Press release:

Los Angeles – Erin Brockovich today released the following statement regarding the EPA’s failure to ensure 235 drums of toxic waste were removed from the massive TCE spill in Le Roy, New York. The spill became the largest Superfund Site in the United States and the EPA did not know until alerted by Brockovich and her team in January of this year that the drums of hazardous waste had never been removed from the site of the 1971 train derailment that resulted in the massive TCE spill.

“The EPA clearly dropped the ball on the largest TCE Superfund Site in the country and their press release today is a feeble attempt to gloss over their abject failure in Le Roy. The Lehigh Valley Railroad derailment in 1971 was not a small event – it was a massive spill and the EPA had a responsibility to ensure that the polluter clean up the site, and remove the drums of toxic waste within 30 days of being filled. That never happened.

Instead, 235 barrels of hazardous toxic waste were allowed to sit unattended, unprotected and exposed to the elements to rust, decay and leach their toxic contents back into the environment. I’m curious to know if the EPA even reads their own press releases. On one hand, the EPA suggests they found no contamination in the barrels, but they go on to detail the contamination they did find, including TCE and cyanide.

While the EPA will try to convince the public that the levels of toxic contaminants in the barrels are low and not a concern, the sad truth is that they found any at all. And of course the levels are going to be low now after years of neglect that allowed those toxic chemicals to be reintroduced to the environment. What were those contaminant levels five years ago?

To make matters worse, the EPA didn’t even realize the barrels of hazardous material had never been disposed of properly. We actually alerted the EPA that the rotting barrels were still there in Le Roy. They had no idea.

The EPA is failing — it is not protecting people, it is not protecting the environment and we see this type of situation play out it communities across the country. Sadly, it takes citizens like me, and the people of the impacted communities, to speak up and fix problems that should have been dealt with years ago.”

A motor-vehicle accident with "very minor injuries" is reported on Route 5, west of Indian Falls Road. Law enforcement is on scene. East Pembroke Fire Department and medics are responding.

UPDATE 8:06 p.m.: An "older male" complains of an arm injury and back pain following this car vs. deer accident. He is being transported to UMMC for evaluation.

Three Genesee County residents -- including one who was previously accused by the feds of distributing methamphetamine but had the charges dropped -- were indicted today and accused of being part of a Hells Angels meth distribution ring that stretched from California to New York.

Donna L. McAuley (aka Donna Boon), 46, of Batavia Oakfield Townline Road, Batavia, was originally accused in July 2010 of being part of a meth distribution ring led by 47-year-old Donald G. Vanelli, of Le Roy.

Vanelli is serving a 17-and-a-half year federal prison term after pleading guilty to procuring from suppliers and distributing between 5 and 15 kilograms of methamphetamine from 2004 through July 2010.

But McAuley's charges were eventually dropped and in July 2011 she proclaimed her innocence.

Today, McAuley was charged with possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, 50 grams or more of methamphetamine between April 2010 and July 9, 2010. The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, and a $2,000,000 fine.

Also charged today was her husband, James H. "Mitch" McAuley Jr., 62, listed as a resident of Oakfield but who's currently confined to Elkton Federal Corrections Facility in Ohio.

The indictment, according to the office of William Hochul, U.S. Attorney for Western New York, is a "superseding indictment," meaning it overrides a previous indictment that accused Mitch McAuley and others of being part of a criminal enterprise involved in drug trafficking and conspiracy to commit murder.

The third Genesee County resident indicted was Gordon L. Montgomery, 53, of Batavia. He is accused of being part of the same meth ring as Donna McAuley and being involved in trafficking 500 grams or more of methamphetamine between 2002 and July 9, 2010.

Also indicted today were alleged Hells Angels President Richard W. Mar, 60, of Monterey, Calif., along with alleged Rochester Hells Angels members Richard E. Riedman, 38, of Webster, Jeffrey A. Tyler, 47, of Rochester, and Paul S. Griffin, 58, of Blasdell.

