Published: December 23, 2007 12:37 am      

TOP 10: Landfill and its contents concern city residents

North Tonawanda, NY — No. 9 story of the year: State DEC, Corps of Engineers can’t come to a compromise on cleanup.

staff reports

The Town of Tonawanda landfill that runs along Hackett Drive in the city has been in the news dozens of times throughout the year. And yet, as residents of that area can attest, nothing tangible seems to have happened.

The stalemate is the result of a back-and-forth dispute between the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, with each agency saying the other is responsible for remediating the landfill.

Meanwhile, hundreds of city residents — including employees and parents of the children who attend nearby Riverview Elementary School — are left to wonder two things: whether the radioactive material in the landfill truly is harmful, and who is going to clean it up, if anyone at all.

A major development in the disagreement between the state and the federal government came in September, when the DEC issued a statement rebuking the Army Corps’ proposed plan for the landfill. The Army Corps has said that the radioactive materials are not harmful to residents, essentially absolving the federal government of the issue.

But in its report, the DEC blasted the Corps, saying it “strongly disagrees with the denials” being made by the Corps.

With the public comment period on the proposed plan having closed in October, the Army Corps is expected to deliver its “record of decision” — it’s final say on the landfill — within the next nine months.

Fourth Ward Councilman Rick Davis has taken the lead on the city’s common council in keeping the heat on state and federal officials, while the citizens group known as CURE — Clean Up Riverview’s Environment — is doing its part.

Throughout the year, Davis fired off numerous letters requesting a mitigation of dust, debris and noise affecting residents because of the work being done by EnSol Inc., the company hired by the town to cap the landfill. He has also called for testing of residents’ properties and soil to find out if there are heightened levels of toxic chemicals, and wants a cancer study done in the area.

Before the comment period closed, Davis, along with Common Council President Carl Zeisz and Erie County Legislator Michele Iannello, D-10th District, canvassed the Riverview neighborhood, obtaining signatures from residents on a letter to be sent to the Army Corps. Some city Republicans called it a political stunt, but more than 150 residents signed off on the letter.