The Buffalo Chronicle
Environment
Environmental issues across Western New York, from the Great Lakes to the air we breathe.
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Buffalo’s $61.4 million heat network won approval. The state’s own math says heat pumps would cut carbon for less
National Fuel’s sewer-heated thermal network for downtown Buffalo is one of two pilots the state approved out of 11. The commission’s own figures show it would cut carbon at about three and…
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DOE touts West Valley cleanup progress, but the study behind its biggest decision still hasn’t been released
The Energy Department is highlighting demolition and a rebuilt spillway at the West Valley nuclear site, but the draft study it projected for late 2025, which underpins a Phase 2 cleanup decision…
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A vacant Swan Street corner is slated for housing. Tests found lead at 50 times the residential cleanup limit
A developer who grew up nearby wants to build apartments and affordable townhomes at Swan and Chicago streets. His consultant’s tests found lead, mercury and buried tanks, and the state is taking…
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Radioactive slag was documented at a Town of Niagara drive-in in 2020. Neighbors are still waiting for answers
A 2020 report for Niagara County’s land bank found radiation on a vacant Witmer Road drive-in across Gill Creek from homes and recommended a $1.25 million cleanup. Six years later, neighbors are…
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Two weeks after neighbors reported it, the state still hasn’t said where the oil in the Buffalo River is coming from
DEC’s spill record for the South Buffalo sheen lists diesel, mineral oil and latex, with the source “Unknown” and no volume. The same stretch near Ogden Street has had unexplained petroleum sheens…
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House approves Coastal and Great Lakes Communities Enhancement Act, with Higgins’ amendment
Higgins’ Measure Addresses Algal Blooms in the Great Lakes Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26) announced the House of Representatives approved the Coastal and Great Lakes Communities Enhancement Act (H.R. 729), a bipartisan package…
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Tonko congratulates Santabarbara on A+ rating from conservation voters
Advocacy, legislative work on local environmental issues in Montgomery County cited Albany-area Congressman Paul D. Tonko is congratulating Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara again received an A+ rating from the New York League of…
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Ortt’s silence on Wheatfeild’s Love Canal Dump angers his NT base
The recently indicted Senator Robert Ortt (R-North Tonawanda) owes his political career to his mentor, the former Senator and also recently indicted George Maziarz (R-Newfane), who ruled over Niagara County politics for…
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Ricciuti pans accuracy of Kratt’s new book, “Niagara Falls in WWII”
BY LOU RICCIUTI Aside from the heart-string-tugging stories of the veterans, their families, their lives and sacrifices, Michelle Ann Kratts’ Niagara Falls in World War II is technically a historical fiction at best. Single-sourced…
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10 heartwarming photos of the celebration at Standing Rock
The US Army Corps of Engineers announced they will no longer allow the DAPL to cross under a river near the Standing Rock reservation. via 10 Heartwarming Photos of the Celebration at Standing…
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A primer on Quasar’s equate
BY FRANK PARLATO ‘Equate,’ the brown, blackish, mulch-like product – with a piquant taste and curious smell – is made up of about 60 percent human excrement, mixed with other undissolved solids…
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Conundrum remains unaddressed along Smokes Creek
BY MIKE HUDSON High priced flood insurance, erosion that eats up your back yard and government inaction are just a few of the joys associated with creekside living in Lackawanna. For years,…
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DEC launches investigation into illegal dumping in Niagara Falls
BY MATTHEW RICCHIAZZI Since The Reporter broke a story about illegal dumping at a city-operated composting facility last week, the State’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has launched an investigation into the illegal dumping.…
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Cuomo pressured to veto Great Lakes water withdrawal scheme
BY JAMES HUFNAGEL Later this month, and for the second time during his five years in office, Gov. Andrew Cuomo will make a decision that has enormous implications for the future of…
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Cuomo’s inaction on Scajaquada clean up raises eyebrows
BY C.B. MILLER Governor Andrew Cuomo promised to rebuild Buffalo with great fanfare, branding his economic development spending as the Buffalo Billion. While Elon Musk received $750 million of Buffalo’s Billion, the city’s aging…
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Pridgen must apologize for putting tenants at risk
THE EDITORIAL BOARD Councilman Darius Pridgen is circulating a two paragraph legal opinion on social media, appearing to be on the stationary of Harter, Secrest & Emory, making the claim that the residents at…
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WNY keeps getting fleeced by Power Authority
BY FRANK PARLATO The New York Power Authority (NYPA) successfully installed the three remaining floating sections of the Lake Erie-Niagara River ice boom on December 28, completing the work for the 2015-2016…
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Toxic legacy of lead smelting at the Ferry Fields
The land affectionately known as the Ferry Fields — now the site of True Bethel Townhomes — was used as a massive dumping ground for toxic ash, a byproduct of lead production and…
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Pridgen knew about toxins at housing site
Councilman Darius Pridgen was well aware of toxic contaminants at 858 East Ferry Street, long before he developed the industrial site into market rate residential housing, located across the street from his ministry.…
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Meadows: Pridgen must be accountable to the community
BY CAROLETTE MEADOWS The black community has been indoctrinated to the point of brainwashing to never question the “man of God.” But the Bible warns of building wealth. Jesus never worked with Caesar but instead…
