environment

Samantha Pangrazio pulls a bag of garbage from under a tree off Albion Road, in Oakfield.

Pangrazio, along with Jacqualine Chamberlain (pictured) and Debbie Martin, were on Albion Road this morning picking up trash and litter as part of a community Earth Day clean up. More than a dozen other volunteers participated.

This is the fourth year for the event, which Pangrazio started her sophomore year in high school.

"As a kid I grew up out in the middle of nowhere and I saw how people always threw garbage around and it really bothered me," Pangrazio said. "My mom would take us out and we would clean up the garbage. I thought it was something other people don't really think about, so I wanted to raise awareness about how gross some people can be."

This year's sponsors were: Genesee County Roofing, Lamb Farms, Loraine's Day Care, Caryville Inn, Alli's Cones & Dogs, Santino's Pizza and Becky's Treasures and Crafts.

The cost will be significant to clean up a former industrial property at 301 Bank St., Batavia, but it will be the state that picks up the bill, the City Council learned Monday night.

Some 4,000 tons of solid waste needs to be removed and another 20,000 tons of contaminated soil must be dug out and trucked to Texas for incineration.

The current owner of the property, Batavia Waste Material Co., Inc., went into bankruptcy in the mid-1990s. The city could have filed a tax-lien foreclosure in 1999, but the risk was the city would take on the responsibility for clean up of any contamination.

For more than 50 years, the property was used as an iron and metal recycling facility, so the possibility of contamination seemed likely.

"From a city perspective, the situation first involved a Hobson's Choice," said City Attorney George Van Nest. "What do you do? Do you foreclose and maintain municipal ownership, or do you leave it alone for the next 100 years."

The city found a middle way in the early 2000s -- apply for a state grant to hire a consultant to do an environmental assessment and come up with a plan for cleanup. 

Working with the Department of Environmental Conservation, the city hired GZA GeoEnvironmental of New York, based in Buffalo, to take on the study and develop the plan.

It's been a slow process, at a cost of more than $200,000 (city share, 10 percent) because DEC officials have had to approve it each step along the way.

Fieldwork was conducted between January 2006 and December 2010. There were 22 test pits dug, 50 soil probes, seven monitoring wells sunk and some 130 soil, sediment, surface water and groundwater samples collected.

The result -- some significant contamination on some portion of the property, including lead and PCB.

Already, some 40 tons of soil laced with PCB and pesticides have been removed and incinerated in Texas, just to take care of the most pressing issues.

Now the DEC is considering a full-on cleanup and will hold a public meeting at 6:30 p.m., March 20, to present its findings and gather public input. A final "record of decision" will be released March 31.

The cleanup, called remediation, is expected to take as long as 10 years, but when completed, the city will be able to finally foreclose on the property -- valued at about $190,000 -- and then sell it to the highest bidder. CORRECTION: The entire prodcess, starting in 2004, is a 10-year process, so officials expect completion in 2014.

The property is zoned for residential development.

As for who pays for the cleanup, the DEC will use money from the state's Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Site Superfund, a pot of money collected from fines and fees paid by polluters. 

Part of the Superfund process for a site cleanup is identifying a "responsible party" who will then be billed to remediate the current site.

"This is the best case, because we don't have to take over the property and be responsible for the cleanup and assume the cost of the cleanup," City Manager Jason Molino said. "In time, we can turn it into residential property."

Top photo: Chris Baron, consultant with GZA GeoEnvironmental.

Yesterday work crews started removing the fuel pumps and fuel tanks from the Wilson Farms location at 355 W. Main St., Batavia.

While people have told us the tanks needed to be removed because they were leaking fuel into the Tonawanda Creek, information obtained from the DEC indicates that's just not the case.

While there is some localized soil contamination, which the DEC is supervising for remedial clean up, the leak is contained to the property.

The property owner is listed as Sugar Creek Stores. Both Wilson Farms and Sugar Creek were sold to 7-Eleven early last year.

Earlier this year, 7-Eleven announced it was selling two Wilson Farms stores in Batavia. Industry reports at the time indicated 7-Eleven was not interested in locations that sell gas, but 7-Eleven recently rebranded the former Wilson Farms location in Oakfield.

