’ —must determine the path forward to complete the historic cleanup. (Marcy 3, 2010) New York State News on the Net! [more on Brownfields in our area]
• 03/02/2010: EPA Proposes Sections of the Black River to the Superfund List (New York, NY) Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to add sections of the Black River, which runs through the villages of Carthage and West Carthage, Jefferson County, NY to its Superfund National Priorities List of the country’s most hazardous waste sites because sediment in the river and along its banks are contaminated with hazardous substances. The Black River is a popular location for recreation and fishing; people often eat the fish caught in the river. The Superfund listing would enable EPA to investigate the contamination of the sediment and to take actions to address it. The Black River empties into the eastern end of Lake Ontario. (March 2, 2010) U.S. EPA Newsroom - News Releases [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Cleanup resumes at illicit toxic dump in Sweden | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle More than a decade after a prolonged and costly cleanup at the biggest illicit toxic dump site ever found in the Rochester region, workers have returned to the site in the town of Sweden this month to do still more work. Now a grass-covered field about three miles south of Brockport, the site was an unauthorized burial ground from which more than 2,500 drums and bottles of industrial waste were removed in the 1990s. More than 2,000 tons of contaminated soil was treated on-site to remove toxic chemical residue.  (February 22, 2010) democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Proposed Rochester riverside development gets a boost - Canandaigua, NY - MPNnow Rochester, N.Y. — New York’s top court ordered conservation officials Thursday to allow the Lighthouse Pointe redevelopment project in Rochester into the state’s brownfields cleanup program, making it eligible for an estimated $25 million in tax credits and release from further liability for old contamination after the job is done. (February 19, 2010) [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Court rules Irondequoit housing project should be in brownfield program | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle Next Page 1 | 2 Previous Page After a three-year legal battle, an Irondequoit development group won access Thursday to a state environmental program that may allow the group to fulfill its dream — construction of a $250 million residential-commercial complex atop an old dump along the Genesee River. (February 19,2010) democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York [More on Brownfields in our area]
• Conflicts on PCBs' removal -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY General Electric, federal EPA offer views on future of Hudson River dredging SARATOGA SPRINGS -- General Electric Co. and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency offered different lessons Wednesday on the first year of PCB Hudson River dredging -- starting with how much PCBs were removed. (February 18, 2010) Albany NY News - Times Union - Serving Albany, Saratoga, Schenectady, Troy  [More on Brownfields in our area]
• New York Submits Comments on "Phase 1" of Hudson River PCB Dredging Project - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today submitted its comments and recommendations to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the first phase of the dredging of the Upper Hudson River to remove PCB-contaminated sediments near Fort Edward. (February 17, 2010) Press Releases - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation [More on Brownfields in our area]
• Stimulus funds to clean up two brownfields - Canandaigua, NY - MPNnowAlbany, N.Y. — Federal stimulus funds are being used to clean up two contaminated sites in Monroe County. (February 15, 2010)  Home - Canandaigua, NY - MPNnow [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Dozens of Abandoned, Leaking Petroleum Sites across the State to Be Cleaned up through Stimulus Funds - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation New York to Use $9.2 Million to Spur Environmental Cleanup, Economic Investment Dozens of petroleum spill sites across New York will soon be cleaned up and ready for redevelopment thanks to more than $9.2 million in federal stimulus funding, state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis announced today. Funding provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is supporting the investigation and cleanup of approximately 60 sites with underground storage tank petroleum leaks, with several projects already underway. ( February 12, 2010) Press Releases - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Stimulus money to clean spilled gasoline at Thurston Road, Ridge Seneca Plaza | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle Two petroleum spill sites in Rochester are among 60 statewide that will be cleaned up using $9.2 million in federal stimulus funds. Contaminants at the 60 sites do not pose a direct health threat but are harming the environment and impeding economic development, state Department of Environmental Conservation officials said Friday. "February 13, 2010)  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Brownfield Cleanups Completed in Communities Across the State - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation Ten cleanups of abandoned or underutilized contaminated sites in communities throughout New York were certified as complete by the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in December 2009, Commissioner Pete Grannis announced today. Two other sites were also completed earlier in the year. All twelve sites had remnants of industrial or commercial activities that led to varying degrees of contamination, and all will now provide new residential, recreational, or economic opportunities. (January 28, 2010) Press Releases - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Four Rochester area brownfield sites clean and ready for redevelopment | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle ALBANY — Twelve contaminated sites, including four in the Rochester area, were certified in recent months as cleaned up and ready for redevelopment, the state Department of Environmental Conservation announced Thursday. (January 29, 2010) democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• GE, EPA seek changes in Hudson dredging rules | LoHud.com | The Journal News ALBANY — Hudson River dredging released almost 25 times more PCBs into the water than expected, General Electric said Thursday in calling for changes in performance standards before the massive Superfund cleanup resumes. (January 22, 2010) LoHud.com | The Journal News | Westchester, Rockland, Putnam news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, New York [more on Brownfields]
• Release of PCBs during dredging much worse that expected - The Daily Freeman News: Serving the Hudson Valley since 1871(DailyFreeman.com) ALBANY — Dredging a portion of the upper Hudson River released almost 25 times more PCBs into the water than expected, General Electric said Thursday in calling for changes in performance standards before the massive Superfund cleanup resumes. (January 22, 2010) The Daily Freeman: Serving the Hudson Valley since 1871 (DailyFreeman.com) [more on Brownfields]
• Toxins 'no buy' list being weighed -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY ALBANY -- New York is poised to create a list of 85 chemicals for state agencies to avoid buying, a measure short of a ban but which could still drive industry to produce fewer products with toxins and carcinogens. (January 3, 2010) Albany NY News - Times Union - Serving Albany, Saratoga, Schenectady, Troy [more on Brownfields in our area]

2009

• Dry-cleaning chemical spills require cleanup throughout Rochester area | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle From Brockport to Penfield, from Main Street in Rochester to Monroe Avenue in Brighton, the local map is stained with more than a dozen spots where dry cleaning went bad. The cause: A toxic chemical solvent that for decades washed clothes miraculously clean but escaped into the environment at the same time, leaving contaminated soil and underground plumes. (December 20, 09)democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Dry-cleaner contamination draws multiple lawsuits in area | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle A lawsuit filed by Brighton residents whose homes were impacted by two releases of dry-cleaning solvent and a major gasoline leak was settled last year. (December 20, 09)democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• 12/08/2009: EPA Releases Most Up-to-Date Information Ever About Chemicals in New York Communities; Releases in New York State Down 15 Percent New York, N.Y.) Did you know that with a few clicks of a mouse, you can learn how many pounds of toxic air pollutants were generated by your local power plant, or how many pounds of toxic chemicals were released by a factory near your child’s school? Even better, for the first time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making its inventory of toxic release data, called the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), available in the same calendar year that the reporting facilities submitted the information to the Agency. (December 8, 09) U.S. EPA Newsroom - News Releases [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Energy Dept. to issue report on inquiry into N-waste effects in Lewiston, Porter : Niagara County : The Buffalo News LEWISTON — The U. S. Department of Energy plans to release a report in March as part of its inquiry into potential radiological contamination in Lewiston and Porter left over from the country’s first nuclear weapons program, an agency representative said Wednesday night. (December 3, 09) The Buffalo News [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Rochester investigates landfill site because of vapor concerns | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle Concern that vapors from the former Emerson Street Landfill might be entering buildings on the site has prompted the city to seek a consultant to re-investigate the property. (December 3, 09) democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Methane gas in Irondequoit found during legal battle | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle The methane issue on Timrod Drive was exposed because of a legal battle that has been going on for years involving a proposed $250 million riverfront development project. (November 29, 09) democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Irondequoit residents living above old dump sit on uneasy ground | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle Time and again over the last quarter-century, state and local agencies raised questions and alarms about possible threats to residents of Timrod Drive but never acted, an investigation by the Democrat and Chronicle found. On at least two occasions, officials recommended testing to see whether Timrod Drive residents faced any health risks, but the testing was never done. (November 29, 09) democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Dry cleaner on Monroe Ave. reports release of solvents | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle A third dry cleaner in a three-block stretch of Monroe Avenue in Brighton has reported releases of toxic solvents into the environment, adding to an already complicated cleanup effort that began in the neighborhood six years ago. (November 23, 09) democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Watertown Daily Times | DEC releases strategy for site OGDENSBURG — More than 24 years and $2.5 million after the cleanup began, the state says there has been sufficient cleanup of the former Diamond International property. The state Department of Environmental Conservation released its proposed remedial action plan for the 17-acre site Monday. The plan did not call for any further cleanup, but recommends that the land not be redeveloped for single-family homes. (November 10, 09) http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/ [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Panel criticizes report of former ordnance site’s risk : Niagara County : The Buffalo News Contamination study is called ‘meaningless’ A review of risks posed by contamination at a former federal weapons site in Lewiston and Porter has been called “meaningless” and incomplete by a volunteer panel of area residents with technical expertise in the issues. The Army Corps of Engineers ignored evidence of radiological contamination when it characterized potential dangers at the former Lake Ontario Ordnance Works site, according to the LOOW Restoration Advisory Board. (November 9, 09) The Buffalo News [more on Brownfields in our area]
• DEC Proposes Changes to Brownfield Cleanup Process to Help Increase Community Revitalization - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis today proposed two new policies to speed up the time it takes for abandoned, contaminated industrial parcels known as brownfields to go from community blight to community asset. The proposals will streamline the process by allowing certain properties to pre-qualify for inclusion in the state's Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP) and by shortening the time frame from application approval to execution of a cleanup agreement with the state. As a result, communities will know sooner about the potential to remediate and market properties for reuse and redevelopment. (November 5, 09) Press Releases - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation [more on Brownfields in our area]
• DEC aims to streamline brownfield cleanups | Rochester Business Journal New York business news and information Officials from the state Department of Environmental Conservation proposed two new policies that they say would streamline the cleanup of brownfield sites. (November 7, 09) Home | Rochester Business Journal New York business news and information [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Study finds numerous brain cancer cases near contaminated groundwater in area of Victor but finds no link | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle State health officials Wednesday told Victor residents how their long-awaited study found an unusually high number of brain cancer cases in the section of western Victor that has contaminants in the groundwater. (October 28, 09) democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Federal authorities, state settle on cost of cleanup at nuclear site : Other WNY : The Buffalo News WASHINGTON — The federal government and the state have settled a decades-old dispute over how to split the cost of the cleanup of the West Valley Demonstration Project, a massive task that could cost as much as $9 billion. (October 28, 09) Buffalo News -- Home [more on Brownfields in our area]
• DEC Announces Settlement for Natural Resource Damages at Aluminum Plant in Oswego County - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation Agreement with Novelis Corp. Will Help Fund Restoration Project New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis today announced that Novelis Corporation will pay $220,000 to settle natural resource damages claims centering on the company's aluminum manufacturing facility adjacent to Lake Ontario in Scriba, Oswego County. The settlement relates to polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination in several areas bordering the Novelis facility, including natural and man-made wetlands, man-made ponds and a stream. (October 27, 09) Press Releases - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation [more on Brownfields in this area]
• DEVELOPMENT: Irondequoit's explosive discovery - News Articles - Rochester City Newspaper Living next to a former landfill has its risks - like learning that your home has a methane pocket growing under it, and that there are elevated levels of volatile organic compounds in the air. (October 28, 09) Rochester City Newspaper [more on Brownfields in our area]
• DEC reassures Victor residents on tainted groundwater | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle Victor residents heard Tuesday how state officials intend to continue monitoring a contaminated area of the town and, if necessary, take additional steps. About 40 residents and public officials attended the meeting at Victor Town Hall, with some of the questions focusing on whether the proposed monitoring plan was sufficient and the pros and cons of alternatives. (October 28, 09) democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Parma sports field to have more soil tests | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle A Parma resident and two citizen activists collected soil from a Parma sports field Tuesday, marking the third time the dirt has been sampled for harmful arsenic. The resident, John Chart, first suggested last winter that parts of the Parma Town Park could be contaminated with arsenic and other pesticide residue in the soil, which was trucked from an old apple orchard several years ago and used to build up a football-soccer field. (October 28, 09) democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York [more on Brownfields in our area]
• DEC Revises Draft Hazardous Waste Facility Siting Plan and DGEIS - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation Second Round of Hearings to be Scheduled, Public Comments Received Until Dec. 14, 2009 Revised versions of the New York State Hazardous Waste Facility Siting Plan and Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) that were proposed in 2008 are now available for public review. The revisions stem from the first of two required rounds of public comment opportunities and hearings on the draft GEIS and Siting Plan. (October 26, 09) New York State Department of Environmental Conservation [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Agent Orange coverage may be expanded | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle Recent scientific findings, such as a study earlier this year by the Institute of Medicine, have added to the large body of evidence that exposure to Agent Orange increases the risk of health problems such as heart disease or Parkinson's. (October 26, 09) democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Greece polluted site remains uncleaned - RocNow.com Eight years after agreeing to clean up contamination at an old shipyard and military plant on Dewey Avenue in Greece, the property owner has given up, leaving New York state with the task of overseeing remediation of the heavily polluted site. Longtime Greece residents remember the huge building at 4777 Dewey Ave. as the Odenbach Shipbuilding Co. In the 1950s, the structure became Air Force Plant No. 51, where bomber and missile-related equipment was manufactured. (October 20, 09) RocNow.com [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Study finds no link between tainted water in Victor and brain cancer cases | A long-awaited study has found no link between an unusually high number of brain cancer cases in a section of western Victor and contaminants in the area's groundwater. (October 17, 09) democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York [more on Brownfields in our area]
• DEC: No More Groundwater Cleanup Needed in Victor   | The DEC said there is no danger for Victor residents who live in the area with groundwater contamination. All 59 homes in the Modock Springs area are now hooked up to public water. The state says clean-up is not needed. (October 15, 09) http://rochesterhomepage.net/  [more on Brownfields in our area]
• DEC says no cleanup necessary for Victor plume | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle Two-and-a-half years after a public uproar in Victor over a contaminated plume of groundwater, state officials have concluded that the level of toxic solvents is low enough, and the threat minimal enough, that no cleanup is needed. (October 15, 09) democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York [more on Brownfields in our area]
• GoV SITE - GOVERNOR PATERSON ANNOUNCES $10 MILLION IN BROWNFIELD OPPORTUNITY AREAS PROGRAM GRANTS Governor David A. Paterson today announced more than $10 million in Brownfield Opportunity Areas Program grants for 24 projects located in communities across the State. These grants support environmental remediation, community revitalization, job creation and the expansion of the tax base in neighborhoods that have been adversely affected by multiple brownfield sites or economic distress.  | City of Rochester, Lyell-Lake-State Street - Step 2 $214,509 The City of Rochester will complete a Nomination for the Lyell-Lake-State Street area, which is a 394-acre area with approximately 270 potential brownfield sites. These sites are located in the Browns Square, Edgerton, JOSANA, Lyell-Otis and People of Dutchtown neighborhoods in Rochester. The primary community revitalization objectives include: redeveloping strategic sites that have the most potential to positively impact real estate values, economic development, the local job market and overall quality of life. (October 7, 09)Press Releases [more on Brownfields in our area]
• DEC Releases Revised Draft Hazardous Waste Facility Siting Plan - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation Second Round of Hearings Scheduled; Public Comments Due by Dec. 14, 2009 The New York State Hazardous Waste Facility Siting Plan and Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) have been revised and are now available for public review, Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis announced today. Both documents are available on the DEC website. (October 1, 09) Press Releases - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation[more on Brownfields in our area]
• Methane gas found beneath two Irondequoit homes | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle Methane gas has been found beneath two Irondequoit homes that were built on a former landfill site, and officials quickly alerted residents Thursday to address concerns. (October 2, 09) http://www.democratandchronicle.com/[more on Brownfields in our area]
• DEC Joins International Effort to Crack down on Illegal Transportation of Hazardous Waste - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation Working with INTERPOL and Canadian authorities, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) recently participated in an international initiative targeting the illegal transportation of hazardous waste, Commissioner Pete Grannis announced today. The two-day operation (Sept. 23-24) focused on major transportation routes in the Buffalo-Niagara region, with NYS Environmental Conservation Officers and investigators checking transporters entering the U.S. at the Peace Bridge and the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge. Canadian agencies checked transporters on the other side of the border. The operation targeted vehicles potentially carrying waste of all forms - including industrial and chemical waste. (September 25, 09) Press Releases - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Rochester Teachers File Grievance Over Toxic School  | The Rochester teacher's union doesn't want any school employee working at a building declared a brownfield site. (Sept 11, 09)RochesterHomePage [more on Brownfields in our area]
• Feds halt dredging as PCB levels rise -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY:2855: FORT EDWARD -- Federal officials say dredging of PCBs from the Hudson River has been stopped after unsafe levels of the toxic chemical were found downstream. (August 8, 09) Albany NY News - Times Union - Serving Albany, Saratoga, Schenectady, Troy
• DEC to landfill: Do full mining study  WATERLOO — Seneca Meadows Landfill’s proposed 153-acre clay mine may have a significant effect on the environment. In making that determination, the state Department of Environmental Conservation has ordered Seneca Meadows to prepare a full Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the project. (August 1, 09) Finger Lakes Times Online - Front
• Tension rises after PCBs increase -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY:2947: Dredging opponents say findings serious; EPA modifies methods  | FORT EDWARD -- Federal officials have modified how they dredge the Upper Hudson River after high levels of PCBs were found in the air and water near Rogers Island in Washington County, they said Friday. (July25, 09) Albany NY News - Times Union - Serving Albany, Saratoga, Schenectady, Troy 
• Site to house two Rochester schools qualifies for brownfield status | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle A former factory leased to house two city schools this fall qualified for brownfield status Tuesday, hours before the Rochester Board of Education was to convene a special session to address concerns about environmental contamination at the site.  (July 15, 09) democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York
• DEC targets Lackawanna sludge : Southern Suburbs : The Buffalo News Forty pockets of contamination on the site of the former Bethlehem Steel Corp. in Lackawanna are being targeted by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.  (June 6, 09) The Buffalo News
• Rochester school board schedules session on toxin at school site | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle The Rochester Board of Education has scheduled a special session to question state health and environmental officials about a factory-turned-schoolhouse whose owner has asked that it be declared a brownfield. (July 3, 09) democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York
• Assembly fails to take action on plan to tax landfilled hazardous waste : Niagara County : The Buffalo News A proposal to tax hazardous waste disposed in New York was introduced this month in the Assembly, although the chamber’s regular legislative session ended last week without the full body taking action on the bill.  {June 29, 09) The Buffalo News
• DEC to present cleanup plan in Victor - Canandaigua, NY - MPNnow Victor, N.Y. — State Department of Environmental Conservation officials will present a plan in late June for cleaning up underground contamination in the western part of town. (May 29, 09) Home - Canandaigua, NY - MPNnow
• Owner of St. Paul Street school site seeks brownfield status, tax credits | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle The owner of a former city factory that housed two schools in recent years — and will host a third this fall — has asked the state to declare the site a brownfield and provide tax credits to clean it. "May 26, 09) http://www.democratandchronicle.com/
• GOV SITE - STATEMENT FROM GOVERNOR DAVID A. PATERSON ON THE START OF HUDSON RIVER DREDGING PROJECT “The start of the Hudson River dredging project marks another chapter in the story of a river coming back from the brink. Forty years ago, the Hudson River was a poster child for pollution and mocked as an open sewer. But through the Clean Water Act, the upgrade of wastewater treatment plants and increased public vigilance fostered by the growing public interest in environmental protection, the Hudson has steadily improved and it is cleaner than it has been in decades. Today, we mark another step forward in the reclaiming of this river for the people and communities of New York. As we celebrate the 400th anniversary of this magnificent river's discovery, there is no more fitting time to undertake this project. (May 15, 09) Press Releases
• 05/08/2009: EPA Announces $400,000 for Brownfields Projects in New York $200,000 to cleanup sites with hazardous substances EPA has selected the City of Rochester for a brownfields cleanup grant. Hazardous substances grant funds will be used to clean up the 3.9-acre Orchard Whitney site at 354 Whitney Street and 415 Orchard Street. The site has been used for various commercial and industrial purposes since the early 1900s, including tool and die shops, plastics manufacturing, and metal finishing. Site soil and groundwater are contaminated with volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds and heavy metals. Grant funds also will be used to support community outreach and enforce institutional controls. (May 8, 09) U.S. EPA Newsroom - News Releases
• EPA Granting Rochester $200,000 Two cities in New York state will share $400,000 in federal money to clean up the environment. The EPA said Friday Rochester and Glen Falls will each receive $200,000 in brownfields grants to address contamination at old industrial sites. (May 9, 09) RochesterHomePage
• State to get stimulus money for petroleum spills -- Newsday.com New York State will receive more than $10 million in federal stimulus money to clean up petroleum spills and help reduce diesel emissions, the Environmental Protection Agency announced WednesdayCQ:Wed. (April 8, 09) Long Island and New York City news from Newsday.com - A Long Island Newspaper -- Newsday.com
• Perinton landfill uses birds of prey to keep seagulls away | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle The truck is the cue. Every time one rolls down Waste Management's High Acres landfill a couple dozen gulls swarm the air in search of anything that resembles food.  (March 21, 09) democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York
• WXXI: State Rechecking Old Chemical Contamination Sites (2009-03-17) The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is re-opening investigations into hundreds of Superfund, brownfields or other sites around the state. They're trying to determine if chemical vapors are lingering at these sites and if so, whether that poses a risk to the public. WXXI NewsRoom
• WXXI: Cleanup of Former Defense Plant Stalls (2009-03-17) The owners of a former defense plant in the Town of Greece say they're withdrawing from a voluntary agreement to clean up toxic waste left there from years of heavy manufacturing. The State Department of Environmental Conservation says that doesn't mean chemicals will remain in the soil and water there, but it will probably take years longer to remove them. - WXXI NewsRoom
• AuburnPub.com - EPA to follow up on GE Powerex clean-up The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will soon test indoor air quality as a follow up to an eight-year clean-up of groundwater believed to have been contaminated by the old General Electric Powerex plant on West Genesee Street in Auburn. Ninety residents in the Auburn/Union Springs area received letters from the EPA asking them to open their homes in April to a precautionary investigation of air quality. These homes are possibly impacted by contaminated groundwater in the vicinity of the Cayuga Groundwater Contamination Superfund Site. (Feb 25, 09) AuburnPub.com - A product of The Citizen
• Developers abusing NY brownfields program, critics allege | pressconnects.com | Press & Sun-Bulletin ALBANY -- What state officials view as a loophole in a program to give tax credits to developers who clean up polluted sites for reuse is threatening to scuttle the program and hamper efforts to redevelop abandoned urban sites, critics say. (Jan 20, 09) pressconnects.com | Press & Sun-Bulletin | Binghamton news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Binghamton, New York
• Bringing polluted property back -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY A prominent Saratoga Springs engineering, architecture and planning firm has added what it calls a "brownfield studio" to its stable of services, betting it can capture a share of a growing market to bring polluted sites back into productive use. (Jan 11, 09)Albany NY News - Times Union - Serving Albany, Saratoga, Schenectady, Troy