All are charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, and a maximum sentence of life in prison, and a $4,000,000 fine.

Previously charged as part of the indictment was alleged Rochester Hells Angels Member Robert W. "Bugsy" Moran Jr., 59, of Rochester. Timothy M. Stone, 31, of Gates, and Gina Tata, 47, of Rochester.

The indictment is the culmination of an investigation by FBI agent Christopher M. Piehota, New York State Police under the direction of Major Mark Koss and the Rochester Police Department under the direction of Chief James Sheppard. Prosecution is being led by Brett Harvey of the U.S. Attorney's Office.

A motorhome is reportedly on fire and fully involved in the area of ABC Glass on Ellicott Street near Jackson Street.

City fire is on scene. A second alarm is being sounded for crews to stage at city fire headquarters.

UPDATE 6:12 p.m.: A caller reported seeing smoke around the U.S. Chrome facility, located at 31 Swan St., and city firefighters staged nearby. The caller, who also lives nearby, was interviewed but it was determined that the person saw residual smoke from the motorhome fire. City crews are back in service. The motorhome fire has been extinguished.

A New Jersey-based doctor who has seen nine of the girls in Le Roy with movement disorders issued a new statement this morning affirming his diagnosis of a "PANDAS-like" illness.

Dr. Rosario Trifiletti said lab work from his examinations is now complete and he has found three different infections in the nine girls. The findings, he said, support his diagnosis of a "PANDAS-like" illness.

"Given the clinical and laboratory data, I find a PANDAS-like illness a very likely medical diagnosis in these children," Trifiletti said.

As for Trifilletti's definition of "PANDAS-like" illness, attempts to call his office today have resulted in busy signals.

Dr. Laszlo Mastler, medical director of the Neuro-oncology Department at the Dent Neurological Institute, said he knows of no definition in medical literature of "PANDAS-like" illness.

He said it would be up to Trifilletti to share his diagnosis with the medical community if he's discovered a new illness.

"He should publish his findings in a medical journal, which would mean a formal review to be accepted, with strict academic and scientific proof," Mechtler said.

Trifilletti said of the nine patients, five showed infection by streptococcus pyogenes and eight showed infection by mycoplasma pneumonia. Two patients also showed the presence of Lyme disease.

The press release doesn't explain how it's possible for different people with different infections to all exhibit the same symptoms.

In the same statement, Trifiletti said he remains open to the possibility of "mass psychogenic illness."

Neurologists at Dent have diagnosed 15 patients from Le Roy with conversion disorder, and concluded the situation in Le Roy is a rare case of conversion disorder spreading as mass psychogenic illness.

MPI, according to Trifilletti, is a diagnosis that "can never be supported or refuted by objective findings."

Mechtler disagrees with the assertion.

"Conversion disorder can be diagnosed based on an examination," Mechtler said. "This is something I've tried to explain to the media early on. It is not a diagnosis of exclusion. Any neurologist can pick it up on an examination."

Hysterical blindness, Mechtler said, is an example of a conversion disorder that a doctor can detect on a first office visit.

As for the infections, Trifilletti doesn't explain what number of the nine patients have two or three infections, but clearly some of the nine patients he believes may have a "PANDAS-like" disease have only one infection.

In a forum posting in 2010, Trifilletti said he believes "the key to PANDAS in many cases is co-infection," meaning patients have two or three of mycoplasma, strep or Lyme.

Of the general population, 5 percent of people carry all three infections, according to Trifilletti, but not all develop PANDAS.

According to a paper Trifilletti links to in his post, research shows that up to 60 percent of 15- to 19-year-olds have a mycoplasma infection, and Trifilletti says that 20 percent of children have a strep infection.

According to Trifilletti's own writing, the presence of these infections does not mean PANDAS, and that it would take at least two infections, if not all three, to produce a "PANDAS-like" illness.

