Buffalo, NY (WBEN) As 120 Niagara residents learned from the state their properties had exposure to radioactive materials, State Senator Rob Ortt says he is looking for answers.
"I recently have had a high-level conversation with folks at the DEC. I have had conversations with folks at the EPA. I was disappointed to learn about these properties from the (meida), I did not. I did not have any sort of advanced knowledge," says Ortt. He says he found out this started back in the late 70s and 80s with the Department of Energy doing flyovers, which then transferred over to the EPA and DEC and the State Department of Health. "This is sort of a decade-long data collection that I guess has been reviewed over time and trying to zero in and and and use this information to determine obviously the level of radiation and how serious it is, and and what the what the remediation to this situation is. So we have 120 properties," says Ortt.
.Ortt says all have received letters. There is a portion that have granted the DEC access to their property to do further testing. There's some that are weighing their their options, and some have expressed concerns about language in the letter that states they could give up their right for health related claims. He is trying to clear the air on that. "I had not seen a sample form, but in my conversation with the DEC, what they told me was those claims in there is limited to, for instance, if there was a a monitoring device put in someone's soil and someone tripped over the monitor device and injured themselves as a result of that, that that they could not you know go back and sue the DEC. I my understanding what I was told was that this does not extend to not being able you know from a health standpoint from as far as the contamination goes this is limited to liability as it relates to whatever the DEC needs to further test their properties to determine what's going on.," says Ortt
120 properties were informed by the DEC last week.
