Maziarz chides DEC on ‘87 Hazardous Waste Management Act

by Terry Duffy
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, February 17, 2007

With a new administration in place in Albany, state Sen. George Maziarz has taken new aim at the Department of Environmental Conservation’s handling of the 1987 Hazardous Waste Management Act, with calls for the agency to update and revise the 20-year-old bill following two decades of virtual inaction.

“I hope you share my disbelief that the Department of Environmental Conservation has managed to run out a 20-year clock without complying with the 1987 law,” said Maziarz this past week. “How the state manages hazardous waste is a statewide issue, and so this legislation is of importance to us all.”

In introducing his bill, S.2726, Maziarz called on the DEC for changes to the ’87 law to provide for a better understanding of ecosystem-based management criteria as well as inclusion of impacted communities into any DEC Siting Board that would evaluate any future facility proposals. He also blasted DEC for its long-term inaction over the years under both Democratic as well as Republican governors to implement the law in the first place.

Frustrations

“The agency that was responsible for carrying out this law just didn’t do it. … Lawsuits were filed, judges ordered the agency to comply … yet the law just sat on the books as if it didn’t exist at all.”

Lewiston and Porter area residents know all too well the frustrations Maziarz is talking about. Following years of calls for DEC to develop an equitable Siting Plan for placement of future land filling facilities, taking into consideration the town of Porter’s unique situation with CWM Chemical Services as home to the only hazardous waste facility in the state in its determinations, DEC, following contentious public hearings on the issue, instead opted to go with more of the same when it issued a new plan in 2003. That plan was met with overwhelming opposition in the form of negative public hearings as well as feedback from the community. DEC has taken no action with regards to developing and issuing an equitable Siting Plan since.

Take Responsibility

In his calling on the agency to now take responsibility on its managing of the state’s hazardous wastes, Maziarz wants DEC:

•To take measures towards reducing hazardous waste production in the first place, with options for reuse or additional treatments so that it no longer poses a risk. Maziarz said that land filling is the least preferred option and called on DEC to work on eliminating all hazardous waste land filling in the state by 2015.

•To convene a Hazardous Waste Management Task Force, which would be comprised of diverse stakeholder interests to produce a Hazardous Waste Siting Plan. The Maziarz bill also provides for DEC establishment of “a comprehensive, refined and updated set of guidelines and criteria for locating hazardous waste facilities …,” again taking into consideration the affected communities and ecosystems.

•To include three members of the impacted community as well as such groups as the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historical Preservation as well as Agriculture and Markets on any Siting Board in determining the equitable placement of a landfill facility.

•And the bill again calls on DEC to lend much greater consideration into the impact that haz waste land filling operations have on the environment.

“There is important work to be done, and I have absolutely no doubt that we hold the ecological, ethical and even the moral duty to hold the DEC accountable for doing responsible planning for managing hazardous waste in this state,” said Maziarz. “This is a defining moment in history for the legislature and Gov. Spitzer’s Department of Environmental Conservation.”

‘Complete Surprise’

Reaction was at best mixed to the Maziarz bill by some of the area’s environmental interests.

Lewiston resident Amy Witryol of the Niagara Health-Science Report was somewhat perplexed when she heard the news, saying “Sen. Maziarz’s bill 2726 came as a complete surprise to the environmental community in Niagara County. At first glance this bill does more to help the pending (CWM) application than to deter it.”

In particular, Witryol raised issue with the bill’s language, noting it provides for acceptance of both local and state generated hazardous waste as well as waste from throughout the U.S. and outside countries into future landfills. “The Maziarz bill promotes New York as the dumpsite and incinerator to the world by requiring the Siting Plan to project the next 20 years of toxic waste from, ‘the region, the nation and foreign countries which have sought or will likely seek management from within the state,’ ” said Witryol. Puerto Rico already ships waste here, so within 20 years that could include China and others. The waste industry must be cheering.”

She continued, “The highest priority for Sen. Maziarz is to fulfill his promise to reintroduce and pass, with all deliberate speed, the Hazardous Waste Great Lakes bill that Gov. Pataki vetoed last year.”

That bill (A.248) has been reintroduced in the Assembly and was furnished to Maziarz’s staff in January. A companion version has yet to be introduced in the Senate.