"These are just my ideas, not reality," Trifilletti writes. "But you gotta have hypotheses or there are no answers -- that's just how science works."

Mechtler said Trifilletti obviously has the confidence of the parents and, given Dent's diagnosis of conversion disorder, a treatment the patients believe in will help them get better.

"If they're getting better, that's what counts, and I'm very happy," Mechtler said. 

Federal authorities raided four smoke shops on the Tonawanda Indian Reservation this morning, seizing alleged untaxed cigarettes, synthetic marijuana and bath salts, according to U.S. Attorney for Western New York William Hochul.

Authorities are investigating whether the so-called synthetic drugs were being sold for human consumption, Hochul said.

Sale of products such as K2, Spice and bath salts for human consumption is illegal as an analogue to controlled substances.

"There's been reporting throughout the country on how dangerous these substances are," Hochul said. "Obviously, we want to reduce that danger where we can."

"It's 100 percent a public safety issue," Hochul added. "Whether it comes to bath salts or even untaxed cigarettes, you don't know what's in these substances."

At least one of the smoke shops is also under investigation for alleged sale of counterfeit merchandise, Hochul said.

No charges have been filed, Hochul said. This is an ongoing investigation.

The shops raided were The Rez, Arrow Hawk, Sacajawea and Smoke Rings.

Unrelated, there was also apparently a raid (or raids) this morning in the City of Batavia by members of the Local Drug Enforcement Task Force. There is no more information available at this time on this activity.

Batavia is a fine small city, among the finest in America.

But to talk to many of the residents here, you wouldn't know it, according to Charles Buki, with czb LLC, a consulting firm hired by the city to help with strategic planning.

"There is a big gap between the high qualities of this community and how people view those qualities," Buki said. "The gap between the quality of the community and the sense of appreciation is the biggest we've seen in the more than 300 communities we've studied."

Closing that perception gap and improving the quality of life and financial outlook of the city are goals put forth in the final draft of the community improvement plan presented by Buki at city hall on Wednesday night.

Changing the environment and the culture will be hard work, Buki said, but without the effort, population declines will continue, the tax base will shrink, and  areas of poverty and neglect will expand.

The turn around starts with the formation of an eight-member working group to study the plan written by the consultants. It has to decide what they got right, what they got wrong, which recommendations to follow, which to reject, and start the process of implementing necessary projects and programs.

The report addresses two key areas of concern -- neighborhood health and downtown viability.

For the neighborhoods, czb is recommending the formation of  22 block clubs over the next three years, and 36 over five years; more celebratory activities such as garden awards, a citywide picnic, events at Muckdogs games and a 10K run.

Buki said the city should look seriously at starting a program -- funded by grants if they can be found -- to buy up to 100 two-family dwelling on strategic streets (Jackson would be an example), convert them back to single-family residences and sell them at fair-market value.

The cost of such a program would be $5 million, but it would pull back good blocks from growing worse and help turn them toward becoming great blocks.

But it's a major effort, Buki said, and isn't something the city can tackle overnight.

For the downtown business district, the obvious white elephant is the mall, which Buki said is a clear failure as a retail space and sucks a lot of life out of downtown.

But the city shouldn't fixate on the mall right now and think it needs to be fixed before doing other things.

"Eventually the mall is going to have to be redeveloped, but we don’t want that to get in the way of everything else you need to do," Buki said.

There is $12.4 million in buying power among city residents that is currently being siphoned off by other communities. Batavia needs to develop a process to bring in new retail businesses and restaurants to help keep that money in Batavia.

Organizing an improvement effort and implementing it will likely cost about $92,000 a year, Buki said. His firm is recommending that the city pick up $50,000 of the tab and that local business owners be asked to contribute the other $42,000 annually.

Turning around Batavia is going to mean believing in the city's future, Buki said, but that kind of cultural change doesn't happen quickly.

"The amazing qualities of Batavia don't make it into the blogs and they don't make it into the paper and the lack of it is eroding the self-confidence of Batavia," Buki said.