2008

• Vapor intrusion tests coming near Scottsville plant | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle . (Dec 27, 08) Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York
• www.News10NBC.com - DEC shares findings from Victor water investigation There was more discussion on the Modock Springs concerns in Victor Wednesday night. People came out to hear the summary from the DEC's investigation and hear more about the Modock Springs Value Protection Plan. (Dec 18, 08) www.News10NBC.com - Rochester, NY News, Weather, Sports, Health, Investigative, Entertainment
• No peril in Victor plume, DEC says | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle VICTOR — The state official who oversaw the investigation of toxic chemicals in western Victor's groundwater gave assurances at a meeting Wednesday that the problem no longer poses a direct threat. (Dec 18, 08) democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York
• DEC finds source, amount of toxins in Victor groundwater - Rochester, NY - MPNnow Victor, N.Y. — State officials will update residents Thursday on their investigation into groundwater contamination south of Modock Springs.  (Dec 15, 08) - Rochester, NY - MPNnow
• DEC plan called dumping on Niagara | Target is disposal of toxic waste NIAGARA FALLS — Members of the public Wednesday night denounced a draft plan from state environmental regulators that they said proposes to keep Niagara County as the state’s only place to landfill hazardous waste. (Nov 20, 08) Buffalo News
• Brownfields Smart Growth 'Spotlight Communities' Initiative announced - ALBANY - Governor David Paterson and Secretary of State Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez announced Tuesday the Brownfields Smart Growth Spotlight Communities Initiative. This initiative links communities participating in the state's Brownfield Opportunity Areas Program with the Governor's Smart Growth Cabinet. This state-local partnership will demonstrate how existing state programs can support and complement local efforts to redevelop brownfields and simultaneously achieve neighborhood revitalization and smart growth objectives. New York State News on the Net!
• Vapors end deal for new School 54 | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle A defunct Rochester charter school located in the former Mapledale Party House, once eyed by the city as a possible site for a public school, is now considered by the city to be too contaminated to consider buying. (Aug 22, 08)  democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York
• Fuel Tanks Here May be Leaking by The Associated Press File photo Published Aug 13, 2008 WASHINGTON, D.C. hundreds of government-owned underground fuel tanks across the country including Rochester, may be leaking hazardous substances which could contaminate ground water.R News: As It Happens, Where It Happens
• Environmentalists seek tougher state pollution standards | pressconnects.com | Press & Sun-Bulletin Groups cite brownfield chemical levels - ALBANY -- The state's cleanup standards for chemicals commonly found at polluted sites known as brownfields are weaker than federal government laws and should be strengthened, environmental groups claimed Monday. A lot of brownfields sites that are upstate -- especially in Rochester, Utica, Buffalo and Syracuse -- are next to residential neighborhoods, so particular care should be taken for health and safety, the groups said. (Aug 5, 08) pressconnects.com | Press & Sun-Bulletin | Binghamton news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Binghamton, New York
• www.ny.gov - GOVERNOR PATERSON SIGNS BROWNFIELDS REFORM LEGISLATION IN BUFFALO Sustainable Cleanup Program Will Help Revitalize Cities and Towns While Protecting Public Health and the Environment - Long Overdue Changes Are a Victory for the Paterson Administration and the State - Governor David A. Paterson today signed landmark legislation that reforms the State’s Brownfield Cleanup Program to better target incentives for cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated sites. This important legislation, which will greatly benefit the Upstate economy, was one of 26 agreements reached between Governor Paterson and the State Legislature during this year’s session, and brings long-overdue reforms to this important program. (July 23, 08) www.ny.gov/governor
• Governor Paterson Signs Bill to Reform Brownfields Cleanup Program - BUFFALO, NY (2008-07-23) Governor Paterson was in Buffalo Wednesday to sign the Brownfields Reform Legislation. The new law will cap re-development credits while increasing incentives for actual cleanup.wxxi NewsRoom
• N.Y. fixes brownfields law | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle ALBANY — Gov. David Paterson signed legislation Wednesday that will provide more incentives to clean up polluted sites, cap tax credits for redevelopment to limit the state's liability and increase fiscal accountability for the tax breaks. (July 24, 08) Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York
• ATTORNEY GENERAL CUOMO SUES TO HOLD JUNKYARD OWNERS ACCOUNTABLE FOR YEARS OF ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE Lawsuit Seeks Immediate End to Pollution at the Site, Comprehensive Environmental Cleanup, and Substantial Financial Penalties ALBANY, N.Y. (July 21, 2008) – Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced he is suing the owners of a Washington County junkyard for years of environmental damage caused by allowing toxic chemicals to contaminate the air and nearby groundwater. (July 21) Office of New York State Attorney General Andrew M Cuomo
• Victor votes to adopt committee's recommendations for contaminated area | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle VICTOR — Recommendations proposed by a citizens' advisory committee to help homeowners in an area of contaminated groundwater were adopted Monday night by the Victor Town Board. (July 15, 08) Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York
• Brownfields legislation receives final passage ALBANY – While citing some reservations that the measure does not go far enough, Senate Democrats are hailing the final passage of new Brownfields legislation. The reforms adopted in the unanimously passed measure go a long way towards helping to stimulate the upstate economy, clean up the environment and assist developers with tax credits to encourage new building on sites once thought to be vast wastelands. (June 27, 08) New York State News on the Net!
• DiNapoli Releases Brownfields Report Tax Credits Only Part of the Solution State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today released a report on New York State’s Brownfields Cleanup Program (BCP). DiNapoli’s report found that while the State has had moderate success cleaning up former industrial sites the State needs to consider refining the tax credit incentives for brownfield clean up and broadening the scope of its policies. --Get the Report: Overview of the New York State Brownfields Cleanup Program June 2008 --from New York State Office of the State Comptroller
• Brownfield tax break criticized -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY ALBANY -- State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis on Monday fired a rhetorical shot at big developers who have reaped hundreds of millions of dollars under a state tax program aimed at cleaning and rebuilding on polluted land. ( June 10, 08) Albany NY News - Times Union - Serving Albany, Saratoga, Schenectady, Troy
• Advocates push for revamped brownfields law in New York state | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle ALBANY — Environmental officials and advocates said Monday that lawmakers should not go home this month without overhauling New York state's brownfields program, which is widely considered dysfunctional because some developers have received millions of dollars in tax credits while thousands of contaminated sites remain untouched. (June 10, 08) democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York
• Beef up state lead law | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle In Monroe County last year, 426 kids were lead-poisoned. That number — down from 1,234 in 2002 — represents a small victory. And while Rochester, with its 2-year-old lead abatement law, is doing much better than other areas around the state, it's no time for celebration. Truth be told, it took Rochester far too long to get to where it is today. Even the law currently in place was met initially with opposition. (April 28, 08) democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York
• Brownfields cleanup reform urged | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle State programs to clean up and redevelop old gas stations and manufacturing and dry-cleaning properties might be working in New York City and other metro areas downstate. But local officials said Monday that the current brownfields programs and incentives have failed to deliver the economic development boost needed upstate. (April 29, 08)  democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York
• Yonkers, Rochester clash over brownfield program | lohud.com | The Journal News The mayors of Yonkers and Rochester find themselves poles apart over how to clean up contaminated former industrial sites known as "brownfields." The debate will resume next week at the Capitol. Yonkers Mayor Philip Amicone wants to keep the current program, which has committed hundreds of millions of dollars to only a few developers in the past few years. But Rochester Mayor Robert Duffy backs a proposal by Gov. David Paterson to cap the amount that can be awarded to a developer so that more sites can be cleaned up with existing state funds. (April 13, 08) lohud.com | The Journal News | Westchester, Rockland and Putnam Counties news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Westchester, Rockland and Putnam Counties, New York
• Officials detail cleanup of toxic solvent in Farmington | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle FARMINGTON— State Department of Environmental Conservation officials outlined Wednesday night how a Syracuse-based firm that specializes in cleaning up brownfields wants to break down remnants of the toxic solvent trichloroethene at a site along Route 96. Almost three quarters of a ton of trichloroethene, or TCE, had been dumped on the property of Griffin Technology more than two decades ago and, according to the DEC, the contamination levels in groundwater are as much as 400 times acceptable levels. (March 27, 08) Democrat & Chronicle
• Third toxic site found in Brighton - Rochester, NY - MPNnow A third toxic site in Brighton has been found by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The DEC recently announced that 235 Metro Park — which is sandwiched between East and West Henrietta roads and Brighton-Henrietta Town Line Road to the south —tested positive for traces of tetrachloroethene (PCE) and trichloroethene (TCE). (March 24, 08) Homepage - Rochester, NY - MPNnow
• Farmington site to be tested for toxic vapors | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle FARMINGTON — Tests for vapors contaminated with the toxic solvent trichloroethene will be taken on the property of Wade's Market Center this spring. The tests will determine whether there is a need to take air samples inside the grocery, said Todd Caffoe, an environmental engineer with the regional office of the state Department of Environmental Conservation. (March 22, 08) Democrat & Chronicle
• Site's cleanup draws little interest | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle Barring a flood of public comments, state environmental officials could decide early next month on a cleanup option for a site in northeast Rochester where soil and groundwater are contaminated with toxic solvents. (March 12, 08) Democrat & Chronicle
• Budget Bill Brownfields Proposal - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation The Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP) was established in 2003 to provide incentives for the cleanup of brownfield sites. Since that time, a number of unintended consequences and issues have been identified. This proposal is designed to correct a number of problems in the way the tax credits are awarded under the BCP, in order to: Promote more and better cleanups Reward sound development Foster urban revitalization Target limited state resources more effectively --from New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
• Third toxic site uncovered, in Brighton - Even as state environmental officials are publicizing cleanup plans for two Rochester-area toxic dump sites, another local contamination site has been placed on the to-do list. The new site, off Brighton-Henrietta Town Line Road, is a commercial property where the once-ubiquitous industrial solvent trichloroethene, or TCE, was used — and apparently spilled. Groundwater near the building at 235 Metro Park in Brighton contains relatively high concentrations of TCE, as well as other solvents. (March 13, 08) Democrat & Chronicle
• EPA Annual Toxics Report Shows Decrease in Chemicals Released From Facilities in New York State | Newsroom | US EPA (New York, N.Y.) The latest Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) data continues to show a general downward trend for chemical releases by facilities in New York State, according to the annual TRI report issued today by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) in record time. Total releases to air, water and land by industry in the state decreased by more than 10% between 2005 and 2006, from 32.9 million pounds to 29.1 million. “TRI is an important tool for regulators, emergency responders, businesses and communities because it helps them better understand and be aware of the types and amounts of chemicals being released in their neighborhoods,” said Alan J. Steinberg, EPA Regional Administrator. “It also serves to encourage industries to improve their processes and reduce the amounts of chemicals released – leading to this reduction in the amounts released into New York’s environment.” --from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Cleanup could be near for old refinery land  — On the west bank of the Genesee River, halfway between Corn Hill Landing and Brooks Landing, lies nearly 60 acres of prime land. More than a mile of the waterfront is city owned. The rest is a mix of state and private property. At the heart of the site, in the area of Flint and Exchange streets, is the former Vacuum Oil Co. refinery. And nearly all of that land is potentially or documented to be toxic. (February 21, 2008) Democrat & Chronicle
• DEC chief pushes for cleanup of tax credits — Stumping in Rochester for proposed changes to the state brownfields cleanup program, New York's environmental commissioner said Wednesday the new program would be a boon for upstate cities.(February 14, 2008)  Democrat & Chronicle
• ENVIRONMENT: Troubled Brockport properties get county assist - News & Opinion - Rochester City Newspaper The 28-acre property is an inactive hazardous-waste site. Contaminants found in soils, storm sewers, and stream sediments include cyanide, heavy metals, and solvents. Much cleanup work has been done, but environmental questions still surround the property. (Jan 30, 08) Rochester City Newspaper

