Flooding brings another worry for Niagara County residents

Niagara, NY (WBEN) As a number of residents in Niagara County already deal with the possibility of radioactive exposure, Mother Nature brought another worry on Sunday: flooding.

Lexi Hawk says Gill Creek overflowed on Sunday, leaving her street flooded. ""I was worried because it was getting into people's basements, and they're also testing for other chemicals. And some sources of radiation can be through the water? They don't know. They know there's sodium, but they said there could be other radioactive sources. So we were really worried. We were trying to call the EPA and the DEC. They really didn't come out and answer any of our questions," says Hawk. She says her daughter wanted to go out and jump in the puddles on the street, but because she doesn't know what was in the water, Hawk wouldn't her daughter do so.

Hawk says she and others have people of contact to get a hold of through the EPA. "I asked them if I should have went to the meetings, and they really said that's not really for you. That's for people that are concerned about like how the testing goes, and you already know that answer, so they didn't. They wouldn't have had any answers from me there, anyways. So I still haven't received any written data, anything that I've asked for. The only thing I have is this map, and the map is. I could read that red is bad and green is okay, but I still don't know what these numbers mean for my family's health," says Hawk.

Another resident worried about flooding is Kellie Motyka. She says the flood waters didn't get to her end of the street. "It rained like I have never seen it rain in my life, and so we're like concerned that you know it's penetrating deep in and maybe stirring stuff up that shouldn't be stirred up," says Motyka. She says she's worried about floodwaters. "My dog still has to go outside to use the bathroom, so like she's walking through these puddles that could potentially contain even more stuff. Kids in the neighborhood were playing out in the puddles yesterday, they don't know any better. We tried telling them, but it's a very scary feeling," adds Motyka.

Motyka says she has not received results from testing. "We've gotten charts with some colored dots on it, but they haven't even been over to my house yet to do soil sampling. So I don't even know what could potentially be in my yard," says Motyka.

Hawk doesn't like the way the DEC and EPA are operating. "They just seem to like downplay everything. I got the radon test, and I know radon can be naturally occurring, but they did this test because of the radioactive stuff in my yard, and I had radon levels that were up to eight and a half, which is double the EPA's cleanup standard. And I still don't know when they're going to come clean this radon up now," adds Hawk.

She adds some neighbors are still waiting for results. "They've been calling that that NACRA hotline, and they're just telling them it could be up to 21 days before you get your results. That's a long time. You should be told right then and there. I didn't see anything significant, or I seen something that was an area of concern," adds Hawk..