Downtown Batavia has a new liquor store -- one that will cater to the wine aficionado while still providing a large selection of lower-priced wine and spirits.

The site is the former shop of 3D Wine and Spirits and the new owner is Christine Crocker, who developed quite a following among wine connoisseurs in the county during her 14 years at her father's place in Le Roy, which he recently sold.

"This (store) was the right time and the right fit," Crocker said. "I didn't want to work for anybody else. I wanted to be my own boss again."

To open, Crocker is stocking 200 different wines, but the Le Roy story had a thousand and Crocker plans to expand the selection at YNGodess Shop.

She will also offer tastings on Friday and Saturday nights from 4-7pm.

"Part of it is educating people, moving them on to something different than they'd been drinking," Crocker said. "That’s the fun part. That’s why there’s so many different wines. Everybody’s got a different palate."

New York wines will figure prominently in the shop, including wine from Three Brothers, a Finger Lakes vintner which is a difficult label for retail shops to stock.

"Because we did well with Three Brothers in Le Roy, they were extremely excited that I was opening my own shop," Crocker said.

Crocker will also carry finer spirits, such as 15-year-old single barrel scotch and top-end bourbons, but there's still room on the shelf for Jack Daniel's.

The location at 73 Main St. is also perfect, said Crocker.

"We're right in the middle of this beautiful city," Crocker said. "I think it's going to be busy. People can pull right up and pull right out. There are a lot of people who work downtown. There are 70 people in the Tompkins (Insurance) Building alone. There's foot traffic. People are out walking at night all summer. I think we'll be busy."

A tractor-trailer has reportedly rolled over on Route 20 in Darien, but the driver has spoken to dispatch and claims to be uninjured, though he is trapped in the cab of the vehicle.

His load is considered non-hazardous.

The location is 2041 Broadway Road.

Darien Fire Department and Mercy EMS dispatched. Alexander requested for traffic control on Route 20. Westbound traffic will be shut down.

A chief reports the roadway is heavily snow covered.

UPDATE 11:26 p.m.: Mercy EMS can take its time driving to the scene, according to a chief. Darien's ambulance is also in route.

UPDATE 11:30 p.m.: Traffic not being shut down. Alexander being asked to slow traffic at Smithley Road.

UPDATE 11:44 p.m.: Driver is out of the truck.

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The Fighting Irish just won their semi-final hockey game, played at Monroe Community College, against Irondequoit by a score of 2-1.

Mason Versage shot the game-winning goal at 5:36 in overtime.

We're expecting to have a few pictures and more information available later, hopefully tonight.

UPDATE 11:32 p.m.: Received a message from Coach Marc Staley. This is the third time in 20 years Notre Dame hockey advances to the Section V title game, which will be at 1 p.m. Sunday at RIT against Churchville-Chili.  This will be the first time in Section V hockey history that the #8 seed has made it to the finals. "Cinderella still has the slippers on!" Staley said.

UPDATE 11:52 p.m.: Photo added, Versage scores the winning goal. Photo by Bare Antolos.

With news today that crews were starting to remove the drums of rock and soil from the Lehigh Valley Train Derailment site, I drove out for pictures of the activity.

Prior to leaving Batavia, I made repeated requests to move closer to the work than just the gate at the front driveway of the site. EPA spokesperson Mary Mears said no each time, telling me I could get adequate pictures from Gulf Road and the television stations were satisfied with that location. When I arrived on site, I called Mears and repeated my request, telling her the distance and vehicles in the entryway obscured much of the activity. She said she would call the site manager and pass along my request. 

My request was pretty clear and simple: Walk up the driveway, where no heavy equipment was operating and take pictures from outside the fenced area, where, again, no heavy equipment -- no equipment at all -- was operating. 

The supervisor reportedly told Mears that it would be unsafe for me to walk in for closer photographs.

