DEC, EPA working on collecting samples

Buffalo, NY (WBEN) The EPA and DEC say they are working on getting consent from more owners to continue sampling soil in neighborhoods in Niagara County to determine if there's radiation exposure.

"Together we launched the Niagara and Erie County radiological assessment, and this is really an effort of us wanting to make sure that rather than waiting another 20 years and discovering that something was wrong. That we took a proactive effort today to do a robust survey to understand really what people's exposure risk is, and so we started with aerial surveys, 100 feet in the air, going 15,000 nautical miles to driving in a car over 1000 miles to do roadway surveys, and now here we are asking people to sign property access agreements where we've seen the data take us to whether or not there is a question with respect to radioactive material," says DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton. "We've really ramped up our efforts. EPA and DEC have robust teams that are knocking on doors and that are out there screening properties, and we've collected hundreds of property access agreements, over 300 to date," she adds.

EPA Administrator Mike Martucci says there are six field teams working all around the area to conduct those screenings. "If the data from that screening comes back, such that we want to do sampling, we make immediate outreach to the to the property owner, have a conversation about what that sampling is, an in-depth review of where we want to sample, and then that process is led by the EPA, that would involve us going to the site, collecting samples," explains Martucci. "Those samples are then sent out to a laboratory where we learn a whole lot more about the material that's on the site, including really specific information, a fingerprint of sorts, to exactly understand what is there. So the screening data is being used to make immediate decisions to protect folks and their health, but the lab testing is what we use to get more information about what's on the property and also help inform us how we do the cleanup on the property, which is a phase yet to come in this process."

Lefton says representatives from both EPA and DEC were set to attend Monday's Save Our Backyards meeting. "We are invited to listen, and we want to go and listen," says Lefton. Martucci says a hotline is set up for those with questions or concerns. "The hours are 8 a.m. to 6p.m. on weekdays, and the number for that hotline is 518-712-8279. We also have an email available and have stood up a website that has contact information so that folks can go on and ask questions directly," says Martucci.