2007

• ATTORNEY GENERAL CUOMO ANNOUNCES $1.6 MILLION SETTLEMENT WITH POLLUTERS OF ROCHESTER HAZARDOUS WASTE SITE Bausch & Lomb, DuPont, Eastman Kodak, Xerox, and Others Required to Reimburse the State for Cleanup Costs ROCHESTER, NY (January 16, 2008) – Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced a settlement with eight private and public entities requiring them to reimburse the State of New York nearly $1.6 million for costs from the cleanup of the Rochester Fire Academy, a hazardous waste site in Monroe County. The eight entities, including Bausch & Lomb, DuPont, Eastman Kodak, and Xerox, disposed of hazardous waste at the site from 1954 to 1980. (Jan 16, 07) Office of New York State Attorney General Andrew M Cuomo
• A Coalition Seeks Toxic Chem Ruling - A statewide coalition is pushing for stronger regulations on a toxic chemical. The chemical is called trichloroethylene or TCE. It’s a problem residents in one Victor neighborhood are dealing with after the chemical was found in groundwater. The DEC thinks it seeped into the ground from a mining operation on Malone Road. (Dec 30, 07) R News: As It Happens, Where It Happens
• Lighthouse Point project wins court case with DEC— IRONDEQUOIT— The State Supreme Court has ruled that the state Department of Environmental Conservation was wrong to exclude the proposed Lighthouse Pointe development from the State Brownfield Cleanup Program. Lighthouse Pointe Property Associates LLC aims to build upscale condos, townhouses, restaurants and a promenade on the site of a former city dump bordering the Genesee River on the eastern side of the Col. Patrick O'Rorke Bridge in Irondequoit. The project is expected to cost about $200 million.  (December 25, 2007)  Democrat & Chronicle
• DEC testing in Victor called inadequate — State environmental workers returned to a section of western Victor on Tuesday to begin a new round of tests for the presence of intruding toxic vapors. But their work plan has been scaled back — and that decision, like others, doesn't sit well with some residents. A pocket of the Ontario County town has been in the spotlight much of this year because of groundwater contamination that was first uncovered in 1990. State officials spent years tracing the source of industrial solvents in the groundwater and testing residential drinking-water wells for the chemicals' presence. (December 17, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle
• Environmental backlog/Day 2: Change at DEC frustratingly slow — Like many other interest groups in New York state, environmental advocates were keenly optimistic that Gov. Eliot Spitzer would push new initiatives and complete tasks that his predecessor, George Pataki, had left undone. "We entered this year with high expectations," said Laura Haight, senior environmental associate for New York Public Interest Research Group. (December 17, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle
• Vapor intrusion may be crucial test for DEC — By some accounts, New York is at the cutting edge on a hot-button environmental concern. Others say the state was tardy and has years of work to do. At issue is vapor intrusion, a phenomenon in which chemical vapors can rise from underground contamination and accumulate in buildings, putting occupants at risk. (December 16, 2007)  (December 16, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle
• DEC scrambles to catch up on environmental projects — The agency charged with protecting New York's environment, weakened by years of deep staff cuts, faces a mountain of environmental work left undone. Despite burgeoning public interest in "green" issues, major programs to reduce air pollution are not fully implemented. Hundreds of water pollution permits are out of date. Dam inspections have been called inadequate. Hundreds of old toxic dump sites have not been cleaned up. And cleanup regulations have been weakened. (December 16, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle
• States join lawsuit against EPA -C ase fights loosening of rules over reporting, tracking of toxic chemicals — New York joined a coalition with 11 other states Wednesday in suing the federal government to force stricter reporting and tracking of commercial use and storage of toxic chemicals. In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan, the states are seeking a reversal of a move last year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that relaxed the requirements for companies to report toxic chemicals they use. (November 29, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle
• DEC shows Victor citizens options cleaning up contaminated groundwater — Three interim cleanup options for contaminated groundwater in a part of western Victor were outlined Wednesday for citizens who trickled into public sessions held by state officials. State environmental officials will select one of the options, all of which would cost more than $1 million to implement, early next year. If all went as planned, actual cleanup work could begin in mid- to late 2008, said Jason Pelton, state Department of Environmental Conservation project manager for the Victor site. (November 29, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle
• ATTORNEY GENERAL CUOMO SUES EPA FOR DENYING THE PUBLIC ACCESS TO INFORMATION ON TOXIC CHEMICALS IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS -  Cuomo Leads Coalition of 12 States to Overturn EPA’s New Restrictions ~ Lack of Transparency Increases Risk to Workers, Community Members, and the Environment - NEW YORK, NY (November 28, 2007) - Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that New York and eleven other states are suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over new regulations denying the public access to information about toxic chemicals in their communities. -The EPA will allow thousands of companies to avoid disclosing information to the public about the toxic chemicals they use, store, and release into the environment by rolling back chemical reporting requirements. The suit seeks to overturn the weakened reporting requirements and provide the public with the access they had in the past. (Nov 28, 07) Office of New York State Attorney General Andrew M Cuomo
• Victor contamination prompts possible health study — The state Department of Health has called a meeting for Nov. 5 to discuss the possibility of a contamination-related health study of Victor village residents. (October 26, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle
• Rochester to receive state brownfields grant - Rochester – The city is going to receive a nearly $3.4 million state Environmental Conservation Department grant for remediation of environmental contamination at 1000 Driving Park Avenue. (October 10, 07) New York State News on the Net!
• DEC hires outside experts in Victor toxin case - Rochester, NY - MPNnow Victor, N.Y. - The state Department of Environmental Conservation has contracted with Malcolm Pirnie, a national consortium of independent environmental engineers, scientists and consultants, in its investigation of underground contamination in the western part of town. (October 10, 07) Homepage - Rochester, NY - MPNnow
• DEC Shuts Down Victor Mine - A big development in Victor's water contamination woes. The state shut down a mine and gravel operation in the town suspected of being the source of the problem. (October 4, 2007) R News: As It Happens, Where It Happens
• ROCHESTER SELECTED TO RECEIVE BROWNFIELD GRANTS FROM NYSDEC Mayor Robert J. Duffy announced today that the City will receive nearly $3.4 million from the N.Y. State Dept. of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) for remediation of environmental contamination at 1000 Driving Pk. Ave. The Environmental Restoration Program (ERP) grant is one of the largest environmental cleanup grants awarded to the City in the last 20 years. (October 6, 2007) Welcome to the City of Rochester
• Victor cleanup on the horizon - Mystery of plume lessens, but grievances linger — State investigators still don't know who dumped toxic solvents near a gravel mine in Victor decades ago, causing a contamination problem that haunts part of the town today. But they are closer to solving that mystery than before and are, for the first time since the solvents were discovered 17 years ago, making plans to begin cleaning up the mess. (September 30, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle
• MPNnow Expert to visit Victor pollution site RSS Victor, N.Y. - New state Department of Environmental Conservation Region 8 Director Paul D'Amato will escort an environmental staffer from state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office Wednesday on a visit to the contaminated area on a western part of town. Town environmental consultant Paul Lytle announced the visit Monday at a Town Board meeting. (Sept.25, 07) Messenger Post Newspapers
• Back to Albany for Victor contamination issue - Rochester, NY - MPNnow Victor, N.Y. - Town Supervisor Leslie Bamann Monday will attend a key meeting in Albany that she hopes will put state and local officials on the same page in working to settle a groundwater contamination case. (Sept. 15, 07) Homepage - Rochester, NY - MPNnow
• EPA finishes clean up at Diaz in Holley The dismantling of buildings at the former Diaz Chemical plant in Holley has been completed - a major step toward the completion of the clean up of the contaminated site. The Environmental Protection Agency has been a presence in the Village of Holley for many years now, but its work is nearing its end, Michael Basile, public relations coordinator of the EPA said. "Once we went in to the plant, following the chemical spill in 2003, we staged the chemicals that needed to be removed and began the clean up," he said. "The demolition of the buildings that were contaminated or structurally unsound has been finished. The buildings that are still standing will remain and could be used in the future." (Sept 9, 07) Westside News Inc.
• Kodak Park tainted past hard to bury - Some claim state oversight isn't stringent enough — Three more Kodak Park buildings will be imploded next month, part of a revitalization program in which 100 structures will have been demolished at the vast manufacturing complex by year's end. But long after the buildings are leveled and rubble is cleared, the impact of decades of pollution will persist. Despite hundreds of millions of dollars in spending, and about $65 million more to come, large swaths of Kodak Park remain contaminated, their soil and groundwater tainted by countless chemical leaks and spills over the years. (August 26, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle
• Experts say Kodak's dust truly clean - No implosion ever takes place until all that's toxic has left the building — When Kodak buildings 65 and 69, at the corner of West Ridge Road and Dewey Avenue, come tumbling down on Sept. 22, all that will remain of the 1950s-era research and engineering structures will be a huge pile of masonry rubble. (August 26, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle
• Smokestack, decried for years, now dismantled — The 198-foot-tall smokestack attached to Kodak Park's chemical waste incinerator, perhaps the most contentious environmental symbol at the industrial complex, was unceremoniously dismantled several months ago. Through the incinerator's 31 years of service, Eastman Kodak Co. stoutly defended it as a safe and efficient way to rid itself of hazardous waste. The unit, southwest of the railroad crossing on West Ridge Road in the Rochester portion of Kodak Park, incinerated as much as 60 million pounds of solid and liquid wastes annually. (August 27, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle
• Pollution limits Kodak Park's uses - A third of complex restricted to commercial or industrial — The future use of sprawling Kodak Park will be dictated in part by the contamination that remains behind as a legacy of past environmental problems. Much of the 1,100-acre site, which was largely farmland before Eastman Kodak Co. moved manufacturing operations there in 1891, has been designated for the same use it has now: industrial and commercial businesses. Kodak is nearly finished demolishing unneeded buildings and clearing sites for reuse by itself or other companies. (August 27, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle
• State links chemical hazard to dry cleaner in Brighton  — A Brighton neighborhood already dealing with two hazardous sites now has a third — the former Speedy's Cleaners at 2150 Monroe Ave. Tetrachloroethene (or PCE), a chemical commonly used by dry cleaners, was found in high levels in recent groundwater samples and now has been linked by state environmental officials to Speedy's, which moved from the Monroe Avenue site about two decades ago. (July 27, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle
• Brownfield tax breaks debated -  ALBANY — Besides the more than $1 billion that the state knows it owes developers of projects built on polluted land, taxpayers could be on the hook for billions more, according to state officials. That's because besides 54 projects already identified as qualifying for breaks, another 123 are also in line to get them, officials said this week. (July 14, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle
• Oil Based Paint Soon to be Illegal - Oil based paints have been the preferred choice of professionals for more than 70 years especially for outside jobs. Come July 16th many of those paints, stains and sealants will no longer be available in New York State. (July 6, 07) http://www.rnews.com/
• Emerson submits work plan to DEC addressing TCE cleanup timetable -ITHACA — Emerson Power Transmission submitted its work plan in response to a letter from the Department of Environmental Conservation calling for quicker and more comprehensive action in addressing contamination on South Hill. -The plan combines numerous aspects of the project, as requested by the DEC in their letter. The areas addressed include soil borings in the 25 Areas of Concern, further investigation of the fire water reservoir where the contamination was first identified and further investigation into possible transmission pathways in the bedrock. (July 5, 07) The Ithaca Journal
• Mercury Reduction Plan for New York and New England Waters - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation A draft plan has been released for reducing mercury in the waters of New York State and New England to eliminate fish-consumption advisories caused by mercury from air deposition. Seven states-New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont-collaborated with the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC) to produce the draft plan entitled, "Northeast Regional Mercury Total Maximum Daily Load" (TMDL). In New York State, the draft TMDL is not anticipated to place any additional economic or regulatory burdens on municipalities. The intent of the draft plan is to serve as a starting place for initiatives to control atmospheric deposition to levels where fish-consumption advisories are no longer necessary. (June, 07) NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation
• Leaders seek action on TCE, cite Victor - Schumer, Spitzer demand response - — U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, using Victor as a prime example, said Wednesday that environmental contamination by the solvent trichloroethene is a growing problem in upstate New York that federal authorities must address more aggressively. Schumer, D-N.Y., said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency "has turned a blind eye to this growing danger." He called on the agency to toughen regulatory standards and update its health risk assessment of trichloroethene, or TCE, which he said is 20 years out of date. (June 28, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle
• Schumer berates EPA for lack of action on TCE contamination - ITHACA — Claiming that the Environmental Protection Agency has been dragging its feet for too long, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, D-NY, called for action on the issue of trichloroethylene contamination in Upstate. The call came in the form of a press blitz Wednesday during which Schumer said if he didn't see action soon he would propose budgetary pressures on the agency. (June 28, 07) The Ithaca Journal
• Lyons board plans landfill maintenance and cleanup LYONS - The Town Board discussed plans for summer maintenance at the closed Lyons/Galen Landfill at its meeting Wednesday night. (June 30, 07) Finger Lakes Times Online
• MPNnow.com: Cancer study, cleanup plan in works  But Victor residents who met with state officials about groundwater pollution left roiled over the pace of answers and action. (Jun 27, 07) Messenger Post Newspapers
• MPNnow.com: Schumer urges tougher handling of toxins With air and groundwater pollution spread far and wide, Sen. Charles Schumer calls for stricter standards and vigorous cleanup efforts. CANANDAIGUA — Sen. Charles Schumer likens the handling of toxic wastes "like those plaguing Victor" to using a squirt gun where a cannon is required. During a teleconference Wednesday, he blasted the federal Environmental Protection Agency for not developing stricter standards to deal with industrial toxins. The state Department of Environmental Conservation likewise was scolded for its ineptitude in fielding complaints and inspecting sites for compliance. (June 28, 07) MPNnow.com: Rochester and Western Finger Lakes News, Entertainment, Sports, Opinions, Photos and More
• The toxic legacy of midnight dumping - An ongoing Democrat and Chronicle investigation has revealed that the Rochester region is replete with old, illicit, toxic dump sites that have not been cleaned up by government agencies. As a result, hazardous chemicals, especially TCE, continue to seep through soil and water, posing a threat to the health of nearby residents.  (July 1, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle
• How many more dumps are out there? 'Many times it looks pristine,' says an EPA spokesman, 'but you never know' — Many of the known rural waste sites in the Rochester region were discovered in a frenzy of environmental sleuthing that began in the late 1970s, in reaction to the Love Canal hazardous waste-dumping disaster in Niagara Falls. A few more have come to light since then. But as development moves farther into once-rural areas, a question lingers: Are more sites yet to be uncovered? (July 1, 2007) (July 1, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle
• Dump worries go on and on - A history of plodding cleanup goes back decades; toxicity lingers as area issue — When workers began clearing the earth for a 2005 Mendon subdivision expansion, the grader's huge blade encountered more than soil. "All of a sudden it was scraping a big wide blue, red and purple smear," said Lt. Michael Van Durme of the state Department of Environmental Conservation. (July 1, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle
• State to open cancer cluster study in Victor — Citing an apparently high incidence of brain and other cancers in a part of Victor troubled by contaminated groundwater, the state Department of Health said tonight it planned to conduct a full cancer cluster study in the area. Citizens concerned about groundwater contamination by the toxic solvent trichloroethene, or TCE, asked for the cluster study two months ago after compiling a list of several dozen residents with serious illnesses. - June 26, 2007 Democrat & Chronicle
• Decades of dumping: A toxic legacy  — Many years ago, the practice known as midnight dumping – the covert and illicit disposal of industrial wastes in farm fields, gravel pits and other out-of-the-way rural locations – was a not-uncommon practice in the Rochester region.- June 28, 2007 Democrat & Chronicle
• Victor meeting Tuesday on contamination — An informational meeting on the Victor groundwater contamination issue, at which New York state officials will discuss vapor intrusion, cancer concerns and other matters, will be held Tuesday evening at Victor’s educational campus. The meeting, called by the state departments of health and environmental conservation, begins at 6 p.m. in the Victor Education Center off High Street. Officials have said they will discuss the latest results of indoor air and groundwater testing, a citizens’ request for a cancer cluster study and remediation work at the contamination site in western Victor. (June 25, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle
• Victor pollution clues come up dry — Nearly two months into a hunt for the source of toxic chemicals that have tainted groundwater in Victor, state investigators have chased down rumors, sought out potential witnesses and picked up tantalizing clues. But they haven't hit pay dirt. An explanation of how industrial solvents came to enter the groundwater decades ago — and who put them there — remains elusive. (June 22, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle
• ROCHESTER SELECTED TO RECEIVE BROWNFIELD GRANTS FROM U.S. EPA Mayor Robert J. Duffy announced today that the City has been selected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to receive two new grants totaling $400,000 for brownfield assessment and cleanup. Brownfields are properties that are more difficult to redevelop or reuse due to actual or perceived environmental contamination. (June 13, 07) Welcome to the City of Rochester
• EPA Awards Environmental Justice Grant to Community Group in Rochester, NY - - ( Rochester, N.Y. ) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA ) has awarded the Southwest Area Neighborhood Association ( SWAN ) in Rochester, N.Y. a $100,000 grant to help reduce the exposure of community residents to household hazards such as lead, carbon monoxide and asthma triggers. The EPA grant was given through a Collaborative Problem Solving ( CPS ) Cooperative Agreements program, and presented to SWAN last week at a workshop in Washington D.C.  (Media-Newswire.com)

• Victor to provide aid to homes affected by plume — VICTOR — The Victor Town Board Monday night approved two measures that will help homeowners near contaminated groundwater in a pocket of western Victor. One measure will reduce costs for residents to hook up with public water, while the other will cover the cost of ventilation systems until state money is received. (June 12, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle

• MPNnow.com: The toxic peril that ate my house’s value! New publicity over decades-old groundwater contamination is scaring away home buyers from property not only in the affected neighborhood but across Victor. (June 10, 07) Messenger Post Newspapers

• Democrat & Chronicle: Derelict dump sparks inquiry -State DEC zeroes in on Ganondagan site, which is near Victor's toxic plume. For decades, rows of half-buried barrels, abandoned construction equipment, rusted-out storage tanks and building debris lay on a steep, wooded hillside in Victor. The 1-acre dump is the sort of place that New York's Department of Environmental Conservation might be expected to target for cleanup. But in this case, the DEC never discovered the dump on its own and the property's owner never felt a need to alert the environmental agency. June 10, 2007 Democrat & Chronicle

• www.ny.gov - BROWNFIELDS BILL KEY TO ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION Goal is to Focus Tax Dollars on Brownfields Clean-up  - Governor Eliot Spitzer today proposed legislation that would restructure and improve the state’s brownfields program. If adopted by the State Legislature, it would redirect state tax dollars to provide real incentives for cleanups of brownfields development sites in order to create “shovel ready” land across the state for development purposes. (June 5, 07) www.ny.gov/governor

• Brownfields bill key to economic revitalization, says governor - Albany -- Governor Eliot Spitzer has proposed legislation that would restructure and improve the state’s brownfields program. If adopted by the State Legislature, it would redirect state tax dollars to provide real incentives for cleanups of brownfields development sites in order to create “shovel ready” land across the state for development purposes. (June 06, 07) New York State News on the Net!

• MPNnow.com: Four more Victor homes added to cleanup list Of 40 homes tested in the contaminated area, four qualify for air cleanup systems. VICTOR — Four more homes have qualified for cleanup systems following the latest round of air quality testing in the mile-long ground water contamination site. (June 1, 07) Messenger Post Newspapers

• Victor soon to breathe easier - Special fund to begin flowing to protect homes hit by toxic plume — Installation of ventilation systems to protect against toxic vapors, paid for by a special state Senate grant, should begin soon in a pocket of western Victor. A number of homeowners have been contacted this week about the systems, and a contractor has set dates for home visits or system installation, said Victor town finance director Michael Dollard. (May 27, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle

• Cleanup of brownfield sites is at crawl - 'Tens of thousands' in 4-year-old program not getting aid — ALBANY — The polluted former industrial sites that most need government help to get redeveloped aren't getting the aid they need, slowing revitalization of upstate cities, according to a report released Tuesday. The state's 4-year-old "brownfields" program to provide redevelopment subsidies at the sites of former factories, gas stations and other facilities, has completed cleanup of only 25 sites out of the "tens of thousands" that need attention, said Jody Kass of New Partners for Community Revitalization, a Manhattan-based community group. (May 23, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle

• Victor to get aid for vapor shields - Emergency relief to come from $50,000 Nozzolio grant — Stepping in where New York's executive branch has not, a state senator pledged to provide a $50,000 grant to pay for health-related work in a portion of Victor beset by contaminated groundwater. State Sen. Michael Nozzolio said Wednesday that the money would pay for testing and for installation of home ventilation systems to protect against intrusion by toxic vapors. (May 17, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle

• Investigator assigned to find origin of toxins in Victor — As rumors swirl in Victor, a criminal investigator has been assigned to help environmental officials track down the origin of toxic industrial solvents that have contaminated groundwater in Victor. The decision to bring a state Department of Environmental Conservation investigator into the case was made this afternoon, less than a day after state officials appealed at a public meeting for tips about the source of the solvents. In response to the appeal, several residents offered information about possible sources, and tips continued to come in today. (April 27, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle

• State considers cancer cluster study in Victor — The state Department of Health is weighing a request that it conduct a cancer cluster study in a part of Victor beset with contaminated groundwater. The request for a cancer study, passed on to Albany last week by state Sen. Michael Nozzolio, originated with a Victor citizens group that is pressing for more answers on the health impact of the contamination. The group’s agenda also includes a better explanation of the results of recent testing for the presence of toxic vapors in Victor homes. (April 25, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle

• Victor voices vapor qualms - Residents ask for help with interpreting data, senator says  — Victor homeowners, concerned about a mile-long plume of tainted groundwater in a western portion of the town, on Sunday implored a state senator to ensure that the state's response to the contamination is quick and thorough. (April 16, 2007)Democrat & Chronicle

• Victor vapor data released - State says detailed info shows no 'huge alarm for neighborhood' — State officials Friday released detailed data that they say supports the claim that residents in western Victor shouldn't be overly concerned about vapors wafting into homes from a contaminated site. (April 14, 2007) Democrat & Chronicle

• DEC announces nearly $8 million in statewide brownfield grants - New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis Thursday announced $7.9 million in Environmental Restoration Program grants for the remediation and investigation of environmental contamination at sites in the City of Newburgh-Orange County, the Village of Haverstraw-Rockland County, the Village of Adams-Jefferson County, the City of Syracuse-Onondaga County, the City of Peekskill-Westchester County, the City of Rome-Oneida County, the City of Rochester-Monroe County and the Village of Ellisburg-Jefferson County. The grants are being funded through the Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act. (April 13, 07) New York State News on the Net!

