Niagara Gazette

Local News

July 17, 2008

CWM: Erie County lawmakers criticize expansion

An unlikely body came down hard Thursday on the possibility that CWM Chemical Services is granted more capacity to continue operating as a hazardous waste landfill.

A resolution amended to include sponsorship by all 15 members of the Erie County Legislature passed unanimously at a regular meeting.

The document mentions the highly anticipated proposed Hazardous Waste Siting Plan and says it could be out in a few weeks.

Wording in the plan, which has been worked on for years and through several drafts by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, could have a significant effect on CWM’s proposal for a new landfill, RMU-2. Its current landfill, RMU-1, has about five years of remaining permitted capacity.

“The Erie County Legislature supports sustainable and attractive economic growth and regards hazardous waste landfills as a non-renewable use of the community’s assets,” the resolution states, “posing permanent risk to the environment and imposing an undesirable image on our community, thereby impeding tourism efforts in the Buffalo-Niagara region.”

CWM spokesperson Lori Caso responded to the action Thursday evening, calling CWM a “safe facility that properly disposes of hazardous waste” and calling the facility “central to the (hazardous waste cleanup process) that cleans up our state.”

Without CWM, New York state’s only hazardous waste landfill and one of only 17 commercial hazardous waste landfills remaining in the country, costs for New York state businesses to cleanup such sites would raise prohibitively, she said.

“Alternatives presented in the resolution carry negative environmental and economic impacts that haven’t been considered,” Caso said, including trucking costs to facilities in the Midwest and the carbon footprint of projects. “This could have a crippling effect on brownfields and remediation projects.”

Additionally, Caso added that CWM has taken over 116,000 tons of hazardous waste from Erie County in “recent years.”

Environmental groups disagreed with CWM in a release sent Thursday, congratulating the Legislature and saying the federal Environmental Protection Agency ruled in 1995 that current hazardous waste disposal capacity is adequate.

“For too long, Western New York has stockpiled massive amounts of chemical waste in a landfill facility only two miles from the Niagara River and three miles from Lake Ontario,” Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper Executive Director Julie Barrett O’Neill said in the release. “The Great Lakes hold 95 percent of the surface fresh water supply in the United States and that is precious.”

Included in the release are comments from local residents Amy Witryol, Residents for Responsible Government President April Fideli and Art Klein, vice chairperson of the Sierra Club group representing the Buffalo-Niagara region.

The resolution includes a number of points anti-CWM advocates have pointed out recently, saying CWM imports more waste from other areas than it accepts in-state, that the facility could be “restraining investments in safe, alternative solutions” and past trucks which have arrived at CWM gates with leaks.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Local News
  • 120209 Niagara Avenue Accident.jpg Child run over be car on Niagara Avenue

    Falls Traffic Division investigators said an 11-year-old boy was struck after he darted into the street, in front of a car as it pulled away from a stop sign.

    February 9, 2012 2 Photos

  • 120125 NW board .jpg Militello paid $50K to leave Niagara-Wheatfield

    Former Niagara-Wheatfield Superintendent Carl Militello is receiving a $50,000 from the district, according to a separation settlement agreed to on Feb. 1.

    February 9, 2012 1 Photo

  • _JCN2159.JPG Autopsy unable to determine cause or time of Judith Burr’s death

    An autopsy by an Erie County Medical Examiner has failed to determine either the time of death or the cause of death of Judith Burr.

    February 9, 2012 1 Photo

  • Gerber resigns from SPCA board; calls for adding veterinarian to staff

    A Town of Niagara veterinarian and long-time member of the SPCA of Niagara Board of Directors has stepped down.
    Dr. William Gerber submitted his resignation on Tuesday. It was effective immediately.

    February 9, 2012

  • 120112 Airport Stakeholders 2.jpg Has NYPA relicensing agreement led to a revival?

    A state senator is calling for an audit of the low-cost power and cash used in the last seven years by Niagara County entities that have shared in the benefits of the 50-year relicensing agreement with the New York Power Authority.

    February 9, 2012 1 Photo

  • 120209 Joe Davis Park 1.jpg Joseph Davis State Park gets some green

    Officials in the Town of Lewiston received approval Thursday to spend a significant portion of the community’s incoming greenway funds on the redevelopment of Joseph Davis State Park.

    February 9, 2012 5 Photos

  • Search continues for Falls jumper

    State Park Police were still searching Thursday for a Falls man who jumped from the rapids bridge at Goat Island on Wednesday morning.

    February 9, 2012

  • 081008 Golisano Gift - NG NU gets helping hand for campus projects

    A new county entity formed to help organizations secure bond financing agreed on Wednesday to assist Niagara University in the development of its new science center, a proposed refurbishment at Meade Hall and other campus improvements totaling $48 million.

    February 9, 2012 1 Photo

  • 120111 One Niagara 3.jpg One Niagara tax break denied

    It’s a no-go for a proposed tax break at One Niagara.
    At least for now.

    February 9, 2012 1 Photo

  • County IDA adds local hiring clause

    From now on, applicants seeking assistance through the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency will be expected to demonstrate their “best efforts” in hiring local workers for subsidized projects.

    February 9, 2012

Featured Ads
Seasonal Content
House Ads
AP Video
Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs Expert: Removing LA School's Staff 'Appropriate' Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal $25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines Obama Gives Education Waivers to 10 States Giffords Aide to Run for Her Seat LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe Syrian Forces Renew Bombardment of Homs States, Banks Reach Foreclosure-abuse Settlement Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal Raw Video: U.S. Pullout Celebration Raw Video: Annual Empire State Building Run-Up Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
Opinion
House Ads
Night & Day
Twitter News
Follow us on twitter
Follow me on Twitter
Hyperlocal Search
Premier Guide
Find a business

Walking Fingers
Maps, Menus, Store hours, Coupons, and more...
Premier Guide
Popular Searches
Powered by Local.com
Front page
Poll

Do you think cigarette sales to non-Native American customers should be taxed on reservations?

Yes. Items should be taxed like they are everywhere else.
No, the indian reservations are sovereign land and they are selling them on their land.
Not up to me. Native Americans decide the rules on their land.
Don't care. Smoking isn't good for you.
     View Results