Targeting haulers of toxic waste

Local News

May 30, 2010

By Joyce M. miles joyce.miles@niagara-gazette.com Niagara Gazette The Niagara Gazette Sun May 30, 2010, 12:03 AM EDT

NIAGARA FALLS — A Lewiston-Porter area legislator wants the county to consider new requirements on truckers hauling hazardous wastes through the county to the CWM landfill.

Legislation suggested by Clyde Burmaster, R-Ransomville, would require truckers to obtain a permit from the county to use its roads; and notify Niagara County Haz-Mat in advance of the route trucks are taking, the time they’ll be coming through and what materials they’re hauling.

The legislation also would OK cleanup invoices to haulers when HazMat responds to spills and impose fines on both the truck owner and the operator who is caught driving a leaking vehicle on county roads. Fines would be earmarked for county spending on health and legal issues tied to landfills.

“There needs to be some way to make sure the public isn’t overly exposed” to the toxic wastes, including PCBs, that are being transported throughout the county from other counties and other states, Burmaster said Friday.

Burmaster’s district is home to the only licensed hazardous waste dump in the eastern United States. He speaks primarily for constituents opposed to CWM’s attempt to expand chemical landfill operations in their backyard, but he argues residents countywide have reasons to be concerned about CWM.

As long as it’s open for business, the chemical landfill is attracting truck traffic that hauls scary stuff through Niagara’s communities — and trucks leaking waste are not an uncommon occurrence, Burmaster said.

Latest information from the Department of Environmental Conservation indicate two CWM-bound trucks were cited for leaking waste in November 2009 and two more were cited in December 2009.

State police are allowed to stop and inspect waste hauling trucks randomly, but Burmaster says the agency is putting staff on the task only twice a month. The county should have the power to monitor waste traffic more closely, he said.

“Certainly, it’s a potential risk to residents when Haz-Mat has to clean up ... and it’s a big expense to the county,” Burmaster said. “This is a serious issue that needs to be addressed.”

Whether the county can impose local rules on waste haulers is uncertain, Burmaster acknowledged. Preliminarily, he said, County Attorney Claude Joerg advised him the county may not have the right to regulate highways; that, possibly, only state and federal agencies can do.

“Claude is researching it, but (initially) he said it appears the county can regulate only two kinds of trucks, including ice cream trucks,” Burmaster said. “So if we’re in danger of getting fat because the ice cream truck overturned, we can get after that — but we can’t do anything about the trucks

containing these lethal materials.”

Joerg was not available Friday to comment on the proposed regulations.

The Legislature has considered similar proposals to exert some local control over CWM operations, and they’ve typically been sunk by “legalities,” said Chairman William Ross, C-Wheatfield.

Unless Joerg advises him it’s not supportable, Burmaster said he’ll introduce his proposed local law at the Legislature’s Tuesday business meeting.

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