U.S. Army Corps insists Niagara
County's LOOW site is safe

Porter supervisor reveals news of exploding canisters

by Bill Angus
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, June 12, 2004

On Tuesday, June 8 the Restoration Advisory Board threw open the doors of the Lewiston Senior Center to residents for an information session sponsored by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The session was to provide the latest information about clean-up work being conducted at the Lake Ontario Ordnance Works and Niagara Falls Storage Site. The session was also a chance for residents to learn and ask questions of the agencies involved at the sites and in the area. Refreshments were provided and a series of information stations were set up around the room with courteous staff and volunteers to assist residents.

Station number one for instance had information on the LOOW site. A summary of investigations by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was available free of charge. This document, which exceeded 100 pages was also available in disc format. Other stations covered the NFSS, the RAB and the history of the sites. Literature, including summaries and reports abounded. Despite the warm sunny weather, in excess of 50 residents attended.

Becky Zayatz, vice chair of the RAB, made the introductions of a panel consisting of: Michael Basile, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Paul Dicky, Niagara County Department of Health, Kent Johnson, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Judith Leithner, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, John Mitchell, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, David Romano, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Aura Weinstein, New York State Department of Health.

Mert Wiepert, Supervisor for the town of Porter, told the gathering that he was glad to see a good turnout since it demonstrates to the Army Corps of Engineers that residents are concerned about their health and environment. Wiepert then discussed his recent site visit to the Army National Guard property on the north side of Balmer Road.

Safety Issue

Wiepert and the Porter Town Board had received complaints from residents concerning metal buildings being demolished and sent to salvage companies, leaving mud along the roadways. Local residents were concerned about their safety. What were thought to be empty grenade size gas canisters were also being sent off-site for scrap. Wiepert took a tour of the site due to residents' concerns over the demolition and the removal of canisters.

Wiepert also expressed concern about asbestos in the buildings and the fact that the buildings were being removed to ground level only, leaving large cement slabs. Wiepert stated, "this concerned us, is there some reason they are not taking these cement slabs out? I don't know for sure ... can they dig in the ground? They did a radiation test ... they reported back to the town that everything was fine. They said that there was testing done all over that site and [that there was] no radiation there."

Wiepert told the Sentinel that there had been problems with the canisters. One canister had gone to a Niagara Falls salvage yard where it exploded releasing what he has been told was riot gas and causing the yard to be evacuated. According to Wiepert, the canisters also went to a smelting firm in Canada where one of the canisters exploded causing the evacuation of the building. Wiepert expressed obvious concern over what might be in the canisters.

When asked why he was at the meeting Wiepert responded, "I'm a concerned supervisor. I'm concerned about the residents of this Town. I think this is a great meeting to inform the people what's going on, on that LOOW site."

Residents Want Answers

Some residents expressed concern over their and their families' safety in the region, demanding straight answers. Although specific answers were not forthcoming at the meeting, Nancy Sticht, outreach specialist for the LOOW work with the Army Corps, later told the Sentinel, "I think the meeting was a great success. It was a very well attended meeting. We heard from a lot of the citizens during the meeting. Our number one priority is the protection of human health and environment ... that is our absolute goal for these sites ... that is why we are working so hard to clean them up"

Joan Morrissey, an outreach specialist for the NFSS work with the Army Corps told the Sentinel, "There is no immediate risk to people from the work there ... we've done extensive sampling and analysis on both sites [NFSS and LOOW] and there is not an immediate threat to human health or the environment. We are doing the work to identify any risk that may be posed in the future.".

More meetings will be scheduled in the near future. Watch the Sentinel for dates and times.