While a source tells us the property owner plans to discontinue gas sales at the West Main Street location in the city, we've not yet been able to confirm that with a company representative.

The property is .35 acres and stretches from the shared property line with Settler's west toward Lambert's Design Jewelers, with a length of green space in between the buildings.

Fuel tank removal is expected to take another week or two.

UPDATE: A spokeswoman for 7-Eleven said the property is on the company's "divestiture list." It will be sold.

Press release:

Western New York waterfowl hunting season opening Saturday, October 27, will likely be affected by the widespread reduced precipitation from last summer’s hot and dry weather, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced today. These conditions caused water levels to drop substantially in many wetlands and dried up other wetland areas. Recent rains have improved conditions; however water levels remain lower than normal. It is important for waterfowl hunters to scout potential hunting sites when making plans.

DEC Region 8 contains the state’s premiere waterfowl hunting areas in the form of the managed marshes at Iroquois and Montezuma National Wildlife Refuges and Northern Montezuma, Oak Orchard and Tonawanda Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs).

The dry wetland conditions are particularly pronounced at the Iroquois WMA. In addition to some intentional drawdowns of impoundments to stimulate the growth of seed-producing annual plants preferred by waterfowl, the drought caused some additional units to go dry and the remainder to drop well below normal levels. The lack of rain also meant that there was no moving water to reflood the intentionally drained units. Several units are still mostly dry and all are below normal; many are one foot lower than usual. The number of permits issued was reduced by 20 percent for opening weekend at Tonawanda WMA due to lack of water in some impoundments.

The situation is less severe at Northern Montezuma WMA, where some wetland units dropped water levels significantly, but none went completely dry. Water levels in the Seneca River, Barge Canal and Crusoe Creek are lower than normal, but will support waterfowl and public access. Half of the managed marshes contain water levels suitable for hunting waterfowl, and in all sites, the production of seed-bearing annual plants is exceptional.

This year, for the first time in many years, the main impoundment at Conesus Inlet WMA was drained to regenerate the marsh vegetation. A normal year of precipitation would have made it difficult to keep the unit drained as there is a decent sized stream that flows through the marsh. The dry weather this year stopped that flow and allowed a complete drawdown. The unit is now reflooded to about half the normal depth where it will be held it until next year to allow the vegetation to fully rebound.

Overall, the waters in the marshes are more than enough to hold ducks and the extra vegetation and seeds produced due to the low waters will attract and hold birds. The biggest impact will be to hunters who usually access the marshes in boats. The low waters may make it impossible to float a boat, and will require wading to access the more remote locations. The increased vegetation may also make it a bit more difficult to find any downed birds.

There are no known plans to open a hydrofracked gas well within the town limits of Stafford, but Jim Southall thought it a good idea to purchase an "insurance policy" so to speak.

At his suggest, the town board has passed a one-year moratorium on hydrofracking within Stafford.

A committee has been appointed to study the issue, according to Supervisor Robert Clement and that report will help the town determine what, if anything, it might do next related to hydrofracking.

The moritorium is part of a statewide trend over the summer of local officials throughout New York rising up against hydrofracking, even though the state already has a four-year moratorium against new wells in place now.

Fracking involves injecting water, saline and other chemicals into shale to break loose natural gas deposits that can then be extracted from the ground.

It's controversial because opponents believe the chemicals used can be carcinogenic and toxic.

Southall said he's read of cows in West Virginia being born with deformities and a whole town in Wyoming had to be closed because of hydrofracking pollutants ruining the groundwater.

As a representative of the Genesee County Fish and Game Association, owners and operators of Godfrey's Pond in Stafford, Southall thought it important to get out in front of the issue, before hydrofracking came to the area.

"With the kind of chemicals they're using, once the water is polluted, it's gone, and being a conservation club, we want to be sure that doesn't happen," Southall said.

At a public hearing on the topic a month or so ago, Clement said, there were no speakers in favor or against the moratorium.

He's not aware of any fracked wells in Stafford or any requests to open up such a well.

"For most people, I think it's a non-issue," Clement said. "I think the state will step in before anybody else does. But it's a conservation issue and I think most of them (Genesee County Fish and Game) are against it."