• MPNnow.com: State pledges action on Victor pollution The town supervisor met with top state environmental officials regarding underground contamination on the west side of town. ALBANY — State officials have agreed to increase the scope of water and air testing in the area of groundwater contamination that runs about a mile from the Syracusa Sand and Gravel mine to the Modock Road springs. They also agreed to begin a remediation plan this month that involves getting at the source of the contamination and identifying the extent and concentrations of the pollutants, industrial solvents that are believed to have spilled at or near the mine as far back as 1981. (April 6, 07) MPNnow.com: Rochester and Western Finger Lakes News, Entertainment, Sports, Opinions, Photos and More

• EPA gives progress report on Holley chemical plant site - A high-ranking Environmental Protection Agency official gave a progress report this afternoon about the contaminated former Diaz Chemical Corp. site. Alan J. Steinberg, the EPA’s region 2 administrator, said since the EPA has begun cleanup in 2002, the agency has removed 9,000 drums of chemicals, 112,000 gallons of chemicals and 51,000 feet of chemical piping. (March 26, 07) Democrat & Chronicle
• MPNnow.com: Pollution draws calls for resignations An overflow crowd turned out in Victor last night to get information and vent frustration about contaminated groundwater on the west side of town. VICTOR — Concerns over groundwater contamination drew a crowd of roughly 150 residents to a community forum last night that had to be moved from the Town Hall to the Victor Intermediate School auditorium to fit everyone in. A panel of state environmental and health officials tried to quell residents' fears with information about an investigation they launched several weeks ago into groundwater contamination. They also fielded questions from about two dozen worried residents, including Michael Barry, who called for the resignations of two town officials. (March 27, 07) MPNnow.com: Rochester and Western Finger Lakes News, Entertainment, Sports, Opinions, Photos and More
• EPA official says he'll look into Victor contamination - (March 26, 2007) — As Victor town officials plan a “community briefing” for this evening on groundwater contamination in a section of the town, the top federal environmental official in New York state said he would inquire about the matter. (March 25, 07)  Democrat & Chronicle
• Danger below: Toxic vapor woes in Victor also a threat elsewhere - Last month, environmental officers began going into the basements of homes set amid the cornfields and hillsides of western Victor. They told residents they were there to test the air for the presence of toxic vapors rising from industrial chemicals in groundwater below their homes. (March 25, 07)  Democrat & Chronicle
• EPA fines contractor for destroying wetlands outside Rochester - A local utility contractor working outside of Rochester, New York will be required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to restore wetlands it filled illegally, and pay a $5,000 penalty for the violation of federal law. (Feb 22, 07) New York State News on the Net!

2006

• Residents living near contamination site want medical bills paid - News - MSNBC.com It's been several years since chemical contamination was cleaned up from a G.E. small appliances plant in Brockport, but questions remain about whether there could be a possible cancer cluster near the former site. The issue was argued in the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court in Rochester on Wednesday.  (September 06, 2006) Rochester, NY news from WHEC-TV - MSNBC.com
• Brownfields offer an opportunity — Rochester has a reputation for being proactive about cleaning up brownfields — contaminated sites that impede development in most American downtowns. But at the current rate of 5 to 15 acres cleaned up each year, it would take several centuries to address the problems that exist today. That's why private developers are critical to solving Rochester's brownfields problem, said Mark Gregor of the city's Department of Environmental Services, during a brownfields seminar Friday at City Hall. (March 11, 2006) Democrat and Chronicle
•  WXXI: Hevesi Cuts Ribbon, Preaches Brownfield Cleanup (2006-03-10) ROCHESTER, NY (2006-03-10) New York's top fiscal officer helped celebrate completion of a renovated housing project, and encouraged developers to clean up and re-use former industrial lands during a visit to Rochester on Friday. Hevesi led state and local officials in cutting a ribbon to formally complete the renovation of a major senior citizen housing project in Rochester. wxxi NewsRoom
•  Hard line taken on rules for cleanups - Residents at state hearing urge strict standards for brownfields — BRIGHTON — "Clean" is a relative term when it comes to the pollution that makes dozens of contaminated Rochester properties, known as brownfields, unappealing to developers. And local residents and environmental activists Thursday told state officials that they won't settle for "clean enough" in new state rules that define when a brownfields remediation project is complete.  (March 10, 2006) Democrat and Chronicle

2005

•  DEC offers plan on contaminated hotel site — GATES — The state Department of Environmental Conservation is seeking public input on a draft plan to investigate contamination on the grounds of a Buell Road hotel. According to the DEC, investigators last year discovered vapors from tetrachloroethylene, also known as perchloroethlyene, under the main basement floor of the Comfort Inn, 395 Buell Road. The discovery came during tests to see if the Comfort Inn site had been affected by nearby contamination at Buell Automatics Inc., 361 Buell Road. (September 6, 2005)Democrat and Chronicle
•  Polluted sites shown on map - Schumer says gas additive has contaminated 89 places in county - With massive gasoline storage tanks towering in the background, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., stood Friday on Genesee Park Boulevard and unveiled a map showing 89 spots in Monroe County that have been contaminated by methyl tertiary butyl ether, a gasoline additive and potential carcinogen.  (May 28, 2005) Democrat and Chronicle
•  DEC Tests Mendon Site Groundwater - The Department of Environmental Conservation is testing groundwater near a Mendon housing tract where more than 100 barrels of contaminants were found. The barrels contained paint and solvents. Workers grading land at a construction site in Mendon made the discovery last week. The DEC believes they were buried on the site at least 30 years ago. (May 12, 2005) R News: As It Happens, Where It Happens

2004

•  Sen. Clinton asks EPA to expand Diaz probe - — HOLLEY — U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton has asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to expand its investigation into lingering contamination left in the village after the closure last year of the Diaz Chemical Corp. plant on Jackson Street. In a letter sent last month, Clinton, D-N.Y., lauded the agency for its decision to purchase eight homes that residents fled following a January 2002 chemical spill. (November 8, 2004)  Democrat and Chronicle
•  Cleanup nears end after 2001 CSX spill - Charlotte work to be done in a month - — CHARLOTTE — Nearly three years after a scorching train wreck spilled thousands of gallons of solvents, the final step of the cleanup could come as early as next week. In the past month, contractors for CSX Transportation have used a massive crane to scoop 2,000 tons of contaminated sediment from the Genesee River. (October 30, 2004) Democrat and Chronicle
•  Love Canal Removed from Superfund - Federal officials say cleanup work has been completed in the Niagara Falls neighborhood more than two decades after 950 of its families were evacuated. - (October 6, 2004)  R News: As It Happens, Where It Happens
•  MSNBC - Diaz holds public meeting Rochester, NYUSA - People in Holley came out Tuesday night to learn more about the Environmental Protection Agency'srole in clean up efforts following a chemical leak at the Diaz Plant in 2002. (October 6, 2004) MSNBC
•  (September 28, 2004)  Sierra Club Releases Report On Pollution - The Sierra Club has released a new report on pollution at Air Force plant 51 in Greece. The government made landing barges and other war equipment there during the 1940s and 50s. WOKR-TV 13 || ROCHESTER
•  (September 28, 2004) Group Wants Former Plant Cleaned Up - Rochester's Sierra Club wants the government to clean up a former World War Two plant in Greece. The former plant known as Air Force Plant 51, used to make landing barges during the war and later bulkheads for B-52 bombers. R News: As It Happens, Where It Happens
•  MSNBC - EPA to buy homes for displaced neighbors of Diaz Chemical plant Rochester, NYUSA - BATAVIA, N.Y. (AP) - The Environmental Protection Agency will spend more than $1 million to buy eight houses whose residents were displaced by a chemical leak nearly three years ago.About 80 gallons of a pungent chemical called 2-chloro-6-fluorophenol leaked from Diaz Chemical in the village of Holley, about 20 miles west of Rochester, on Jan. 5, 2002.  (September 14, 2004) MSNBC - News Front Page
•  Democrat & Chronicle: Prep for CSX river dredge begins  — Contractors for CSX Transportation this morning started installing silt curtains in the Genesee River at Charlotte, the site of a 2001 chemical spill. The two-layer plastic devices will prevent contaminated spoils from entering the river during a dredging operation expected to last about two months. (September 7, 2004) Democrat and Chronicle
•  Cleanup project to begin at site of 2001 derailment - Workers will begin dredging a stretch of a Rochester river where a freight train derailed in a fiery crash nearly three years ago. About half of the 47 cars on the C-S-X Transportation train jumped the tracks on December 23rd, 2001, sending thousands of gallons of solvents into the Genesee River and its west bank. (August 26, 2004) 10NBC / WHEC TV-10
•  Democrat & Chronicle: CSX spill cleanup set for river bed (August 25, 2004) — Work began Monday on River Street in Charlotte to set up equipment for a project that will dredge portions of the Genesee River contaminated by a December 2001 chemical spill.  (August 25, 2004) Democrat and Chronicle
•  Diaz on superfund list - Holley residents displaced by the Diaz Chemical spill will get federal aid cleaning up their homes. The environmental protection agency has added the Diaz chemical plant to its national priorities list.  10NBC / WHEC TV-10
•  Democrat & Chronicle: DEC launches new Dewey Ave. site probe — GREECE — In a fact sheet released today, the state Department of Environmental Conservation announced a new plan to investigate contamination at an old military industrial site at the north end of Dewey Avenue. Air Force Plant 51, just south of Round Pond, was used during World War II to build ocean-going oil tankers and some of the landing craft used during the Normandy invasion.  (July 15, 2004) Democrat and Chronicle
•  Democrat & Chronicle: Former auto parts plant gets cleanup — GATES — Over the next few weeks, crews from the state Department of Environmental Conservation will start investigating toxic contamination on the site of a former automobile parts factory near Interstate 490. The DEC will remove and test soil and groundwater samples from outside the three-acre former ITT Automotive plant at 30 Pixley Industrial Parkway. The facility was known as Rochester Form Machine until 1994 and was used to manufacture aluminum components for automotive air conditioners. ITT acquired the factory in 1994, and ceased operations there earlier this year. (June 30, 2004) Democrat and Chronicle
•  Democrat & Chronicle: Buckeye, residents reach settlement over gas leak — More than a year after a massive gasoline leak contaminated 14 houses in a 19th Ward neighborhood, Buckeye Pipeline Co. of Pennsylvania on Monday announced a final settlement with most of the residents affected. (June 15, 2004) Democrat and Chronicle
• Brockport To Get Cancer Report From State - A new study on cancer has focused on people living near the former 3-M Dynacolor and G.E. Black and Decker plants in Brockport and surrounding towns. Both sites are contaminated with PCB’s and other industrial chemicals. (March 17, 2003)  WOKR-TV 13 || ROCHESTER
• Democrat & Chronicle: DEC urges sweet cleanup of toxic site in Brockport — BROCKPORT — State environmental regulators have a sweet deal for village residents fighting a plume of underground pollution and contaminated surface soil: Add molasses. The state Department of Environmental Conservation at a meeting here Wednesday night proposed injecting a solution of water and food-grade molasses into soils, groundwater and bedrock beneath a contaminated site at 150 State St. (March 4, 2004) Democrat and Chronicle
• WXXI: DEC To Show Brockport Cleanup Plans (2004-02-25) The State Department of Environmental Conservation says bacteria can help clean up toxic contamination left behind by the former 3M/Dynacolor plant in the Village of Brockport. The D-E-C will hold a public meeting Tuesday evening in Brockport to discuss its investigation of the toxic site and its proposal for dealing with it. (February 27, 2004) Public NewsRoom

2003

• Democrat & Chronicle: Brighton gas spill long-term problem - Action taken but total cleanup might be years away, says DEC December 5, 2003) — BRIGHTON — State and county officials fielded questions Thursday from Brighton residents who want to know how soon a gasoline spill that brought gas fumes into some homes will be fully cleaned up. About 8,000 gallons of gasoline leaked into the ground and groundwater from a storage tank under a Citgo gas station, 2087 Monroe Ave.
•  EPA to describe Diaz cleanup - — HOLLEY — The Environmental Protection Agency has scheduled public information sessions next week to update villagers about the agency’s cleanup efforts at the site of a former Orleans County chemical plant EPA crews have been at the defunct Diaz Chemical Corp. on Jackson Street since mid-October, working to determine what chemicals remain at the plant and the best options for their removal. (November 6, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
•  Democrat & Chronicle: Brockport site to be cleaned up — BROCKPORT — Starting Sept. 29, a stretch of Erie Street in the village of Brockport will be closed to traffic while the state and a local utility dig up yards to investigate chemicals that might have migrated underground from an old dump site. The chemicals are components of coal tar, waste from what was in the 19th century a manufactured gas plant at Erie and Perry streets, just south of the Barge Canal. September 7, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
• Buckeye spill to be cleaned up in city's 19th Ward Clean up is underway on the city's west side after thousands of gallons of gasoline leaked in a neighborhood there. The Buckeye Pipeline Company spilled 50,000 gallons of gasoline last March. (September 4, 2003) MSNBC Local News
•  Contaminated dirt to be removed from Greece neighborhood There was a meeting Wednesday night for concerned residents of the Autumn Heights neighborhood in Greece. Rochester city officials say contaminated dirt that was dumped in the Greece neighborhood should be cleaned up by November. A city-hired contractor dumped the dirt in the Autumn Heights neighborhood sometime last year. (September 4, 2003) MSNBC Local News
•  Democrat & Chronicle: Spill causes evacuation — PALMYRA — About 75 people were evacuated from their homes Wednesday night after a chemical leak at a business. About 100 employees at Garlock Industries also were evacuated from the plant at 1666 Division St. when 50 gallons of diluted sulfuric acid was discovered to have leaked from a storage vat, said Palmyra Assistant Fire Chief Bill Colburn. (August 7, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
•  Fuel spill called minimal - Brooks Avenue neighbors told that spill cleanup is progressing - — Four months after a massive spill at a Rochester fuel storage facility, health and environmental officials held a meeting Tuesday evening to address questions. About 100 neighbors attended. An underground gasoline leak was discovered March 12 at the Buckeye Terminal, 754 Brooks Ave. An estimated 50,000 gallons spilled, seeping gasoline and gasoline-related chemicals into the Erie Canal and - more than two months later - into the basements of some nearby houses. (July 16, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
•  Gas Spill Cleanup Continues On Tuesday, some residents in Rochester’s 19th Ward will get some answers from state health and environmental officials about what health affects, if any a gas spill has had on them. Gasoline provider Buckeye Terminals is located on Brooks Ave. about 200 yards from homes on Westfield St. On March 12, the company reported to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation that gasoline leaked from one of its underground pipelines. (July 13, 2003) R News: Your NewsChannel
•  DEC releases report on Brooks Avenue gas leak The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation released a clean-up report Thursday on the gas leak at the Buckeye Terminal on Brooks Avenue. A public meeting has been scheduled so people living near the terminal can learn more about the status of clean up. The meeting will take place July 15 at 7:00 p.m. at the Holiday Inn on Brooks Avenue.  (July 13, 2003) MSNBC Local News
•  WXXI: Work Begins To Clean Up Coal-Tar Sediments (2003-07-07) ROCHESTER, NEW YORK (2003-07-07) Cleanup work has begun to remove coal tar-contaminated sediments from the Genesee River at Brewer Street in Rochester. The site is on the east side of the Genesee River gorge near the middle falls, off Saint Paul Street. Construction workers building the county's new sewer system in the mid-1980s hit underground pools of coal tar. They built temporary lagoons to catch the tar-contaminated water, but over the years the tar has leaked into the surrounding soil. (July 7, 2003) Public NewsRoom
•  Chemical Leak Forces 50 From Their Homes - Lyons, NY (07/06/03) - About 40 homes in Lyons were evacuated after a highly flammable chemical was discovered leaking from a CSX train car. The leak was discovered around 2:00 p.m. from a tanker car headed to Canandaigua. Most of the families were allowed to return to their homes after 7:00 p.m. Sunday. (July 7, 2003) WOKR-TV 13 || ROCHESTER
•  PCBs in Brockport: Who's to blame? - Testing for contamination has begun on storm sewer pipes in Brockport near the former General Electric Co. plant on State Street. This is all that GE, the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the village of Brockport seem to agree on. (July 6, 2003)  Brockport Post
•  Democrat & Chronicle: State, federal agencies study Kleen Brite sites — BROCKPORT — Two environmental agencies are examining toxicity levels at two former Kleen Brite Laboratories facilities here. The state Department of Environmental Conservation and the federal Environmental Protection Agency are conducting site assessments for potentially toxic materials. The agencies are seeking to determine the types of waste and chemicals left at the 200 State St. and 100 Fair St. sites. (June 23, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
•  Springtime fields of brown - As the legislative season in Albany winds down, the Rochester Business Alliance is making a last-ditch plea for progress on "brownfields" legislation. Brownfields are abandoned, more-or-less contaminated industrial and commercial sites, a commonplace of Rust Belt cities. The sites may not be immediately lethal, but they still must be cleaned up before any redevelopment can proceed. Rochester is home to many brownfields, in locations as different as old factory grounds in the city's northwest quadrant and odd pockets of the lower Genesee River gorge. (June 18, 2003) City Newspaper
•  Spitzer Backs Assembly Superfund/Brownfields Legislation Attorney General Eliot Spitzer expressed support for a comprehensive new legislative proposal that would clean up the state's toxic sites. Recently introduced by Assemblymember Thomas DiNapoli, Chair of the Assembly Committee on Environmental Conservation, the bill would replenish the bankrupt state Superfund and establish a new brownfields site cleanup program. "Every corner of New York is saddled with toxic waste sites that must be cleaned up thoroughly and quickly," said Attorney General Spitzer. "The longer we wait, the more environmental damage will be done. It is imperative that the state Legislature take immediate action and Assemblymember DiNapoli's legislation is the most comprehensive and responsible approach to this pressing problem." Office of New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer
•   Democrat & Chronicle: NY 'brownfield' bill offers incentives for cleanup (March 19, 2003) — ALBANY — Environmentalists were divided Tuesday over a proposal that would provide financial incentives for cleaning up abandoned industrial sites and exempt property owners, in most cases, from liability. Currently, owners of sites known as brownfields are liable for cleaning up contamination on their property as well as waste that dissipates outside. Tens of thousands of brownfields ranging from abandoned gas stations to old industrial sites are scattered across the state. Most are in inner cities. (March 19, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
•   Democrat & Chronicle: Web site offers environmental data — Wondering whether you live near a toxic-waste dump or polluting factory? The Citizens Environmental Coalition has unveiled www.ecothreatny.org, a Web site with maps showing the locations of everything from Superfund toxic waste sites to oil spills to fish consumption advisories. (February 21, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
•    Brockport residents settle lawsuit with 3M - Some Brockport residents have reached a settlement with 3M. The lawsuit claimed that the 3M Corporation dumped toxic chemicals in the village Brockport. (January 6, 2003) MSNBC Local News
•  Democrat & Chronicle: 3M settles part of Brockport contamination lawsuit 232 residents to be paid for property-value losses — BROCKPORT — The first phase of a lawsuit involving a Brockport toxic waste site was settled this week. Attorneys say 232 people will be compensated for a decline in property values brought on by pollution from 3M Co. An additional 30 people, all children, will retain their “future rights” to sue in case medical problems arise, said the lead attorney on the case, Stephen G. Schwarz of Faraci & Lange LLP in Rochester. (January 4, 2003)  Democrat and Chronicle
•   A look at Brockport in '02 The past year saw Brockport's biggest news as the contamination clean-up on sites formerly occupied by the General Electric and 3M companies. (January 1, 2003)  Brockport Post