I walked to three different locations along the perimeter and using a long lens, took these photos -- the best I could get under the circumstances.

A 33-year-old Bergen woman who was charged with second-degree assault following a Rascal Flatts concert at Darien Lake in August has filed a claim against the Genesee County Sheriff's Office alleging false arrest.

Carolyn Marie Smith, of McCabe Court, was accused of hitting a 57-year-old man with her iPhone, causing him to need seven stitches across the bridge of his nose.

But Smith says she was the victim in this case, and when she tried to show her bruises -- including one that left, according to a physician's report she obtained later, a residual mass on her breast -- a Sheriff's sergeant arrested her anyway.

A grand jury returned a "no bill" (meaning, the grand jury didn't find sufficient evidence to sustain the charge) on Smith's case.

Attorneys have told her, Smith acknowledges, that suing law enforcement over an arrest is extremely difficult. They are hard cases to make because arrests can be subjective judgements and it's up to the legal process to determine the validity of the charges.

"I understand they arrest who they choose and let it get sorted out by the law, but to drag somebody who has no record, who has never been arrested, who is the mother of  three kids, and was attacked, I just don't get it," Smith said.

Sheriff Gary Maha said that because of the notice of claim, there is a limit to what he can say about the case, but added, "I would state that this arrest was based upon an assault that occurred at Darien Lake following a concert, and the complaint was filed by another individual. The District Attorney's Office was consulted prior to arrest."

So far Smith hasn't been able to find an attorney to take her case and suspects Genesee County attorneys, who often deal with the Sheriff's Office and the District Attorney's Office, are reluctant to sue local law enforcement. She is hoping an attorney in another county will see her story and take an interest in the case.

Among the potential defendants in a lawsuit, according to Smith, is Darien Lake Theme Park, whom she thinks contributed to the events of Aug. 12 through lax security.

She points to the four arrests and 78 underage drinking citations at the Rascal Flatts show, and the numerous arrests at the Brad Paisley show just two weeks prior as evidence that Darien Lake isn't doing enough to protect patrons.

"Darien Lake Town Court is full after every concert and that says there is a problem at Darien Lake," Smith said. "They allow drinking and let people get drunk, but nobody is controlling the crowd."

The Batavian contacted Darien Lake and requested a statement and will provide a response if one is received.

"As far as Darien Lake goes," Smith said, "I don't want money. I want justice."

Smith said she and one of her witnesses were the only people involved in the fracas that night who hadn't been drinking.

The incident started as patrons were trying to exit the parking lot following the concert.

The cars were apparently not moving and a woman in Smith's car got out of the vehicle. She either got out -- depending on which statement you believe -- to have a cigarette or to try and block the progress of another vehicle so the car she was in could get the advantage.

Smith got out of the car next, either -- again depending on whose statement you believe -- to get the other woman to get back in the car or to block traffic.

At that point, a man in the other vehicle yelled at the two women, according to one witness statement. He then got out of the vehicle.

In the man's statement, he "bumped" the woman with his body (presumably Smith) to try and move her along and the woman "took a wing at me with her right hand, in which she held a cell phone."

The initial arrest was based on the alleged victim's statement and statements of people riding with the man.

In documents provided by Smith is a letter from her attorney, Thomas Burns to the arresting officer, Sgt. Thomas Sanfratello, asking him to also take statements from witnesses who were in the vehicle with Smith.

According to those statements, the man rushed from his vehicle, charged Smith, punched her in her chest and pushed her up against a truck, pinning her there. It was at that point that Smith swung at the man with her iPhone in her hand.

A woman in the vehicle then allegedly got out of the truck and yelled profanities at Smith and slapped the other woman with Smith, according to one of the statements.

Both statements say that the vehicle the man was in creeped forward and bumped Smith and the other woman before the man got out of the car.

The 57-year-old man, from North Tonawanda, said in his own statement that he told his brother-in-law, who was driving, to creep forward and try to get the women to move.