Michael Smith hopes that "future generations of our children will ask, 'What were landfills?'"

Smith is the trash/recycling coordinator at Genesee ARC. He is pictured (left) with Floor Supervisor Mark Wood.

His comment was part of an opening speech at last night's open house for the agency's new Trash & Recycling Center.

The open house was in celebration of the center's move from its former location on Clinton Street (in the City of Batavia) to a larger facility at 3785 W. Main St. Road in the Town of Batavia.

Genesee ARC, which serves children and adults with developmental disabilities, has handled the City of Batavia's waste management for nearly 30 years.

"Recycling was a natural spinoff," Smith said.

And now, with New York State's recycling and take-back program for electronic items, they are going to be even busier.

By law, businesses, municipalities and waste collection companies can no longer throw away old computers, TVs, or other covered electronic devices -- known as "e-waste" -- into the trash or into landfills. Instead, the manufacturers must take them back for recycling purposes.

ARC's new Trash & Recycling Center location will house the agency's e-waste recycling efforts, which are part of an expansion of endeavors and a growing need for services that prompted the move to West Main Street Road.

At this time, according to Wood, all of the materials that go through ARC's Trash & Recycling Center are sent to mills around the Northeast region and Canada.

"They take the products and re-manufacture the raw material into new soup cans, new milk cartons, new boxes," etc.

In addition to being good for the environment, the center also give employment opportunities to people with disabilities, which Wood sees as a major plus.

Photos: Top four photos by Howard Owens. Other photos by Dan Crofts.

Government officials present at last night's event included:

Jeremy Bennett, a representative from Congresswoman Kathy Hochul's office, with ARC Executive Director Donna Saskowski.

Genesee County Manager Jay Gsell, with ARC Director of Development Shelley Falitico.

For more information on ARC's Trash & Recycling Center, click here.

Disclosure: Dan Crofts works for Genesee ARC. He is employed at the Day Habilitation site in Elba.

More pictures (click on the headline for more):

Staff and students of Genesee Community College were on R. Stephen Hawley Drive yesterday picking up roadside garbage. Within two hours, the group gathered more than 17 bags of garbage from along the shoulders of the roadway.

The project is part of the lead-up to Saturday's Cool Kids! ECO-Fest at GCC. On Saturday, you'll be able to come by the Batavia campus and drop off your old electronics for recycling and get the pressure on your tires checked.

Pictured, Kevin Manne, left, Donna Rae Sutherland, Keisha Magruder, Dayami Cruz, Lori Sutch, Michael Garrett and Stephen Morsch. Also participating but not pictured was Tom Klotzbach.

The amount of carcinogenic agent reportedly found in a water sample from a private well in Le Roy is at a concentration level below legal limits, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

The agency also plans to seek its own sample from the well, but it's unclear if the DEC will investigate further, such as trying to determine the source of the possible containment.

The chemical is known as MTBE (methyl tert-butyl ether). It has been used as an additive in gasoline and diesel fuel, but was outlawed for such use in New York in 2004.

Bob Bowcock -- a researcher from California who took water samples in Le Roy more than two weeks ago at the behest of environmentalist / lawyer Erin Brockovich -- said Friday that the chemical turned up in a sample from a private well at a residential property.

According to Bowcock, MTBE could be part of any hydrofracking fluid (there are various mixtures) that uses gasoline or diesel fuel.

Fracking was used to open the natural gas wells on the property of the Le Roy Central School District and there are reports that at least one of the wells suffered a leak or spill of fracking fluid.

DEC spokeswoman Emily DeSantis said DEC staff conferred with Bowcock today and concluded that the sample taken by Bowcock had six micrograms per litre, which is below the state's limit of 10 micrograms per litre.

It's also below the federal Environmental Protection Agency's drinking water advisory for MTBE, which is 20 to 40 micrograms per liter, she said.

DeSantis offered no opinion from the DEC on how the MTBE got into the well, which is according to Bowcock, a little less than a mile from the southeastern-most natural gas well on Le Roy school district property.

Yesterday, the DEC -- through spokeswoman DeSantis -- expressed little interest in Bowcock's reported finding. DeSantis maintained that MTBE is not used in fracking fluid and the DEC had no reason to believe the company that fracked the Le Roy school wells used MTBE as part of its mixture.