2002

•  WXXI: EPA to Decontaminate Holley Homes (2002-12-12) HOLLEY, NY (2002-12-12) Many residents in Holley are still displaced from their homes, almost a year after the relase of cholor-fluoro-phenol from the Diaz Chemical Corporation. Wednesday night, concerned residents in the town met with officials with the Department of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Environmental Conservation.  (December 12, 2002) Public NewsRoom
• Democrat & Chronicle: DEC extends environmental study of Greece plant — The state Department of Environmental Conservation plans on doing a long-range study of possible contamination at a former shipbuilding and Air Force plant off Dewey Avenue near Round Pond in Greece. The DEC interviewed former employees and inspected the site of the former Air Force Plant 51 facility, 4800 Dewey Ave., over the last year to study the level of contamination at the site. Through these investigations, the DEC has identified areas in need of further study to determine whether surface contamination leaked into the soil and ground water. (December 12, 2002) Democrat and Chronicle
• Democrat & Chronicle: Diaz spill report leaves homeowners dissatisfied — HOLLEY — Richard Catlin doesn’t believe sealant paint will keep possible residue from a Jan. 5 chemical spill from leaching out of his home’s insulation and back into the air his family breathes. “Knowing it’s there (in the walls) isn’t the same as knowing it’s gone,” Catlin said Wednesday during an information meeting at Holley High School for residents who have been displaced from their homes since a Jan. 5 chemical spill at Diaz Chemical Corp. on Jackson Street. (December 12, 2002) Democrat and Chronicle
• WXXI: DEC Begins Cleanup Study on Former Greece Shipyard (2002-12-09) ROCHESTER, NY (2002-12-09) New York's Department of Environmental Conservation is launching a long-term study of the former Odenbach Shipyard in the Town of Greece, with an eye towards eventually cleaning up the site. Any such cleanup will be a long job. The state plans to begin testing soil and water around the Odenbach site this month, with the final cleanup plans expected to take until 2015. (December 10, 2002)  Public NewsRoom
• Democrat & Chronicle: Diaz neighbors still displaced Government agencies plan report on cleanup in progress — Eleven months ago, on the morning of Jan. 6, Patricia Dann fled from her South Main Street home in Holley, Orleans County. She and her husband and son left with just the clothes on their backs. (December 4, 2002) Democrat and Chronicle
• Democrat & Chronicle: Charlotte cleanup nears end But city still has concerns over consequences of CSX spill  — Cleanup is largely finished at the year-old site of a train derailment in Charlotte, where 40,000 gallons of industrial solvents spilled a few feet from the Genesee River. During the Dec. 23, 2001, incident, a runaway 27-car train owned by CSX Transportation toppled over on River Street. The wreck leveled a house, ripped through nearby boats and created an immense fireball. Only one person -- the engineer who jumped off the speeding train -- was injured. (December 2, 2002) Democrat and Chronicle
• Democrat & Chronicle: Court gives Diaz more time (— BUFFALO — A federal judge on Thursday gave an Orleans County chemical company more time to amend a countersuit it filed against 173 Holley residents who are suing over a January spill. November 22, 2002) Democrat and Chronicle
• Democrat & Chronicle: Brockport cleanup nears end Neighbors to polluted stream will soon have restored yards  — BROCKPORT — Thanksgiving comes early this year to the Worboys household on East Avenue. (November 16, 2002) Democrat and Chronicle
• Democrat & Chronicle: Ontario County landfill chief quits — CANANDAIGUA — Longtime Ontario County landfill director Kevin Spillane has resigned in the wake of an ongoing criminal investigation that was initiated earlier this fall at the county landfill in Flint. “Kevin has resigned his post effective the end of the year,” Donald Leysath, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors’ Solid Waste Committee, said on Thursday. (November 01, 02) Democrat and Chronicle
• Seneca County plans hazardous waste collection Seneca County residents have until Wednesday to register with the county Environmental Health Department for disposal of certain waste items that can't be included in the weekly pickups. (October 20, 2002) Finger Lakes Times
• Democrat & Chronicle: State seeks release of Diaz financial records (October 10, 2002) — ALBION — Attorneys from the state Attorney General’s Office argued in Orleans County Court on Monday for the release of a Holley chemical company’s financial records. The office is seeking records from Diaz Chemical Corp. because the company said in May that it could not pay living expenses for families displaced by a January chemical spill, said Marc Violette, a spokesman for the attorney general. Democrat and Chronicle
• WXXI: Pataki Announces Brownfield Grants (2002-10-04) ROCHESTER, NEW YORK (2002-10-04) Governor George Pataki announced that five area companies will split over one million dollars to revitalize local brownfield sites. --(October 4, 2002) Public NewsRoom
• Holley Residents File Lawsuits Holley, NY - Two lawsuits have been filed by Holley residents in the wake of the Diaz chemical spill earlier this year. (October 1, 2002) WOKR13.TV
• Democrat & Chronicle: Brockport soil cleanup begins (September 25, 2002) — BROCKPORT — Just before noon Tuesday, contractors in a Lyman Street back yard began digging up contaminated soil, removing three truckloads in the first three hours. The work was the start of a hazardous waste excavation that will dig up or flush out about a mile of creek and connected storm sewer through or under a half-dozen residential streets to East Avenue.  (September 25, 2002) Democrat and Chronicle
• Democrat & Chronicle: CSX cleanup nearly finished 19,000 tons of contaminated soil removed from spill site (September 10, 2002) — After five months of excavation work, the cleanup of a chemical train derailment site in Charlotte is close to completion.  Democrat and Chronicle
• Democrat & Chronicle: Cleanup of Brockport creek begins BROCKPORT — Contractors this week are taking the first big step in cleaning up an exposed creek bed -- contaminated for decades with industrial chemicals -- that runs through a village neighborhood. Last week, crews built a temporary access road next to 56 Lyman St. It required 300 tons of gravel and stretches about 150 yards from the street to the canal.  (September 6, 2002) Democrat and Chronicle
• WXXI: Brockport Contamination Lawsuit Continues (2002-09-02) A Judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a Brockport family against Black and Decker and General Electric.  (September 3, 2002)  Public NewsRoom
• STUDY FINDS WIDESPREAD PESTICIDE USE IN THE HOMES, SCHOOLS AND PARKS OF LOW-INCOME URBAN CHILDREN Spitzer Announces Agreements with Retailers to Remove Illegal Pesticides from Shelves Attorney General Eliot Spitzer today released a first of its kind report that reveals widespread use of pesticides in public housing developments, schools and parks, despite the availability of less toxic methods of effective pest control. Unlike other studies, the report examines the cumulative impacts of pesticides on urban children. The report identifies a clear need for improved pest management practices that do not heavily rely on using toxic pesticides. (August 20, 2002) Office of New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer
• Democrat & Chronicle: Spitzer: Unneeded use of toxins threaten city kids — ALBANY — City children are unnecessarily being exposed to widespread and hazardous pesticides at public housing, schools and parks, according to a report from state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer released Tuesday. As part of the study, Spitzer also settled cases against 12 of 73 stores surveyed where his investigators found unregistered pesticides being sold.  (August 20, 2002) Democrat and Chronicle
• CSX And City Have Different Views On Derailment Clean Up Rochester, NY - At a meeting in Charlotte on Monday night, a CSX spokesperson told the group that he's hopeful the clean-up work from December's train derailment will be done by the end of the year. (August 6, 2002) WOKR13.TV
• Charlotte Residents Will Be Updated On Cleanup Efforts Rochester, NY - People who live in the Charlotte area of Rochester will be updated Monday on efforts to clean up December's train derailment which spilled chemicals into the soil and water. (August 5, 2002)  WOKR13.TV
• Democrat & Chronicle: Brockport cleanup plan gets green light — BROCKPORT — Corporate plans to clean up industrial contamination in a creek tributary are apparently acceptable to state environmental officials. "We're essentially satisfied with the plans," said Frank Ricotta, regional engineer in charge of cleanup operations for the state Department of Environmental Conservation.  (August 4, 2002)  Democrat and Chronicle:
• Charlotte Businesses Languish While CSX Cleanup Continues Rochester, NY - The latest estimate from City of Rochester officials is that it might be next spring before last December's train derailment in Charlotte is cleaned up. (August 1, 2002) WOKR13.TV
• Democrat & Chronicle: Brockport cleanup poised to start — BROCKPORT — Residents of this canalside village will get a final chance Thursday night to review cleanup plans for a creek contaminated decades ago by industries long gone. Beginning as early as Aug. 12, contractors hired by General Electric Co. and 3M Co. will begin scouring out about 3,000 feet of storm sewer. They'll also dig up linked portions of Brockport Tributary No. 3. (August 1, 2002) Democrat and Chronicle:
• Democrat & Chronicle: Route 204 open Wednesday morning after chemical spill — Route 204 between Interstate 490 and Chili Avenue in Gates reopened overnight after officials cleared wreckage from an overturned tractor-trailer which spilled chemicals at the start of the Tuesday afternoon rush hour. (July 31, 2002) Democrat and Chronicle:
• PCB Contamination Clean-up Begins In Brockport Brockport, NY - GE has begun cleanup on an old manufacturing site in Brockport where tests have shown PCB contamination. On the southern end of the old GE/Black and Decker property, earth one to three feet is being scraped and removed. The DEC calls the area a "hot spot"- -a place where the concentration of PCBs is high enough to be a potential health hazard. (July 20, 2002) WOKR13.TV
• Democrat & Chronicle: Tainted dirt removal at Charlote will take longer — After 10 weeks of digging at a chemical spill site along River Street in Charlotte, contractors have moved more than 13 tons of soil. The largest part of the dig -- prompted by a Dec. 23 train derailment -- will take longer than expected. Some of the holes are twice as deep as originally planned, said John P. Casellini. (July 2, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Democrat & Chronicle: State formulates a plan for Chili dump cleanup — State investigators have determined how to clean up the abandoned Golden Road hazardous waste dump. They now want public input before finalizing plans. The state departments of Environmental Conservation and of Health will conduct a public information meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Pearce Memorial Church, 4322 Buffalo Road, North Chili.  (06/18/02) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Hazardous sites await funding The state Superfund ran out of money for environmental cleanup in March 2001. The former Macedon landfill and a former quarry and landfill in Victor are among the six sites in Ontario, Wayne and Yates counties that would be eligible for cleanup funds under a bill proposed by Gov. George Pataki. (06/18/02)  Daily Messenger
• Project to extend landfill life to 2027 Ontario County lawmakers approved last week measures that will extend the life of the landfill, where a gas-to-electricity plant is in the works. (June 6, 2002) Daily Messenger
• Democrat & Chronicle: Residents displaced by Diaz chemical leak to have rent paid by EPA Agency will help move eight Holley families into apartments — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will pay for residents displaced by a January chemical spill to move into apartments while the agency determines whether it's safe for them to return to their Holley homes. (June 6, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• 911 Tapes May Prove Diaz Incident Was Explosive Brockport, NY - Residents of Holley affected by the Diaz Chemical plant leak are hoping 911 tapes will be the proof they need to receive extra financial support. The Environmental Protection Agency is currently conducting tests on soil and at homes and schools in Holley for traces of a rare chemical that escaped from the plant in January. (June 5, 2002)  WOKR13.TV
• Diaz Chemical & the 911 Tapes Five months after the Diaz plant leaked a substance into nearby neighborhoods, we get a better understanding of how those closest to the Diaz incident responded. R News obtained copies of the Orleans County 911 transcript from January 5, and the 911 tapes from plaintiff's attorney Linda Shaw. (June 5, 2002) RNews: News Front - Rochester, NY's Only 24 Hour News
• N.Y. sharing space with toxic waste - Local/Regional - theithacajournal.com - The Ithaca Journal Tompkins County contains six state Superfund toxic waste sites, and 27.7 percent of the county's 96,501 residents live within a mile of one of them, according to data released on Tuesday by the New York Public Interest Research Group. State Department of Environmental Conservation data compiled by the group on its Web site include two sites in the City of Ithaca, three in the Town of Lansing and one in the Village of Groton. The contamination at the sites -- at varying stages of cleanup --ranges from coal-tar and low-level radioactive waste to a dry-cleaning solvent. (June 5, 2002) theithacajournal.com - News and Information from Ithaca and Tompkins County, New York - The Ithaca Journal
• Democrat & Chronicle: Group: 4.4 million NYers live near toxic sites — ALBANY -- More than 4.4 million New Yorkers live within one mile of one or more Superfund toxic waste sites, a group's analysis released Tuesday shows. The New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) said Nassau County (619,817), Queens (471,408), Brooklyn (471,408), Erie County (324,905) and Suffolk County (286,866) had the largest numbers of people living near chemical waste sites while Schenectady County near Albany had the largest percentage of its residents, 50.8 percent, within a mile of waste sites.  (June 5, 2002)  DemocratandChronicle.com
• Democrat & Chronicle: Hazardous spill restricts Thruway — The Pembroke exit of the state Thruway was closed for about six hours Monday after a truck overturned and spilled hazardous materials.  (June 4, 2002)  DemocratandChronicle.com
• Derailment Cleanup On Track? Rochester, NY - A meeting was held Monday night to discuss the cleanup progress at the site of a train derailment in Charlotte more than five months ago. Some city leaders have concerns over what they feel is an unrealistic view of CSX of problems at the spill site. One neighbor said she is pleased with the progress, however (June 4, 2002) WOKR13.TV
• One Fourth of New Yorkers Live Near a Toxic Site  ALBANY, NY (2002-06-04) A report from the New York Public Interest Research Group says just over in three Monroe County residents lives within a mile of a Superfund toxic waste site. That's worse than the statewide average, which NYPIRG says is nearly one out of four New Yorkers. (June 4, 2002)  Public NewsRoom
• Democrat & Chronicle: Diaz spill sampling completed HOLLEY -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has completed air testing in and around homes near a chemical spill, but it will be at least a month before the neighborhood can be declared safe or not, federal officials said Tuesday. The EPA last week conducted three days of tests at 22 homes and a day-care facility in this Orleans County village. Air samples will be analyzed to determine whether additional testing or cleanup is needed. (May 29, 220) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Democrat & Chronicle: Agencies invite input on Brockport cleanup Public comment sought on off-site work at polluted ex-industrial sites — Brockport-area residents will have an opportunity Wednesday to comment on proposed off-site cleanup plans for contamination linked to two former industrial sites. The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Seymour Public Library, 161 East Ave. (May 28, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• The EPA Comes To Holley Holley, NY - The Environmental Protection Agency arrived in Holley Tuesday morning to test and assess the conditions of several homes affected by the January's accidental chemical leak from the Diaz plant. (May 22, 2002) WOKR13.TV
• Democrat & Chronicle: EPA starts tests of homes in Diaz spill today — The Environmental Protection Agency is to begin air-quality tests on homes near the Diaz Chemical plant Tuesday. EPA spokesman Rich Cahill said Monday that the tests would attempt to determine any lingering impact of a chemical release on homes surrounding the plant. (May 21, 2002)  DemocratandChronicle.com
• E.P.A. paying hotel bills The Environmental Protection Agency is now paying the hotel bills for people in Holley whose homes are not safe. Some Holley residents have been displaced since January after a chemical release at the Diaz Chemical plant. (May 18, 2002) MSNBC Local News
• Democrat & Chronicle: Bromine leak sparks haz-mat alert at Kodak Park (May 9, 2002) — Emergency crews at Kodak Park responded to a leaking drum of bromine in a containment area of a building within the sprawling industrial campus Thursday morning. Bromine is highly toxic if inhaled, ingested or comes in contact with the skin. (May 9, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Democrat & Chronicle: Families still wait for answers after Diaz chemical scare — HOLLEY -- Four months after a plant explosion sprayed a mysterious, foul-smelling chemical into the air, 19 village residents remain in a hotel, fearing that their houses and everything in them are permanently contaminated. (May 6, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Cleanup continues in Charlotte - Cleanup of the CSX train crash site in Charlotte has kicked into high gear. Large dump trucks are now taking the tainted dirt to the county landfill. (April 30, 2002) 10NBC / WHEC TV-10
• State wants to spend millions to clean up chemical site in Brighton - The State of New York wants to spend more than $3 million dollars to clean up a Brighton chemical site. But there`s one problem: The state`s superfund program for cleaning up toxic waste sites is out of money. The contaminated area is the former Scobell Chemical Company in the old can of worms. The company operated there from the 1920`s until the mid 1980`s.  (April 25, 2002) MSNBC Local News
