Published: October 08, 2007 12:11 pm      

CITY OF TONAWANDA: Residents send strong message to Army Corps

Sylvia Fritz wanted so badly to make sure that the federal government knows her opinion on the Tonawanda landfill that she tracked down the people who were asking for residents’ signatures Sunday afternoon.

As City of Tonawanda Council President Carl Zeisz, Councilman Rick Davis and Erie County 10th District Legislator Michele Iannello were walking Hackett Street collecting signatures on a letter that will be sent to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fritz drove to them to make sure she wasn’t missed on their rounds.

Fritz and dozens of other neighbors on Hackett Drive and Wadsworth Court gladly signed the letter, which states that the Army Corps’ decision to take no further action on the landfill, contaminated with radioactive waste, is “not only immoral but down right criminal.” The letter also accuses the Army Corps of eluding responsibility.

It’s the latest effort by local elected officials to make sure the Army Corps knows exactly how residents feel before the comment period on the federal government’s proposed plan for the landfill closes Oct. 15. The Corps has determined that there is no evidence that the contaminants in the Town of Tonawanda landfill were illegally dumped by the Linde Air Products Division of Union Carbide, which processed uranium ores at its ceramics plant in Tonawanda from 1942 to 1946 as part of the “Manhattan Project.” As a result, the Corps says it is not responsible for the cleanup.

Last month, the state Department of Environmental Conservation issued a rebuttal to the Corps’ proposal, stating that the federal government is responsible for cleaning up the site.

Leo McQueen, of 76 Hackett, summed up the sentiments of many of his neighbors. “I’d like to see something done with it,” he said. “If there is (contamination) over there, then it should be gotten rid of.”

Robert Gadt, who lives at 50 Hackett, has similar concerns. “I would like to see it cleared out. It’s been going on too long,” he said.

Joseph Rybak agrees. He’s lived on Wadsworth for almost four decades and wants the issue resolved.

“It should be a combined effort (between the DEC and Army Corps). One group cannot handle it all,” Rybak said, adding “it should be cleaned up once and for all so the land could be reused in the near future.”

“I’d like to see them remove the contaminants — get rid of it once and for all. People are dying out there and there has to be a cause,” Rybak said.

Donna Wythe said her sister moved to the neighborhood 40 years ago and never suffered seizures until she came here. “That is odd to me,” Wythe said. “I think this is another Love Canal, if you ask me,” she said, referring to the Niagara Falls neighborhood that sat atop 21,000 tons of toxic waste.

Davis said the group collected between 50 and 60 signatures, and he plans to obtain more throughout the week before sending the letters off to the Corps’ Buffalo District Office by week’s end. Additional letters will be sent to Rep. Louise Slaughter and Sens. Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton.

“They are the ones who can really persuade the Army Corps to change their course,” he said.

Iannello said the main concern residents shared was in regards to their health, especially “not knowing whether they’ve been affected or will be affected in the future if the uranium stays there,” she said.

She also said it’s important for the local elected officials to keep the issue at the forefront for higher office-holders for the sake of the residents who live near the landfill.

The Corps needs to clean out the landfill “so we don’t have to wonder,” Iannello said. “They’ve cleaned up other landfills that don’t have residents living nearby and to me this is more important because there are residents living near there. Get it cleaned out.”

Contact reporter David J. Hill at 693-1000, ext. 115.