After being pressed for more information, DeSantis arranged for Bowcock to speak with DEC staff. It was only after further email exchanges with The Batavian that DeSantis confirmed the DEC would conduct its own testing.

Since 2008, companies engaged in fracking gas wells are required to disclose the chemicals used in the process, DeSantis said.

"While the most recently drilled wells on the LeRoy CSD property were permitted prior to this requirement, the well driller informed us of the chemicals used to fracture the wells and MTBE was not used," DeSantis said. "Again, MTBE is not used in hydraulic fracturing."

When told of DeSantis's statement, Bowcock said he was flabbergasted by her response. He said prior to even coming to Le Roy, he had had conversations with DEC staff on other matters about MTBE being in fracking fluid.

While there are numerous environmental websites that say MTBE is contained in fracking fluid, it's harder to locate a neutral source online, even the EPA.

Bowcock supplied an EPA document that said a Bureau of Land Management report confirmed MTBE in fracking fluid, but the same paragraph in the same document says the EPA has not confirmed the use of MTBE in fracking.

Quote:

EPA also obtained two environmental impact statements that were prepared by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). In these impact statements, BLM identified additional chemical compounds that may be in fracturing fluids including methyl tert butyl ether (MTBE) (U.S. Department of the Interior, CO State BLM, 1998). However, EPA was unable to find any indications in the literature, on MSDSs, or in interviews with service companies that MTBE is used in fracturing fluids to stimulate coal-bed methane wells.

The MTBE issue isn't his main focus, Bowcock said, but resolving the issue for property owners is important to him. Further testing could make the case for the homes to be put on public water -- possibly at the expense of the energy companies (paid for, possibly, as part of a prior environmental settlement).

Members of the Genesee County Harley Owners Group were out on Route 98 recently picking up trash as part of an ongoing effort to help keep local roadways clean.

The Harley club does clean-ups four times per year.  

The group is responsible for Route 98 from the Thruway to Elba.

Pictured are Paul Ballard, Bob Aiken and Fred Devore.

Photo submitted by Frank Capuano.

Hundreds of residents drove up to Genesee Community College CC on Saturday to drop off old computers, monitors, printers, TVs and other household electronics so they could dispose of the broken, outdated technology in a safe, environmentally friendly way.

While there, Todd Sloat, of Sloat Tires, would check the air pressure on the motorists' tires, if they wished.

This information comes from Genesee Community College.

Genesee Community College's Earth Club, Student Activities Office and College Village are once again joining Cool Kids to collectively produce the 6th annual Cool Kids Eco-Fest.

This free, fun-filled, yet educational event aims to increase awareness of important environmental issues and it celebrates Earth Day.

From alternative fuel cars to kites, solar power displays to a big plastic bag bash, water bugs to a giant map of the Earth, Eco-tips to Eco-button making -- it's all at the Batavia campus from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 9.

Both indoor and outdoor activities will be happening throughout the four-hour event, which winds down with the Eco-Raffle of great green prizes, including the Grand Prize -- a mountain bike provided by Adam Miller Bikes and Toys. (You must be present to win.)

While many of the popular eco-opportunities will be back -- such as the annual residential E-Waste Collection and Sloat Tires Inflation Station outside in the parking lot -- there will also be many wonderful new green alternatives to explore and enjoy.

New to this year's celebration will be the collection of worn American flags for honorable disposal by Sheppard, Maxwell and Hale. In addition, this year's ECO-Tips Illustration Contest, sponsored by ESL Federal Credit Union, features fun and unique prizes in the following six categories:

• Children's Coolest Category: Pre K through Sixth Grade
• Most Unique Reused Item
• Best Illustration
• Longest Term Impact for the Environment
• Greatest Innovation / Absolutely Cool Awesome Idea
• Most Fun or Funny

Last year, we had some incredibly clever contributions to the Eco-Tips Contest and we are looking forward to seeing what local citizens, from pre-K classes to senior citizens' groups will create.

"It's a great way to 'get your green on,' " said Donna Rae Sutherland, Genesee's Earth Club co-advisor and associate director of Marketing Communications. "Eco-Fest continues to grow each year and the upcoming festival promises to be the best ever."

