Porter Board hears on Lake Ontario erosion problem, CWM issues

by Terry Duffy
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, November 13, 2004

Porter Town Board members reviewed environmental issues, from erosion concerns along the Lake Ontario shoreline to Niagara River discharges and lingering radioactivity problems at the Chemical Waste Management Balmer Road operations, at its regular meeting Monday night at Town Hall.

Opening in customary fashion with community comments, members heard the worries of Judy Lazeri, a Fort Niagara beach resident who told board members of growing erosion problems along town-owned beach areas which front their homes.

Specifically, the woman spoke of the lake erosion which has plagued the area for years, saying it’s reached a critical point for the local homeowners association who are now asking town assistance with the placement of large boulders on the beach area.

“It’s not the ultimate solution,” said Lazeri, but one the homeowners’ group needs to help it stem further land losses, noting she alone had lost approximately 30 feet of property into the lake over the past 15 years. The problem is its cost, she added, noting the impacted area comprised roughly 20 cottages.

Long-term Problem

Supervisor Mert Wiepert as well as Town Attorney Mike Dowd said the town has been aware of the problem for quite some time and worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over past years in an attempt to remediate it.

“The town could work with you” on the erosion problem Dowd said, but added the issue goes beyond town control in terms of ultimately solving it because the problem is both a state and federal matter. “You would be required to get approval from the Army Corps, the DEC, etc.,” said Dowd, who added such a process would entail the group actually retaining an engineer to even approach the two agencies.

“This is a very serious issue,” agreed town Building and Sanitation Inspector Bill Smith of the woman’s concerns. Dowd reiterated the town’s willingness to cooperate, but suggested she pursue it through U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter, telling the woman the Army Corps is a massive federal agency with numerous responsibilities and a shrinking budget, and the chances of getting their attention to this matter could improve with her prodding. Wiepert agreed on the need of federal involvement to ultimately resolve the erosion problem, calling it “an awfully expensive project.”

Dowd as well as Wiepert advised the woman to begin by gathering an updated petition (the last one on the erosion having been drawn up in 2001).

Board member Bill Choboy suggested she “... get as many names as you can” before approaching Slaughter. The discussion closed with the woman indicating to board members she’ll follow their suggestions.

CWM Update

Next up, Richard Sturges, operations manager of CWM’s Balmer Road facility, updated board members on CWM’s latest activities as he presented Wiepert $125,000 in Community Host Agreement monies, whose total this year amounted to $370, 000. Sturges indicated the future monies which date to the 2001 Agreement signed by the town and CWM would be $325,000 for 2005, $200,000 in 2006 and would balloon to a payment of $2.1 million in 2007 for a total of $3 million to Porter.

Sturges also reported that CWM conducted its fall discharge of 19,453,400 gallons into the Niagara River during the period of Oct. 5-19. CWM typically conducts a fall discharge of water from its faculative ponds -- in recent years as much as 25 million gallons. Sturges said the discharge this year was delayed per the request of DEC monitors who have been continuing their work on investigating the radiological contamination of ground water on the CWM property. No radioactivity was detected by DEC in their latest survey, Sturges pointed out.

That however failed to satisfy Ransomville resident Ted Hanson who continued to pester Sturges on the radioactivity concerns of the CWM lands.

Federal Responsibility

Sturges stated -- as he had earlier -- that the radioactivity problem affecting three isolated areas on the CWM property is the federal government’s responsibility, both on its source and in its remediation. Sturges said the area Hanson cited was referred to as the Rochester burial ground, a site which fell to government responsibility from the earlier Lake Ontario Ordnance Works operations which comprised much of Lewiston Porter during World War II.

“This is not CWM’s responsibility,” said Sturges. “This is the federal government’s responsibility,” as he spoke of CWM’s ongoing work with the Army Corps and the DEC and its efforts to get answers to the radiological concerns and achieve closure.

“We continue to work to address this,” Sturges said. “It’s a federal government issue, and we’ll work with the Army Corps, the state, the county and town to get this along.”

On another matter, Sturges revealed that CWM’s parent company, Waste Management, has submitted proposals to the various government agencies relating to the Hudson River PCB waste remediation project. He said Waste Management versus CWM is doing the filing due to the potentiality of other Waste Management operations -- in addition to CWM-Porter -- being involved in the clean-up remediation effort. As to its actual composition, Sturges said of the total wastes to be removed, only one-quarter falls under the category of “hazardous.” Sturges said CWM facilities in Porter as well as similar sites in Alabama and in Oregon could be potential sites for the Hudson River PCBs, should CWM get the contract.

Other News

Moving onto other news from the Monday session:

•Town Board members adopted the 2005 budget of $4,555,133, which brings with it a drop in the tax rate to 79 cents per thousand of assessed valuation, modest increases in spending and a raise for town employees. (see report in Oct. 30 Sentinel.)

•Board members approved the hiring of Cambria resident Bernie Rotella as a grant writer for a three-month trail period, effective Nov. 1.

•Board members approved a motion to advertise for a permanent part-time (19.5 hours per week) position in the Town Clerk’s office.

•Board members reviewed Town Clerk John MacArthur’s report, which showed $29,518.94 in October water receipts, $23,180.58 in sewer receipts, $699.60 in collected license and fees, and 14 SPCA animal contacts.

•Wiepert requested and received approval for the town to hold a Public hearing, Monday, Dec. 13 at Town Hall to review and discuss a proposal to increase the town’s water and sewer rates for 2005.

•Wrapping up, board members expressed concern on the problem of welcome signs in Ransomville being vandalized or stolen. The matter remains under investigation by the Niagara County Sheriff’s Department and the New York State Police. Council member Jeff Baker related he’s had discussion with CWM on possibly establishing a reward to help find those responsible for damaging the signs.

Board members closed with praise extended to various groups, including Sandy Hays-Mies of the Greater Lewiston Business and Professional Association, the Porter Activity Committee, CWM, Modern Disposal, the town Highway Department and the Sentinel for their assistance with the town’s first-ever Cabbage Festival. “They all did a great job,” said Wiepert. “Thanks again.”