• More Holley residents test positive for chemical Months after a chemical spill in Holley, more residents test positive for the chemical in their system.  (April 2, 2002) MSNBC Local News
• Kodak Park Containment Meeting Held Rochester, NY - A public information meeting was held Thursday night to discuss how to clean up contamination around a portion of Kodak Park. The area, in the northeastern section of Kodak Park by Lake Avenue and the Genesee Gorge, was contaminated years ago from old operations and spills. (April 19, 2002) iKnowRochester.com
• Democrat & Chronicle: Brockport cleanup about ready to roll — The state Department of Environmental Conservation this week received a final cleanup plan from General Electric Co. for a contaminated creek and storm sewer that winds through a village neighborhood. Last month, the company -- along with Black & Decker -- turned in a cleanup plan for a related site at 200 State St. "This is close to the last step," said Frank Ricotta, the DEC's regional engineer in charge of cleanup actions. (April 19, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Democrat & Chronicle: 2,000 cubic yards of soil dug up from Charlotte spill site — By Monday, the first contaminated soil from a train derailment site on River Street will be trucked to landfills outside Rochester. An estimated 2,000 cubic yards of soil has already been dug up from the spill area, after only five days of digging, CSX Transportation spokesman Bob Sullivan said Friday. The soil ready to be trucked off-site represents about 20 percent of the 15,000 tons workers will excavate to finish the job, he said.  (April 19, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Democrat & Chronicle: Kodak cleanup focus of session tonight — The state Department of Environmental Conservation will hold a ``public availability session'' Thursday night, outlining a final plan to clean up or contain contaminated ground water near Kodak Park. The session, required by law, is from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Kate Gleason Auditorium at the Rochester Public Library, 115 South Ave. (April 18, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Democrat & Chronicle: Firefighters union writes up CSX crash complaints The Rochester firefighters union has prepared a multipage report outlining its criticism of the chief's handling of a train derailment in Charlotte. Union President Joe Montesano said the report, which exceeds 80 pages, has been mailed to each of the City Council members, Chief Floyd Madison, city administrators, Mayor William A. Johnson Jr. and area media. Montesano said the report -- which reiterates in detail many of the claims the union has made in recent months -- is intended to dispute Madison's version of how the Dec. 23 train derailment was handled. (April 17, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Democrat & Chronicle: Fuel leaks into Conesus Lake — LIVONIA -- Diesel fuel leaked into Conesus Lake on Sunday night after a spill from a tractor trailer, the Livingston County Sheriff's Department said. About 30 gallons of fuel spilled on Camp Run Drive at about 8:45 p.m. from a parked truck's gas tank, police said. Lakeville Fire Department and the Livingston County Haz-Mat Response Unit responded to the spill.  (April 15, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Democrat & Chronicle: CSX cleanup in Charlotte begins — CSX  Transportation Monday began the cleanup of soil contaminated by a Dec. 23 train derailment on River Street in Charlotte. The accident toppled 27 rail cars and led to a raging chemical fire and spillage of thousands of gallons of acetone and methylene chloride. (April 15, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• G.E. Offers an Active Role in the Hudson PCB Cleanup The General Electric Company, which spent millions of dollars arguing that dredging the Hudson River to remove its industrial pollution would be environmentally disastrous, has quietly signaled that it may now be ready to participate in the cleanup — and in fact may take on much of the work itself. (April 10, 2002) The New York Times on the Web
• EPA CHOOSES FORT EDWARD AS HOME FOR NEW HUDSON RIVER FIELD OFFICE Office Will Serve as Base For Upper Hudson Community Involvement Activities (#02021) New York, New York Reinforcing its commitment to local public involvement, EPA today announced that it will be locating its Hudson River PCBs site field office in the Village of Hudson Falls, Town of Fort Edward, New York. "The placement of our field office in an upriver community demonstrates EPA's commitment to a rigorous and meaningful community involvement program for the Hudson River cleanup," said EPA Regional Administrator Jane M. Kenny. "Our door will be open to the residents of the upper Hudson who are most affected by EPA's cleanup plans and to everyone with interest in this historic cleanup." Additional field office contact information will be announced as soon as it is available. It will be available on EPA's Web site at www.epa.gov/hudson and to Internet users of EPA's Hudson River Listserver an electronic news service established to provide interested parties with important information on the Hudson River cleanup. People who are interested in subscribing to this free service can sign up by going to the Hudson River Web site and clicking on Listserver. www.epa.gov/hudson
• Diaz Gets Mixed Messages Holley, NY - Diaz Chemical Corporation got some good news and some not-as-good news on Friday regarding January's chemical leak in Holley.  (April 7, 2002) iKnowRochester.com
• Democrat & Chronicle: Firm to oversee CSX cleanup — The city of Rochester has hired an outside firm to oversee cleanup of the area in Charlotte that was contaminated after a December train derailment and chemical spill. LaBella Associates, a Rochester engineering group, will work alongside CSX Transportation. Twenty-seven CSX cars derailed Dec. 23, spilling about 14,100 gallons of acetone and 16,000 gallons of methylene chloride. (April 7, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Democrat & Chronicle: Brockport hears plans for cleanup About 50 Brockport residents on Thursday night learned the latest plans to eliminate pollutants that since 1999 have prompted four lawsuits. But technical details were often drowned out by sharply worded concerns over health risks and long-term monitoring. At the Seymour Library, state environmental regulators and industry experts presented cleanup plans for two contaminated former industrial sites on State Street. (April 5, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Democrat & Chronicle: DEC presents cleanup plans for pollution in Brockport — BROCKPORT -- The public will get a glimpse tonight of long-awaited cleanup plans for two contaminated industrial sites south of the Erie Canal. By the end of this year, General Electric Co. and Black & Decker will remove soil and storm sewer sediments contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, at 200 State St., now the JMT Properties Inc. facility. (April 4, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Democrat & Chronicle: Village cleanup plans go to state — State regulators this week received cleanup plans for one-time industrial sites on State Street in Brockport. The former General Electric/Black & Decker site, at 200 State St., is contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls. The former 3M/Dynacolor site, part of it at 180 State St., is contaminated with cyanide compounds. (March 29, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Democrat & Chronicle: Fire chief faults report on CSX crash and spill  — Rochester Fire Chief Floyd Madison questioned some parts of a state report that criticized his department's handling of a train derailment, but he said Thursday that some aspects of the response were not handled well. (March 29, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Buffalo News - Praxair cleanup raises specter of deadly toxins The remnants of a secret government project were still visible at the Linde Air Plant in the Town of Tonawanda when Tony Cioppi and John Lauer worked at the facility in the 1950s. (March 22, 2002) The Buffalo News
• Democrat & Chronicle: Holley residents lash at Diaz — Village of Holley residents blasted Diaz Chemical Corp. at a public meeting Wednesday night, warning that the company cannot be trusted to clean ground water contamination at its plant. (March 21, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Activists Want Answers Environmental activists across New York...including here in Rochester....are demanding more answers from state and federal health agencies when it comes to explaining cancer linked to industry. (March 20, 2002) RNews: News Front - Rochester, NY's Only 24 Hour News
• Democrat & Chronicle: Greece shipbuilding site contaminated, says DEC — From 1941 to 1945, a complex of seven buildings near Round Pond in Greece helped win World War II. Workers at the site churned out 60-ton floating cranes, landing barges and -- once every 12 days -- an ocean-going oil tanker. Air Force Plant 51, known during the war as the Odenbach shipbuilding plant, employed 1,500 workers. Today, state investigators would love to talk to a few. The 33-acre site on Dewey Avenue is contaminated with chemicals in amounts that are potentially very large, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. (March 19, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Democrat & Chronicle: Judge orders new Diaz tests An Orleans County judge on Friday ordered Diaz Chemical Corp. to conduct new tests to determine whether it is safe for residents to return home after a January chemical spill. Judge James Punch also upheld an order, filed last week by the state Attorney General's Office, requiring Diaz to continue to pay for hotel rooms and expenses for about a dozen families that left after the Jan. 5 spill. (March 16, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Democrat & Chronicle: Kodak to present final cleanup plan — Eastman Kodak Co.'s proposed final cleanup plan for the area around its controversial hazardous waste incinerator will be aired tonight. Building 218, one of the few chemical waste incinerators in the state and the target of much activist concern, is located in the northeastern section of Kodak Park, about 100 yards from Lancaster Street in Rochester. (March 14, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Democrat & Chronicle: CSX to work on spill site — The city signed an access agreement late Monday that allows CSX Transportation to begin cleaning up a chemical spill in Charlotte. (March 12, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Democrat & Chronicle: GE sets goal for Brockport cleanup — Residents living near a contaminated stream in Brockport got a ray of hope in the mail this weekend: a letter from General Electric Corp. that says a cleanup this year is the company's goal. (March 12, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Democrat & Chronicle: Cleanup project on schedule — By the end of this summer, a former contractor's site in eastern Rochester -- an eyesore since the 1950s -- will be scraped clean of contaminated soil, construction debris, leaking tanks and rickety sheds. (March 12, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Attorney General's Office Orders Diaz To Pay For Hotel Rooms Rochester, NY - The Attorney General's office has ordered Diaz chemical to continue to pay for hotel rooms for five Holley families who left their homes in January to avoid the smell from a chemical leak.  (March 10, 2002) iKnowRochester.com
• Democrat & Chronicle: APCO cleanup to be discussed A neighborhood group and the city of Rochester will hold a meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Winton Road Branch Library, 611 N. Winton Road, to air questions and concerns about cleaning up the former APCO General Contractor site in northeast Rochester. The project manager for the city, Mark Gregor, can be reached at (585) 428-5978 or by e-mail at mgregor@ci.rochester.lib.ny.us. (March 10, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Democrat & Chronicle: Monroe to update data on Brockport pollution — The Monroe County Health Department plans to issue a newsletter this month with updated information on two inactive hazardous waste sites linked to pollution in the village. It is scheduled to be mailed the week of Monday, March 18, to about 800 people, most of them current and former village residents as well as government officials and other interested parties, said Karen Paris Tuori, a Health Department planner. (March 10, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Democrat & Chronicle: 5 Holley families lose aid; Diaz declares homes safe After tonight, five families who fled Holley, Orleans County, because of a Jan. 5 chemical spill will stop getting free room and board at area motels. Diaz Chemical Corp., a presence on Jackson Street in Holley since 1975, hand-delivered letters Saturday giving the families two days' notice. (Sunday, March 3, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Democrat & Chronicle: Mayor slams CSX's handling of wreck cleanup  — Mayor William Johnson Jr. on Friday sharply criticized the cleanup efforts of CSX Corp. at the site of a December train derailment in Charlotte. "We are not going to take it anymore," Johnson said at a news conference in Rochester. "They have to get on with the cleanup and do it now." (March 1, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Democrat & Chronicle: Cleanup of Brockport site nears — The cleanup of a long-polluted creek, which meanders through a Brockport neighborhood, may finally happen this year, state regulators say. (February 24, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• PoughkeepsieJournal.com - Bush wants GE lawsuit tossed Toxic waste cleanup law challenged WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration asked a federal judge Tuesday to dismiss a lawsuit by General Electric Co. and uphold the Superfund toxic waste cleanup law. The case is being watched closely in the Hudson Valley, where the Environmental Protection Agency recently signed a plan to remove 150,000 pounds of PCBs from the Hudson River. GE is responsible for the cost of the cleanup(February 20, 2002) Poughkeepsie Journal Home Page
• Democrat & Chronicle: Diaz asks to test houses after spill— Diaz Chemical Corp. is asking some residents displaced by a chemical spill last month to allow inspectors to test their homes this week to help ensure that it's safe for them to return  (Tuesday, February 19, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Damage to river wildlife from PCBs under study General Electric faces a wildlife damages claim for alleged harm by toxic PCBs to Hudson River wildlife that could cost millions on top of the $460 million cleanup just made final last week by government officials.
  "This is very, very important because the cleanup decision doesn't address the effects the PCBs have had on the ecology of the river. It just says there are PCBs in the river and GE has to take them out," said Manna Jo Greene, environmental director of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater. "The damages claim could cost more than the cleanup, maybe one or two billion." (February 6, 2002) Welcome to Record Online
• Diaz chemical spill causes weeks of stress in Holley A month after a spill at the Diaz Chemical Corp. plant spewed chemicals onto homes and cars, Dann and about 15 neighbors in the Jackson Street area of the village of Holley are still living in hotels and waiting for answers on whether it's safe to return home. (February 6, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Tests find traces of chemicals in Holley  Whether to return home left to displaced residents to decide HOLLEY  -- Small amounts of chemicals were found at houses near a spill at a pharmaceutical plant last month, but it's up to residents to decide whether it's safe to return, according to test results released Thursday by the state Department of Health. (Friday, February 1, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Concerns about Ontario landfill aired SENECA - Although an informational meeting last night focused on the future of Ontario County's landfill, many residents expressed current concerns over the facility. About 50 people filled the town hall for the two-hour plus meeting to review a draft master plan of the facility. The landfill currently encompasses about 380 acres and the county is in negotiations to purchase an additional eight acres at the south end of the site. (Wednesday, January 23, 2002) Finger Lakes Times
• Victims of leak gird for battle Holley residents organize, prepare lawsuit against Diaz Chemical Corp.-- Holley residents affected by a Jan. 5 chemical leak shared stories of frustration Tuesday night and encouraged each other to hang tough in their new legal battle against Diaz Chemical Corp. (Wednesday, January 23, 2002) DemocratandChronicle.com
• Group hires lawyer after chemical leak HOLLEY - About 20 Holley families who were displaced from their homes by a chemical leak at Diaz Chemical Corp. on Jan. 6 have now hired the law firm that represented residents of the infamous Love Canal. (Tuesday, January 22, 2002) -DemocratandChronicle.com
• Public input sought about landfill future Town residents and the public have been invited to offer their ideas for the future of the Ontario County landfill. SENECA - At a 5:30 p.m. meeting Monday at town hall, a 15- to 20-year master plan for the facility will be reviewed.
  "This is an opportunity for residents to define what the county and town will do with the landfill," said Kevin Spillane, director of the county's Recycling and Landfill Management facility on Routes 5&20. He added that this is the first long-term view of the facility, which opened in the mid-1970s (Friday, January 18, 2002) Finger Lakes Times
• DEC Investigates Holley Chemical Leak Holley, NY - The Department of Environmental Conservation is investigating whether proper procedures were followed after approximately 75 gallons of a chemical used in the production of pharmaceuticals leaked from the Diaz chemical plant in Holley on Saturday night. (Thursday, January 17, 2002) iKnowRochester.com
• After Meeting With Diaz, Holley Residents Still Not Satisfied Holley, NY - Hundreds of Holley residents met with officials from Diaz Chemical Wednesday night to have their questions answered about the chemical spill that occurred in the town nearly two weeks ago. However, those who attended the meeting say they didn't have their main questions answered yet: What exactly is the chemical that was released, and is it harmful? (Thursday, January 17, 2002) iKnowRochester.com
• Holley Cleanup Revives Chemical Smell Holley, NY - Over the weekend, residents of Holley complained of a strong chemical odor similar to that of last week's chemical leak. The company said it wasn't a new leak, but a side effect of cleanup efforts as crews powerwashed residue off four houses.  (Tuesday, January 15, 2002) iKnowRochester.com