Given that admission, Smith said, and what she believes was the obviously inebriated state of the two men and the woman they were with, she doesn't understand why they weren't arrested instead of her.

"I took a beating from them, but none of that mattered," Smith said. "I don't even know how they got away with this."

Smith thinks the turning point was when her cousin called Sgt. Greg Walker "a pig."

"Once she said that, forget it," Smith said. "They wouldn't even talk to me."

Ten days later, when Sanfratello called and asked Smith to come to the Park Road office, she thought she would finally get to tell her side of the story. Instead, she said she was surprised to find out she was the one being arrested.

Fighting the charge cost her $5,000 and she may yet have medical bills from the breast injury. Although she'd at least like some compensation, what she wants just as much is an apology -- not even necessarily a public apology, even though the case made national news.

She just wants the officers involved and the Sheriff's Office to say they're sorry for arresting her and not the people in the other group.

Batavia resident and Iraq War veteran David Bellavia says he wants to run for congress but "liberal New York politicians" are holding up the process of drawing new district lines, making it hard for him to start his campaign.

Bellavia made a plea for financial support from supporters to help get a possible campaign going in an open letter posted today to his website.

... here's why I can't jump in this race just yet: liberal New York politicians are creating new Congressional Districts. They've been holding back for months, dragging their feet and drawing secret lines to help Democrat incumbents like Rep. Hochul.

It's hard to believe - we simply don't know what district we live in yet!

But the courts have forced the politicians to announce those new districts in the next few weeks, and I need your donation if I am to get in this race as a strong competitor.

Bellavia blames Hochul for high gas prices and criticizes her for a "rubber stamp" of President Obama's policies.

The United States House of Representatives is working hard to fight President Obama's flawed policies. But in the conservative Republican district of Western New York where I live, we are represented by a liberal Democrat who believes in just about everything President Obama says or does!

Press release:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that the removal of 235 drums from the Lehigh Railroad Derailment Superfund site in Le Roy, N.Y. will begin today. The EPA reviewed the sampling results for the contents of all the drums and in all cases considers them to be non-hazardous. The drums, which contain soil and rocks generated when wells were drilled at the site, were sampled during the past month.

A December 1970 train derailment resulted in the release of liquid trichloroethene (TCE) and cyanide crystals. The material in the drums was tested for these and other contaminants. No tested contaminants were detected in materials from 203 of the drums. In 32 of the drums, some detectable concentrations of contaminants were found.

Specifically, eight drums had detectable levels of TCE only, eight others had detectable levels of cyanide only and eight drums had detectable levels of both. One drum had detectable levels of TCE and cis-1,2-dichloroethene, which is a breakdown product of TCE. The remaining seven drums primarily had detections of either common lab contaminants or contaminants typically associated with petroleum products. These contaminants include: acetone, carbon disulfide, ethylbenzene, toluene, total xylenes, methylcyclohexane, and 2-butanone (MEK). In all cases the levels of these contaminants were low and are below health-based levels.

While the EPA considers the drums non-hazardous and eligible for disposal as non-hazardous waste, the Lehigh Valley Railroad has arranged for material to be disposed of at a landfill that is permitted to accept hazardous waste. The facility set to accept the waste is EQ-Wayne Disposal, Inc., Landfill in Belleville, Mich. Drum removal from the site will begin this morning and is expected to be completed by the end of the week. The Lehigh Valley Railraod will pay the cost of disposing of the drums, not taxpayers.

A motor-vehicle accident is reported in the area of 6004 N. Lake Road, Bergen.

The vehicle is well off the road.

Unknown injuries.

A chief on scene is checking to see if extrication is needed.

Bergen Fire Department and ambulance responding.

UPDATE 11:09 a.m.: No specific word, but this doesn't sound like serious injuries, nor does it sound like extrication was required.