Entries for the ESL Eco-Tip Illustration Contest are being accepted now through to 11 a.m. April 9 for the Eco-Fest by sending them to Donna Rae Sutherland, GCC, One College Road, Batavia, NY 14020.

All entries will be on display at the event, and from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. contest judges will review entries and select the six prize winners. There is no limit on the number of Eco-Tip entries any one person or group can submit, and there is also no limit on the size of paper or form for each submission.

For Eco-Tip guidelines and the official entry form go to: http://marketing.genesee.edu/images/eco_tip_guidelinesform.pdf

Also new this year will be the bird-banding demonstration by Tom Klotzbach, a local birding expert and researcher, as well as a GCC alumnus and employee. He is currently in the second year of a three year bird-tracking project featuring more than 60 bird boxes located at GCC and on the western portion of the Ontario State Parkway.

The seasonal outdoor effort starts in early April when he will once again begin tracking various species of native and non-native birds. Through banding and bi-weekly nest box checks, Klotzbach is collecting bird data such as age, sex, fat score, and body mass. The collected data is used to study migration patterns with the U.S. Geological Survey, and is the foundation for his research on nest site fidelity.

The 6th annual Cool Kids ECO-Fest also includes more than 35 exhibits, presentations and activities, including the Cool Kids Wild Life Show and the Big Bag Bash.

As in years past, hundreds of people of all ages are expected to attend the event enjoying environmental fun and educational opportunities, and the more green things they do – the more Eco-Raffle tickets they collect to increase their chances of winning the mountain bike.

Among the ways to earn Eco-Raffle tickets:

• Donating residential E-Waste or electronics such as old computers, monitors, calculators, TVs, VCRs, stereo equipment, video games, and microwave ovens (No other kitchen appliances, please.);
• Donating paperbacks books for American troops overseas;
• Donating worn American flags for proper disposal by Sheppard, Maxwell and Hale;
• Donating cell phones and ink cartridges for Oakfield-Alabama Schools collection;
• Creating an Eco-Tip for the ESL Eco-Tip Illustration Contest;
• Getting your tire pressure checked by Sloat Tires Inflation Station;
• AAA mercury hood lamp switch-out (for 2002 or older cars);
• Being an Eco-Fest volunteer;
• Wearing green.

 For further information contact Donna Rae Sutherland at 343-0055, ext. 6616.

Today was EcoFest at GCC, with local residents driving through the parking lot and dropping off old computers, TVs and other home electronics for recycling. Inside the college, there were also a number of environment-related information booths, activities for children and exotic animals.

More pictures after the jump:

Because wetlands are an important part of the environment, the Canadian-based Marsh Monitoring Program has been studying the effects of outside disturbances on the swamps, marshes, mini-wetlands and adjoining woodlands throughout the entire Great Lakes Basin.

 In their quest to determine the health of these wetlands as well as surrounding woodlands - the MMP enlists the help of volunteers who take a census of the amphibian and feathered inhabitants at selected locales.  A number of these volunteers work at collecting data for both birds and amphibians, others concentrate on birds alone while others focus on the frog population.

 Batavian Bill Moon is a local MMP volunteer who focuses on the amphibian population.  Waiting for a minimum air temperature of 60 degrees, he will select an evening during the months of April, May and June to visit nearby wetlands as dusk approaches. He waits for night to fall, then for a given time period, listens for spring peepers, green frogs and bull frogs, carefully charting the results. The nocturnal chorus, or lack thereof, speaks volumes for the Marsh Monitoring Program.

Due to the work of the program volunteers throughout the Great Lakes Basin, the MMP has established a ranking system, or report card so to speak, to evaluate the state of various wetlands stretching from Wisconsin to the St. Lawrence River. These wetlands range in size from vast swamps and cattail marshes to microcosmic wetland tracts.

Being among nature’s delicate species, the songbirds and amphibians serve as natural barometers, providing insight as to the health of the outdoors environment. As good indicators of air and water quality and other earth resources, such species are the first to be affected by various disturbances on the landscape such as Great Lakes water levels, housing or developmental sprawl, etc.