2001

• EPA to give more access  Criticized from all sides, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will change the way it communicates with the public before it makes any more decisions about dredging PCBs from the Hudson River. (Thursday, December 6, 2001) Poughkeepsie Journal.com
• Two playgrounds condemned - Fearing harm to children, the Pittsford Central School District will soon tear down arsenic-treated playground equipment at two elementary schools. (Wednesday, November 28, 2001) -DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• Gas leak causes unexpected spending  Village officials expect to pay $100,000 to remove contaminated soil under the public works garage. The soil under the East Rochester public works garage has possibly been contaminated for at least 15 years, and the village is being forced to spend $100,000 to clean up the area. Tuesday, November 27, 2001) East Rochester Post
• Contamination Concerns Near Old Air Force Manufacturing Base  Rochester, NY - During World War II the town of Greece played an important part. It was home to an air force manufacturing base. It is a warehouse now, but at the time ships, B-52 bulkheads and surface to air missile-handling equipment was built there.  (Saturday, November 3, 2001)  iKnowRochester.com 
• Final razing set in Brockport BROCKPORT-- The former home of Kathy and Michael Snyder and their two children is scheduled to be demolished today. (Wednesday, October 31, 2001)  -DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• 3M Begins Razing Contaminated Neighborhood Rochester, NY - Demolition began Monday on five homes in a Brockport neighborhood believed to be contaminated with toxic waste. By Monday night, two vacant homes have been torn down. The homes were sold to the 3M company as part of a legal settlement earlier in the year. (Tuesday, October 30, 2001)  iKnowRochester.com 
• 5 Brockport homes to be razed 3M will tear down contaminated houses as part of village settlement BROCKPORT  -- Five Oxford Street houses will be demolished this week because of industrial contamination in the village. (Sunday, October 28, 2001) - -DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• D-E-C Back In Brockport  Rochester, NY - The Department Of Environmental Conservation is taking a closer look at suspected chemical contamination in Brockport. Samples of the ground four feet down are being collected along tributary three of Brockport Creek. The creek has shown traces of PCB contamination relating to an old chemical plant run my 3M.  (Tuesday, October 23, 2001)  iKnowRochester.com 
• Village of Brockport, 3M reach agreement to tear down five homes  The Village of Brockport has reached a formal agreement with 3M to tear down five contaminated homes near the company's former plant.  (Wednesday, October 16, 2001) WHEC
• Village to crack down on illegal trash dumping Officials say the problem is significantly increasing trash pickup and disposal costs. Village officials say that non-residents who dump their trash in village bins, dumpsters, and curbside receptacles are costing taxpayers thousands of dollars, and vow to crack down on the problem. (Tuesday, September 25, 2001) Perinton/Fairport Post
• Blood tests offered in Brockport Families adjacent to polluted creeks can be screened for PCBs - In an unusual step, state health officials are offering free blood tests to Brockport residents who live along a creek contaminated by polychlorinated bi-phenyls, or PCBs, a toxic family of now-banned chlorinated compounds. -DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• EPA Backs Brownfield Pilot Projects With $2 Million WASHINGTON, August 27, 2001 - Funding for up to 10 pilot projects aims to not only clean up and redevelop brownfield sites but train residents in those communities at the same time, preparing them for future employment in the environmental field. Each selected pilot will receive up to $200,000 over two years. The deadline for submitting proposals for the pilots is October 19. For more information, visit: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields -- (Monday, August 28, 2001) Yahoo News
• Groups urge EPA to study PCB-burning project Contaminated sediment in Wisconsin was burned, turned into a potentially reusable substance FORT EDWARD -- A ceramic-lined furnace in Wisconsin could hold the solution to a troublesome aspect of the federal government's proposal to dredge PCB-tainted sediments from the Hudson River: what to do with the contaminated silt. (Wednesday, August 15, 2001) Times Union
• Brockport Homes In privately held meetings today, officials from 3M, the Department of Environmental Conservation, and the village discussed whether to demolish five homes on Oxford Street. (Friday, August 3, 2001)  (WROC)
• Whitman to Issue Order to Dredge Hudson for PCB's The E.P.A. administrator, Christie Whitman, has agreed to a plan requiring G.E. to spend more than $500 million to clean up the river's bottom. (Wednesday, August 1, 2001) The New York Times
• Brockport cleanup to begin soon After a two-month delay, the General Electric Co. will go on line soon with its Lyman Street air stripper in Brockport. The machine will pump up contaminated ground water fanning southward from an industrial site at 200 State St., treat it and pump it back into the Brockport sewer system. (Wednesday, August 1, 2001) - -DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• Xerox Settles with EPA on Charges it Failed to Monitor Equipment for Air Emissions Will Pay $74,000 and Certify it is Now in Compliance  (Monday, July 30, 2001) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency -- Region 2
• RG&E reports emissions down at Russell Stations Although toxic chemical reduced at coal-burning plant, environmentalists seek more improvement. Rochester Gas and Electric Corp. said that last year's emission levels from their coal-burning power plant in Greece were down six percent from 1999. Greece Post
• Concerns raised over local pesticide spraying The New York Power Authority wants permission to spray in Chili, Henrietta, Perinton, and Pittsford. The authority wants to spray weed killer in nine wetlands in Monroe County, so that their crews can have better access to power lines there. (Monday, July 30, 2001) WHEC
• More testing underway in Brockport  - 3M began running tests Monday on the west side of Oxford Street. The company is taking soil samples to test for chemical contamination (Monday, July 30, 2001) WHEC
• Company accused of polluting Brockport neighborhood expanding testing area  - For the first time 3M will begin running tests next week at homes on the west side of Oxford Street. The company already bought out five houses on the east side of the street. ( July 27, 2001) WHEC
• Pataki pushes Hudson cleanup Last-minute call to EPA chief by governor comes amid talk of compromise plan for dredging PCBs from 6-mile stretch of river With a decision on dredging the Hudson River imminent and talk of a compromise plan, Gov. George E. Pataki for the first time contacted EPA Administrator Christie Whitman to push for a cleanup, officials said Wednesday. (Thursday, July 26, 2001) Times Union
• Pataki lobbies EPA's chief Urges cleanup of PCBs in Hudson River  ALBANY - Gov. George Pataki has personally urged EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman to approve a "comprehensive" cleanup of PCBs in the Hudson River, a spokesman said Wednesday. Whitman, who is nearing a final decision on the issue, is reportedly considering a greatly scaled-back version of the dredging plan recommended by the EPA staff in New York. (Thursday, July 26, 2001) Daily Gazette
• Tanker Truck Spills Fuel Gates, NY - A tanker truck spilled 300 gallons of diesel fuel last night along route I-390, in the northbound lane near Lexington Avenue in Gates. (Tuesday, July 24, 2001)  iKnowRochester.com
• Whitman nears call on PCBs EPA chief says she wants to clean the Hudson and might back a compromise calling for limited removal of chemicals WASHINGTON -- Environmental Protection Agency chief Christie Whitman said Thursday she wants PCBs "cleaned up'' from the upper Hudson River and indicated she is willing to forge a compromise that could include a limited removal of the toxic chemicals from the riverbed. (Saturday, July 21, 2001) Times Union
• Famed pollution fighter tours Brockport  Erin Brockovich-Ellis, the Los Angeles-area legal investigator played by Julia Roberts in an award-winning movie, brought a touch of Hollywood to the quiet village of Brockport yesterday. (Friday, July 20, 2001) -DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• Brockovich In Brockport Today   Brockport, NY - Erin Brockovich, the paralegal who inspired a movie, will be in Brockport today, to take a first-hand look at some toxic waste sites. (Thursday, July 19, 2001) iKnowRochester.com
• Brockovich will visit Brockport toxic sites tomorrow  Brockport will meet Brockovich tomorrow as the legal investigator who inspired the film Erin Brockovich tours two controversial toxic waste sites. (Wednesday, July 18, 2001) -DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• Fuel spill closes Thruway: The New York state Thruway was shut down near Syracuse Wednesday after a tractor-trailer carrying 10,000 gallons of highly flammable jet fuel overturned. (Wednesday, July 18, 2001) -DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• Search for PCBs yields 3 new Superfund sites Albany -- DEC investigation finds these areas tainted by Hudson River sediments disposed of by state DOT A two-year search for PCBs in roads, picnic areas, diners and residences in the Upper Hudson River Valley has uncovered three additional state Superfund sites and more than a dozen areas where contamination levels warrant further research, according to two state reports released Wednesday.  (July 12, 2001) Times Union
• Crotty Testifies on Brownfields Before Congressional Committee Cites Success of State Program and Calls for Federal Liability Reforms New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Erin M. Crotty today spoke at a hearing of the United States House of Representatives Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials, and called for passage of federal legislation to expand and improve efforts to clean up and redevelop brownfields.-- NYS DEC
• Brownfield Debate Still Looms Bill on polluted sites leaves much unanswered, critics say Albany-After the Democrat-controlled state Assembly last week passed its plan to encourage the redevelopment of abandoned, polluted industrial properties known as brownfields, the bill's supporters hailed it as a major advance in the stalemated negotiations over one of the most important environmental issues facing New York. (Tuesday, July 3, 2001) Newsday.com
• Brockport suit adds plaintiffs Contamination complaint against 3M, GE, Black & Decker totals 428 Erin Brockovich wants to visit Brockport contamination sites during a scheduled visit July 19. BROCKPORT -- More than 50 plaintiffs were added yesterday to a $500 million lawsuit against three companies over industrial contamination in the village. (Saturday, June 30, 2001) - DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• Kodak, RG&E cut pollution Reductions in air, water, land emissions were 5-6% last year  -- Two of Rochester's signature companies -- Eastman Kodak and Rochester Gas and Electric -- this week reported their pollution figures for the year 2000.  (Friday, June 29, 2001)  - DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• Landfill cleanup decision available SENECA FALLS - The state Department of Environmental Conservation has issued a finalized record of decision for the cleanup of contaminated bedrock aquifer at the Tantalo Landfill Site.  (Tuesday, June 19, 2001) Finger Lakes Times
• 3M, GE asked for fast cleanup Maziarz unhappy with efforts in Brockport  -- In a sharply worded letter to 3M Co. last week, a Rochester-area state senator asked the Minnesota company to speed cleanup of its contaminated former industrial site on Spring Street. (Saturday, June 16, 2001) -DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• EPA eyeing sites for PCB plants STILLWATER -- Elected officials from along the Hudson River fear the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will soon visit their communities looking for sites to process PCB-contaminated mud. The Saratogian June 12, 2001
• Delays possible for site cleanups  State Department of Environmental Conservation Project Manager Michael MacCabe pauses after taking some photographs in a former plating facility in Wappingers Falls. Cleanup of sites like this may be delayed by failure to pass a state budget. Gov. George Pataki's announcement Thursday that there may be no state budget irked environmentalists who say a failure to act would severely hinder efforts to clean up contaminated sites around the state.  (Friday, June 1, 2001) Poughkeepsie Journal.
• Dump site owner must clean up Company given 60 days to remove construction debris -- Rochester will give the owner of a dump site near High Falls 60 days to clear out tons of construction debris. (Thursday, May 10, 2001)  --DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• 4 WNY industries among top 10 state polluters Four of the top 10 industries that released the most toxic chemicals into the environment in the state in 1999 were in Western New York, according to an annual federal report  ( April 14, 2001) Buffalo News.com
• GE takes steps toward cleaning Brockport water - One of two companies blamed by the DEC for dumping toxic chemicals in Brockport is now installing a water treatment facility. GE took a step on Tuesday towards cleaning up what it left behind. WHEC
• Installation of pump in Brockport set to start - A big truck will rumble down Lyman Street today and deliver on a promise. At 98 Lyman, where once stood a house and a barn, the truck will hoist into place a 12-by-24-foot precast concrete building. It will enclose equipment to pump and treat tainted groundwater underlying the village street. (April 10, 2001)  --DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• Health fears simmer There is no official list of illnesses in polluted area, but surveys hint at problem (April 9, 2001)  --DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
•  Pollution can also hit house values (April 9, 2001)  --DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• Monoco Oil pleads guilty April 6 - An oil company in Pittsford is taking some responsibility for environmental damage. Monoco oil pleaded guilty on Friday to a felony charge of endangering public safety.  (Friday, April 6, 2001) 10NBC/WHEC TV-10 
• DEC: Mammals, Soil Near Hudson River Have Elevated PCB Levels Preliminary Findings Indicate River PCBs May Be Affecting Wildlife. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Erin M. Crotty today announced that findings from preliminary studies of the Upper Hudson River Valley show elevated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in flood plain soils and mammals that live near the river. -- Department of Environmental Conservation
• 500M suit is filed in Brockport Law firms in California and Rochester joined yesterday to file a $500 million lawsuit against three prominent U.S. corporations accused of polluting Brockport for decades. ( March 31, 2001) -DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• RETAILERS ASKED TO REMOVE PESTICIDE FROM SHELVES Attorneys General Say "Why Wait" to Halt Sales of Toxic Product  A coalition of state Attorneys General today called on major national retailers to immediately pull the highly toxic and widely-used pesticide Diazinon from their shelves, rather than slowly phasing out the product as called for by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. (Friday, March 30, 2001) Office of the NYS Attorney General.
• Brockport lawsuit seeks $500 million Update: Law firms in California and Rochester teamed up Friday to file a $500 million lawsuit against three industries accused of polluting a Brockport village for decades. (Friday, March 30, 2001) -DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• 3M Releases Report On Brockport Contamination Brockport, NY - 3M released a report on Tuesday related to possible ground and water contamination in Brockport. 3M is accused of causing the contamination from its former Dynacolor plant. (Wednesday, March 28, 2001) IKnowRochester.com
• Cyanide risk in Brockport called low-- Residents of Oxford Street in Brockport, who sold their homes this month to Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co., face more risk from cyanide in fruit juice and lima beans than from cyanide found in backyard soils, according to a report released this week. (Wednesday, March 28, 2001)  -DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• More reports being released concerning Brockport contamination  Officials from 3M will release their latest findings concerning the toxic dumping troubles in Brockport. (Tuesday, March 27, 2001) WHEC
• Village cleanup plan emerges The work in Brockport could begin as early as this summer  By May 4 or earlier, General Electric Co. and Black & Decker will turn over to state authorities two plans for cleaning up Brockport storm sewers and a creek contaminated with decades' worth of industrial chemicals. ( March 23, 2001) -DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• 3M speaks out about contaminated Brockport site March 21 - Representatives from 3M were in town Wednesday speaking out while residents continue to mount their legal battle. Residents in the area are very concerned about contaminants found in some yards and a creek. The state DEC blames two companies for the contamination, 3M and General Electric. (March 22, 2001) WHEC
• 3M Response In fact, company leaders say the former 3M/DynaColor plant never even used or produced PCB’s. The company also says cyanide found in soil is reported below a level for health risks.(March 22, 2001)  (WROC)
• 3M To Buy Brockport Homes There are reports some Brockport families have agreed to sell their homes located near a former 3M plant to the company. (March 12, 2001) FOXRochester.
• 'Erin Brockovich' firm to file suit in Brockport case  -- The California law firm made famous by the film Erin Brockovich announced yesterday that it will file an environmental lawsuit on behalf of more than 100 families in Brockport. (Thursday, March 8, 2001) -DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• 'Erin Brockovich' Firm To File Suit For Brockport Residents State Finds Contaminants In Brockport 'Brockovich' Lawyer To Investigate Possible Brockport Pollution  Brockport, NY - The California law firm made famous in the movie 'Erin Brockovich' plans to file an environmental lawsuit on behalf of more than 100 families in Brockport. (Thursday, March 8, 2001)   RochesterToday News
• Contaminated  This round of tests extended to the north side of the Erie Canal...and showed what residents say they've known along...that their soil and water is contaminated. Neighbors say they're tired of the testing and want the clean up to begin. (March 7th) (WROC)
• State Finds Contaminants In Brockport The state DEC found high levels of PCBs in this Brockport creek. Brockport, NY - The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has released the results of soil and sediment testing at the former 3M plant in Brockport. There is evidence of contamination, but more study will be done.  (March 7th) RochesterToday News
• Suit over asphalt plant settled (March 6, 2001) -- The owners of a defunct Pittsford asphalt plant will pay $305,000 in fines and penalties, clean an on-site oil spill and establish a $20,000 scholarship honoring a local activist under the terms of a settlement reached last week with the state Attorney General's Office.  (March 6, 2001) -DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• ASPHALT PLANT SETTLEMENT CALLED MODEL FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CLEAN-UP
  Monroe County Firm to Pay Fines, Fund Improvements and Scholarship Program Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Acting Commissioner Gavin J. Donohue today announced that they have reached a settlement with an asphalt plant identified as the source of acute air pollution in the Monroe County community of Pittsford. (March 6, 2001) Office of the NYS Attorney General.
• Brockport family sues GE, others (Friday, March 2, 2001) -- A Brockport man is suing General Electric Co. and some other companies in federal court, claiming that his property was damaged by industrial pollution. (March 2,2001) -DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• Brockport Pollution Testing Environmental concerns in Brockport have prompted more testing. Companies that once had factories there are working with the Department of Environmental Conservation to find the source of pollution in the area's groundwater and streams. (February 26, 2001) RNews.com
• DEC to clean up Trimmer Road Landfill An old landfill is a potential threat to the groundwater in northwest Monroe County. Citizens of the town of Parma pressed elected officials to take care of the problem. Now, the Department of Environmental Conservation will do something about it. (February 26, 2001) 10NBC/WHEC TV-10
• Plans Underway To Clean Up Parma Landfill Rochester, NY - Twenty-seven years after the closing of the Trimmer Road Landfill in Parma, there is a plan to clean it up. The State DEC held a meeting last night to discuss the plan. It includes topping the site with soil, planting trees around the site and watching to see if the remedy is working. After a year of study, the state found that the landfill does not pose a threat to people nearby, but should be cleaned up. (February 26, 2001) RochesterToday News
• Pollutants plague DPW garage The village and the state DEC will clean up petroleum contaminants.
  The village and the state Department of Environmental Conservation are working to clean up petroleum pollutants in the ground near the Department of Public Works garage. (February 22, 2001) East Rochester Post.
• New vehicle specializes in cleaning spills -- Suppose there's a serious hazardous spill involving a tanker-truck in Monroe County. HazMat 8 -- the county's new hazardous materials response vehicle -- can begin sizing up the dangers before even arriving on the accident scene. (February 22, 2001) -DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• Brockovich' lawyer considers Brockport case Investigators will be doing some testing in potentially contaminated areas over the next few weeks. (February 20, 2001) Brockport Post
• Brockport contamination site getting more attention A contamination problem in Brockport is getting even more attention. Congressman John LaFalce is planning to meet with residents in the affected area on Thursday. Last week we learned the powerhouse legal team of Ed Masry and Erin Brockovich are looking into the case. (February 14, 2001) 10NBC/WHEC TV-10
• Brockovich Lawyer To Investigate Possible Brockport Pollution Brockport, NY - Ed Masry, the lawyer depicted in the movie Erin Brockovich, was in Brockport Saturday. He is investigating possible soil and water contamination from the former 3M Dynacolor plant in the 1960s and 1970s.
• DEC probe continues A former Manchester gas station may be the site of contamination. (January 2, 2001) Daily Messenger
• Survey Results On Waste Sites in Brockport Mailed To Residents  PDF Link: Brockport Waste Study.pdf  -- News Releases from Jack Doyle, Monroe County Executive.