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New York Times: Obama Offers to Cut Corporate Tax Rate to 28%

Press release:

ALBANY -- The New York State Sheriffs’ Association held its election and installation of executive committee members and trustees at its 78th Annual Mid-Winter Training Conference. Members elected Genesee County Sheriff Gary T. Maha to the executive committee.

Sheriff Maha was appointed Interim Genesee County Sheriff in 1988 by then-Governor Mario Cuomo, after a 21-year career with the Sheriff’s Office. He has been elected for six successive terms since then.

Sheriff Maha is a past president of the New York State Sheriffs’ Association and is currently vice chair of the National Sheriffs’ Association’s Criminal Justice Information Systems/Technology Committee.

He is also a member of: the National Sheriffs’ Association’s Homeland Security Committee; the New York State Law Enforcement Accreditation Council; the New York Interoperable Communications Board; and the New York State Executive Committee on Counter Terrorism.

Sheriff Maha will work hand-in-hand with the newly elected president of the Sheriffs’ Association, Sheriff Donald Smith, of Putnam County, and sheriffs across the state to strengthen law enforcement, specifically by advocating the following goals that association members adopted at their meeting:

• Support the All Crimes DNA bill, which requires all individuals arrested for a crime to have their DNA placed in the state DNA bank.
• Oppose a House transportation bill in Congress that would, among other things, allow triple tractor-trailers on interstate roads,making our highways less safe.
• Join with the NYS Association of Counties to urge state officials to alleviate the burden on local jails of housing parole violators in county jails because this is an unfunded mandate and parole violators are a state responsibility.
• Join with the NYS Association of Counties to gain for the counties a greater portion of the revenues from the NYS public safety surcharge to support county-level 9-1-1 communications projects; i.e. the purpose for which the surcharge was created.

The full slate of trustees and committee members selected at this year's conference are as follows:

Executive Committee:
Chairman, Livingston County Sheriff John M. York
Genesee County Sheriff Gary T. Maha
Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin E. Walsh
Orange County Sheriff Carl E. DuBois
Oswego County Sheriff Reuel A. Todd
Rensselaer County Sheriff Jack Mahar
Warren County Sheriff Nathan “Bud” York

Trustees:
Chautauqua County Sheriff Joseph A. Gerace
Montgomery County Sheriff Michael J. Amato
Wayne County Sheriff Barry Virts

The New York State Sheriffs’ Association, Inc., is a not-for-profit corporation, formed in 1934, for the purpose of assisting sheriffs in the efficient and effective delivery of sheriffs’ services to the public. It comprises all of the elected and appointed sheriffs of New York State.

Press release:

Los Angeles – Erin Brockovich today released a statement regarding the growing health concerns potentially caused by contamination in Le Roy, NY.

“Contrary to an erroneous news report, I want to make clear that my investigation into possible sources of environmental contamination in LeRoy, New York that may or may not be linked to the serious illnesses suffered by various members of the community is not complete. In fact, it appears the number of people in the area displaying alarming health issues that can be caused by TCE is growing.

It took the EPA 40 years to investigate the contamination from the train derailment and it will take us more than 40 days to get to the root of the problem in Le Roy. I want to further stress that we have not ruled out the TCE plume from the train derailment as a source of contamination at Le Roy High School. All existing tests are preliminary and we will announce our full and definitive test results in the weeks to come. We will not release them piecemeal.

In the meantime, we have several areas of high concern in Le Roy that we are investigating including, but not limited to, the train derailment site, the local quarry, the six fracking wells at the high school, and the MtBE contamination in local wells.

We have a lot more testing to do before we can rule anything in or out as a cause of toxic contamination in Le Roy and what may or may not be causing the very serious health problems of people and families in Le Roy. While we certainly do not want to cause a panic in the community, we do want to be thorough and get to the bottom of what is going on in Le Roy.”

A car has struck a pedestrian on North Lyon Street, Batavia.

The person is down, but injuries are believed to be minor.

City Fire Department and Mercy EMS responding.