2000

• Former hazardous site declared safe The state will remove the former Sigismondi landfill from its list of hazardous waste sites. The state Department of Environmental Conservation has completed its investigation of a Linden Avenue hazardous waste site, concluding the site no longer poses a health risk. During a public information meeting Tuesday, DEC officials said they will remove the former Sigismondi landfill site at 870-882 Linden Ave. from the agency's list of Class 2 inactive hazardous waste disposal sites. The property is located in Pittsford. (December 22, 2000) East Rochester Post.
• State orders more testing at contaminated site Additional tests are needed at the former GE/Black & Decker site before cleanup begins. State tests show that contamination at two former industrial sites in Brockport is more severe and more widespread than state officials had anticipated. (December 20, 2000) Brockport Post.
• Brownfields: Broome's catch-22 Cleanup costs chase developers to greener pastures  Imagine 100 acres of crumbling asphalt, vacant factories and ground tinged with chemicals. If you live in Broome County, it's a wasteland in your hometown, and nobody can seem to do much about it. (December 17, 2000)  Press& Sun Bulletin.
• Superfund cleanups' shortfalls highlighted  SCHENECTADY - About 20 local environmentalists gathered at a contaminated neighborhood property to bring attention to impending shortfalls in a state program aimed at cleaning up toxic landfills and waste sites. (December 10, 2000)  DailyGazette.com
• State's own cleanup record poor Report finds serious violations rising in agencies' own back yards ALBANY, N.Y. (December 10, 2000) -- State agencies have failed to correct many of their own serious environmental problems, including raw sewage being discharged at a Livingston County prison, according to a new Department of Environmental Conservation report. (December 10, 2000) DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• More Contaminants Found More concerns for residents living along the contaminated Brockport Creek. New tests show the problem is greater than first thought.  (December 5, 2000) RNews.
• Environmentalists protest Superfund expiration Albany-- Groups say lack of extension jeopardizes sites slated for cleanup (November 28, 2000) Times Union. Here's a quote from the article: "The expiration of New York's Superfund is the most critical issue facing the Legislature, state environmental officials said Monday." 
• Cleanup progressing at warehouse  -- State contractors finished another phase of cleanup work last week at a contaminated vacant warehouse in southeast Rochester. (November 18, 2000) DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• RG&E plans cleanup of contaminated site A tar-like substance was found at the site last spring.
  Rochester Gas and Electric Corp. is currently making preparations to cleanup a tar-like substance found on property the company owns at the corner of Erie and Perry streets in Brockport. (November 8, 2000) Brockport Post.
• Brockport Clean Up Workers returned to the site of a former plant to remove toxic soil from three sites. Neighbors say the company has dumped cyanide in the ground for decades. But they’re not satisfied with clean up efforts. Neighbors say 3M will leave much of the mess behind. (November 2, 2000) (WROC)
• Empty factories loom over Lyell Ave.. In July, the Legal Department obtained a court order to gain entry to the privately owned buildings for the purpose of conducting an environmental investigation. That preliminary investigation -- just completed -- revealed that all five parcels have asbestos and there may be petroleum in the groundwater. About 10 to 20 drums of hazardous waste were also found. (October 30, 2000) DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• 3M to cleanup contaminated soil next week A 75 feet by 100 feet patch of blue soil will be removed from the former 3M/Dynacolor site. A small piece of one of Brockport's hazardous waste sites is slated to be cleaned up (October 21, 2000) RochesterToday
• Concerns Over Tainted Creek Residents living near the contaminated Brockport Creek got their first public chance to speak out about their concerns. (September 28, 2000) RNews.com
• Owners of a 129-acre parcel say contaminants have seeped from the landfill to their property. MACEDON - The Town Board has hired the law firm of Boylan, Brown, Code, Vigdor and Wilson to defend Macedon in a $6.5 million suit filed by Macedon Land Development Corp. (September 20, 2000)  Canandaigua.com
• Creek Concerns Continue Concerns over the contaminated Brockport Creek could soon be addressed. For the first time, health and environmental officials are planning to meet with the public. (September 18, 2000) RNews.
• State threatens Pittsford plant Monoco allegedly balks at cleanup; might face $5.2 million in penalties PITTSFORD --  -- The state Attorney General's Office is again zeroing in on the closed Monoco Oil plant -- this time demanding that owners clean up a March 1999 oil spill and pay $5.2 million in penalties. (September 14, 2000) DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• State AG targets Monoco again Monoco Oil in Pittsford is again being targeted by the state Attorney General's Office -- this time for failing to clean up its site after the company shut down in March. ( September 13, 2000) DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• STATE SEEKS CLEANUP AT MONROE COUNTY ASPHALT PLANT $5.2 Million in Civil Penalties Sought Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner John Cahill today announced they are seeking a court order compelling the owners of a Monroe County asphalt plant to clean up environmental damage and pay $5.2 million in civil penalties.  -- ( September 13, 2000) Press Releases from the Office of the NYS Attorney General.
• State studies Chili dump The study the state Department of Environmental Conservation is conducting on the Golden Road disposal site in Chili will determine how best to clean up the area while minimizing the impact on human health and the environment. The study will conclude this fall. (August 16, 2000) Gates-Chili Post.
• State sues ex-plant owners over Coxsackie cleanup THE STATE Attorney's General's Office has filed a $7 million lawsuit against the former owner of Coxsackie's American Valve Manufacturing Corp. to recoup cleanup costs for the toxic waste site. (July 18, 2000) DailyFreeman.com
• Waterloo site to be studied WATERLOO - A site where combustible gas was stored 100 years ago will be studied this summer to determine if contamination at the site could impact human health or the environment.-July 11, 2000 Finger Lakes Times
• Black Creek Cleanup On Hold Heavy rains and muddy conditions have put a Black Creek cleanup effort on hold. (June 14, 2000) RochesterToday
• Residents clean up hazardous materials This weekend was a chance to get rid of those leftover cans of paint in the basement. -6/10/00--TOP NEWS From WHEC, and MSNBC
• EPA MAKES MODIFIED CLEANUP FINAL FOR CONTAMINATED MATERIALS IN TWO
  LAGOONS AT THE GENERAL MOTORS SUPERFUND SITE IN MASSENA, NEW YORK 6/07/00-- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency—Region 2, New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands,290 Broadway - New York, New York 10007-1866,www.epa.gov/region2
• DEC investigates area landfill The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the department of health are investigating an area landfill. -6/06/00--TOP NEWS From WHEC, and MSNBC
• COMMUNITY GROUPS AND ELECTED OFFICIALS CALL ON LEGISLATURE TO PASS BROWNFIELDS REFORM LAW A broad coalition of community-based organizations from around the State today joined a bi-partisan group of Legislators to call for the enactment of a comprehensive Brownfields law before the Legislature adjourns in June. The organizations are part of the Brownfields Coalition, a unique and diverse group of over 70 organizations, representing community leaders, environmentalists, environmental justice advocates and businesses.--Environmental Advocates
• Waste site to be cleaned up Soon, a large section of the city containing hazardous waste will be cleaned up. -5/27/00--TOP NEWS From WHEC, and MSNBC
• Last Of Love Canal Comes Down (Niagara Falls, NY) -- The last visible reminder of the environmental nightmare at Love Canal has started to come down, as crews have begun demolition of the 93rd Street School in Niagara Falls.--4/03/00 AOL.com Rochester
• Toxic waste concerns in city neighborhood It’s on Woodstock Road, the site of the former APCO General Contractors.-4/19/00--TOP NEWS From WHEC, and MSNBC
• Environmental Groups: NY Superfund Faces Shortfall NEW YORK - New York State's Superfund toxic dump program faces a $55 million shortfall this year, a coalition of environmental groups have charged, adding that 790 communities live next to leaking dumps. (Reuters)
• State's toxic waste fund may run out of money  New York's ability to clean up nearly 800 toxic waste sites is endangered by a looming money gap in the state Superfund program, a coalition of environmentalists said yesterday. (April 27, 2000) --DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE

 

• City Dump Site In Greece

  •  Contaminated dirt to be removed from Greece neighborhood There was a meeting Wednesday night for concerned residents of the Autumn Heights neighborhood in Greece. Rochester city officials say contaminated dirt that was dumped in the Greece neighborhood should be cleaned up by November. A city-hired contractor dumped the dirt in the Autumn Heights neighborhood sometime last year. (September 4, 2003) MSNBC Local News
  • Democrat & Chronicle: City to develop plan for Greece cleanup — The city of Rochester will develop a formal plan in the next two weeks to clean up solid waste from a Greece neighborhood. City officials agreed Tuesday to deliver a plan to Greece by Aug. 13 that would detail how 4,600 cubic yards of solid waste from the Port of Rochester will be removed from near Kirk Road, said Greece Supervisor John Auberger. A city contractor was supposed to deliver the waste to a landfill last April. (July 31, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
  •  Democrat & Chronicle: Dispute erupts over dump — A dispute between Greece’s supervisor and Rochester Mayor William A. Johnson Jr. presents a window into how the election season might look in the coming months. Supervisor John Auberger on Tuesday accused Johnson of covering up an unauthorized city dump site in Greece because of how it might affect Johnson’s image during his Democratic campaign for Monroe County executive. (July 23, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle

• Tanker Crash site:

  •  Broken pipe leads to gasoline spill ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) - Fuel that leaked several months ago from an underground gasoline pipe has contaminated the basements of nearby homes and seeped into the Erie Canal. The spill was detected March 2 at Buckeye Terminals, near Interstate 390. Company officials said a pipe that runs between a gasoline storage tank and the terminal where trucks are fueled, broke and pumped thousands of gallons of gas into the ground, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported in Friday editions. (June 22, 2003) MSNBC Local News
  • No charges to be filed in deadly tanker crash No criminal charges will be filed in the deadly tanker truck explosion from last month. (June 1, 2003) MSNBC Local News
  • Investigation continues into tanker fire Families forced out of their homes by a tanker explosion are starting to move back in. Still three weeks after this deadly accident on West Ridge Road in the city, police have yet to finish their investigation. (May 25, 2003) MSNBC Local News
  •  Concerns About Tanker Spill - The over turned tanker, that crashed near Kodak Park spilled gasoline nearly an entire city block. Both county and state environmental departments are accessing the impact caused by thousands of gallons of gasoline flowing onto West Ridge Road. There were concerns the fuel from the tanker could have damaged the environment or caused a health problem. (May 1, 2003) R News: Your NewsChannel
  • Crews Removing Contaminated Soil From Tanker Accident Site  Rochester, NY - The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will continue the removal of contaminated soil on Thursday from the site of the tanker accident on West Ridge Road in Rochester. Crews are removing the gasoline-contaminated soil from the scene and testing it, then hauling it off to a dump. More than six inches of topsoil was removed on Wednesday. (May 1, 2003) WOKR-TV 13 ROCHESTER || NEWS
  • Inexperience, Half-Full Tank Might Have Factored In Accident - Rochester, NY - The driver of the tanker involved in Tuesday's accident received his commercial license to haul hazardous materials only seven months ago. Authorities are investigating whether inexperience played a role. They're also looking at the safety record for the company he works for which is well above average. (May 1, 2003) WOKR-TV 13 ROCHESTER || NEWS
  •  Democrat & Chronicle: Cleanup of soil begins after truck blast The environmental cleanup at the site of a deadly tanker truck accident is under way today. The state Department of Environmental Conservation is supervising the removal of soil contaminated by thousands of gallons of spilled gasoline that did not burn off in the explosion -- a fiery blast that killed one and injured 11. (April 30, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
  • Democrat & Chronicle: Soil contamination at crash site is the top environmental concern — When city Councilman Robert J. Stevenson visited the blackened scene of the massive gasoline fireball Tuesday morning, he noticed something missing. “A beautiful Norway spruce that was 40 feet high,” said Stevenson, whose Northwest District includes the scorched neighborhood. “Today, it’s a stick.” (April 30, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
  •  Democrat & Chronicle: Tanker site mop-up begins — The environmental cleanup at the site of a deadly tanker truck accident got under way Wednesday. The state Department of Environmental Conservation is supervising the removal of soil contaminated by thousands of gallons of spilled gasoline that did not burn off in the explosion that killed one person and injured 11 others.  (May 1, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle

• Dias in Holly

  • EPA To Help Holley Residents - The federal government is offering more help for Holley residents hurt by the Diaz chemical leak in 2002. -(March 26, 2004) R News: Your NewsChannel
  • Democrat & Chronicle: Frustrations over Diaz aired at Holley hearing — HOLLEY — Residents of this tiny Orleans County village are grateful that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is on the scene to clean up contamination left behind by a defunct chemical company.
    But they wonder why their concerns and complaints about Diaz Chemical Corp. went unheard during the company’s 29 years of operation on Jackson Street. (March 25, 2004) Democrat and Chronicle
  • Democrat & Chronicle: Diaz site may be added to EPA list Contaminated plant in Holley could get federal cleanup funds.-— HOLLEY — The contaminated site of the former Diaz Chemical Corp. in Orleans County may be added to the Environmental Protection Agency’s list of the nation’s worst hazardous waste sites. (March 9, 2004) Democrat and Chronicle
  • Democrat & Chronicle: Chemicals found in 2 homes — HOLLEY— Chemical testing in two houses affected by the 2002 chemical spill from the Diaz Chemical Corp. plant has unearthed new hazardous chemicals and dangerous heavy metals, according to an announcement Monday by attorneys representing the homeowners. Forensic Environmental Analytical Services of Rushville, Yates County, conducted tests on the home of Anita Trupo on Feb. 24 and Patrick Dann on April 4, said Linda Shaw, one of the attorneys representing Trupo, Dann and some other Holley homeowners and residents in a lawsuit against Diaz. (August 5, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
  •  Investigation Of Possible Leak In Holley - Things are back to normal in the Village of Holley, for the most part, although Mayor Dan Schiavone says some people may still be edgy because of a small chemical leak at the now-closed Diaz chemical plant Thursday night into early Friday morning.. Haz-Mat teams were called out when a 24-hour security guard at the plant called officials to tell them about a small leak of a chemical used in refrigeration. (July 5, 2003) http://www.wham1180.com
  •  Democrat & Chronicle: EPA testing ex-Diaz plant site — HOLLEY - The Environmental Protection Agency this week is conducting tests to determine if a defunct village chemical plant caused widespread contamination. EPA spokesman Mike Basile said the agency is taking dust, air, soil and groundwater samples from 30 homes around the Diaz Chemical Corp. plant on Jackson Street. The homes to be tested include those of 10 Holley families who have refused to return to their houses following a January 2001 chemical release that blanketed parts of the village with a cloud of about 80 gallons of steam, toluene and the relatively new chemical compound 2-chloro-6-fluorophenol. (June 26, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
  • Diaz Closes For Good - Holley's largest employer is no longer in business.- The company struggled to survive after a chemical release at the plant last January. (June 23, 2003) WOKR-TV 13 || ROCHESTER
  • Democrat & Chronicle: Diaz still using sewers in Holley — Diaz Chemical Corp. will continue to use the village’s sanitary sewer system although its contract to do so expired May 31. The company said that since it is in the process of shutting down its operations, it no longer is a “significant industrial user” and does not need a contract to use the sewers. Village officials say the company still needs a contract, but will allow it to use the sewers until the village can determine whether cutting off access would exacerbate existing contamination at Diaz’s Jackson Street facility. (June 6, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
  • Democrat & Chronicle: State to monitor Diaz closing — HOLLEY — State environmental regulators will oversee a chemical company’s shutdown of a factory that leaked a pungent chemical early last year. Diaz Chemical Co., which ceased production in mid-May, expects to spend two months decommissioning the plant.  (May 31, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
  •  Democrat & Chronicle: Diaz shuts down operations — HOLLEY — Diaz Chemical Corp. has shut down its operations. Unless lawsuits are settled or money to pay for required safety equipment is found, it could close permanently. “They have ceased manufacturing chemicals because they have to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency order to cease or install redundant safety equipment,” said Diaz attorney Tom Walsh. (May 21, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
  •  Democrat & Chronicle: Diaz ordered to stay in Holley — ALBION — Acting state Supreme Court Justice James P. Punch has issued a temporary restraining order preventing Diaz Chemical Corp. from abandoning its Holley, Orleans County, plant without adequately securing the property and ensuring that ongoing environmental cleanup will continue. (May 14, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
  • Democrat & Chronicle: Clinton praises EPA, urges more Diaz testing — U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is urging the Environmental Protection Agency to take more steps to ensure the health of Orleans County residents living near Diaz Chemical Corp. In a letter sent Friday to EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman, Sen. Clinton lauded the agency’s action last week requiring Diaz to upgrade its equipment and safety procedures but said additional testing in the Holley area must be done to ensure the plant has not caused widespread contamination since it opened in 1974. (April 20, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
  • Democrat & Chronicle: Diaz fights fine by Holley — Diaz Chemical Corp. is disputing a fine imposed by the village of Holley over 17 violations of local pollution regulations in 2002. The fine, $17,000, was due last Friday. And Mayor Daniel W. Schiavone has threatened to fine the company $1,000 a day until the fines are paid, according to village documents. (February 27, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
  • Democrat & Chronicle: New York extends Diaz public comment period — HOLLEY — The state Department of Health has extended the public comment period on the November draft Public Health Assessment of the January 2002 chemical spill at Diaz Chemical Corp. “We wanted to make sure everybody had the chance to review the information and get their comments in,” said Joe Rohm, Department of Health spokesman. The comment period was set to expire Jan. 31, but will now run through Feb. 10.  (February 4, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
  •  Democrat & Chronicle: Cleanup of houses in Holley extended EPA says work to eliminate traces of chemical will take till end of Feb.— The Environmental Protection Agency cleanup of Holley, Orleans County, houses affected by a chemical release one year ago is taking longer than expected. (February 2, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
  • Democrat & Chronicle: Holley tests detect chemical — HOLLEY — Urine samples taken in December from some village residents still show detectable levels of a chemical spilled last January. The state Health Department this week released results of testing done Dec. 11 which showed that traces of 2-chloro-6-fluorophenol were found in “fewer than six” of 10 samples. The report also said no CFP was detected in most tested individuals. (January 18, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
  •  Democrat & Chronicle: Holley fines Diaz $17,000 — HOLLEY — The Village Board has slapped Diaz Chemical Corp. with $17,000 in fines for repeated violations of the company’s industrial waste-water permit. The board voted unanimously and without discussion Tuesday to sanction the company on Jackson Street for 17 permit violations through November. (January 15, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
  •  Democrat & Chronicle: Some claims bogus, says Diaz — HOLLEY — The Diaz Chemical Corp. has fired back at a group of village residents who filed a $60 million lawsuit against the company over a Jan. 5, 2002, chemical release. In a countersuit filed Dec. 30, Diaz attorneys allege that some of the residents who sued the company filed bogus reimbursement claims, double-billed the Environmental Protection Agency and Diaz for some meals and also spent long periods of time in their homes while living in hotel rooms provided by Diaz. (January 10, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
  • Democrat & Chronicle: Diaz spill leaves fear, fiscal scars — HOLLEY — For Rick Catlin, this holiday season served as a painful reminder of the one thing he couldn’t provide for his family: a quick return to their Geddes Street home. (January 4, 2003)  Democrat and Chronicle

• CSX Train Crash in December of 2001

  •  Democrat & Chronicle: 3 lawsuits seek faster CSX cleanup — Three Charlotte businesses have sued CSX Transportation Inc., alleging that the rail company is moving too slowly to clean up contamination left after the fiery train derailment in December 2001. (December 31, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
  • Democrat & Chronicle: Schumer: Pace of CSX cleanup hampers riverfront projects — CSX Transportation needs to quit dillydallying and fully clean up a chemical spill in Charlotte, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said Monday. The delay, especially in cleaning up the Genesee River, is hampering a city project along the waterway and potentially puts taxpayers on the hook for the December 2001 train accident, he said. Schumer wrote a letter Monday to CSX Chief Executive Officer Michael J. Ward expressing his displeasure. (April 1, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
  • Democrat & Chronicle: CSX will not face charges in crash — The state Attorney General’s Office has decided not to pursue criminal charges against CSX Transportation for a fiery train derailment in Charlotte about a year ago. “There was not enough hard evidence there to support criminal charges against the company,” attorney general spokesman Marc Violette said Monday.  (January 28, 2003) Democrat and Chronicle
  • City still at odds with CSX one year after train derailment - For people in Charlotte, many of them clearly remember December 23, 2001 when a CSX train carrying coal and chemicals from Kodak derailed. The crash caused a huge fire and contaminated soil in the area. One year later the city is still at odds with the company about cleaning up the mess it left behind. (December 27, 2002) MSNBC Local News
  • Democrat & Chronicle: Questions linger a year after CSX crash Charlotte cleanup '90 percent done,' but not questions about long term affects (December 23, 2002)  Democrat and Chronicle