Welcome to Residents for Responsible Government
UPDATE
The New York State Hazardous Waste Facility Siting Plan has been published. And there's good news.
In Chapter 6 of the plan, The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation states:
"Conclusion regarding Facility Need
Based on the national availability of facilities, there are sufficient available TSD facilities for management of RCRA hazardous waste generated in NYS and will be for the foreseeable future.... Thus there is no current or near term need for increased capacity for hazardous waste management in New York State."
This is a huge coup for RRG and the residents of Lewiston and Porter! RRG and its supporters should be very proud of this determination.
But don't start the celebration just yet. The battle is not over. CWM will not simply walk away from the millions of dollars it would get by trucking hundreds of thousands of tons of toxic waste into our community for the next 30 years. CWM's $13-billion parent company, Waste Management, is assuredly assembling teams of lobbyists and lawyers to fight this.
The governor of New York still needs to appoint a siting board to finalize the plan.
CWM still pays thousands of dollars to the local press to run ads with its slogan "We Live Here, Too."
Sure, they live here. But WE die here. Hosting an enormous toxic/hazardous waste facility 1 mile from our schools, Lake Ontario, dumping waste water into the Niagara River -- it's killing our community, both literally and figuratively. Hosting ANOTHER one would be the final nail in the Lower Niagara River Region's coffin. That's the difference.
RRG still needs your support, especially now at this critical time. RRG has the expertise and experience to fight toxic waste landfilling, and we will continue doing so until CWM reaches capacity and settles into its legally-mandated and perpetually-monitored retirment. So, keep up with us, and we'll keep up with what needs to be done.
Meanwhile, please enjoy your read through the NYS Hazardous Waste Facility Siting Plan.
Want to get involved?
Looking for volunteers to:
Help with website
Make calls when necessary
Drive membership
Help fundraise
email rrgwny@gmail.com or call (716) 946-1861 for more information.
WE ARE ONE STEP CLOSER TO ENDING
TOXIC WASTE DUMPING
IN LEWISTON AND PORTER
Imagine our future without CWM
Chemical Waste Management, the largest hazardous waste dump in the Northeastern United States, is scheduled to reach capacity and close sometime in 2014. After the site closes, it will be maintained in perpetuity per CWM's Host Community Agreement. It will not be abandoned, but monitored closely by workers hired to do so by law.
When CWM closes, trucks loaded with toxic chemicals like PCBs and mercury will stop driving and leaking across the country, across New York State, past the Lewiston-Porter Schools, and in front of thousands upon thousands of homes, hospitals, daycares, and other businesses. CWM's land, built on the former Lake Ontario Ordnance Works, riddled with chemicals and radiological elements, will cease to be disturbed and disrupted by CWM's equipment.
CWM will stop hosting picnics and events for children on its hazardous waste dump.
Property values in Lewiston and Porter will rebound and our tax base will grow.
The students in the Lewiston-Porter School District (rated the best school in Niagara County by Business First) will be safer.
Our community looks forward to that day with joy and the knowledge that we will all be a little safer and healthier for the site closing and being monitored.
However...
CWM has applied to the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for a permit to open another, huge hazardous waste dump (RMU 2) right next to the existing dump in Lewiston-Porter. That will mean MORE trucks, MORE leaks, MORE accidents, MORE fires, MORE danger to this community for the next 20 years or more.
CWM proposes to site/construct/operate a 50 acre landfill to be designated as Residual Management Unit - Two (RMU-2) for disposal of an estimated 3,976,100 cubic yards of hazardous and industrial non-hazardous waste.
The residents and taxpayers in this community will not be able to escape if this happens. Who would buy a house in a community hosting TWO ENORMOUS TOXIC WASTE DUMPS??
What businesses would come here?
Who would invest in a community slowly dying from its proximity to hazardous waste sites?
Our Mission
Residents for Responsible Government was created to inform and empower residents on the hazards of toxic waste in the Buffalo-Niagara region, especially the chemical and radiological materials in and around the Niagara Falls Storage Site (NFSS) and Chemical Waste Management (CWM), which operates in the middle of the Lake Ontario Ordnance Works (LOOW), a major WW II munitions production and radiological handling and storage site.
Our Goal
All programs of RRG relate to the contaminated LOOW area, and focus on public information and empowerment to promote residents’ health and well being:
1. Prevent CWM expansion and soil disturbance in areas not currently permitted as a toxic waste landfill.
2. Assure proper and continual monitoring and maintenance of properly closed landfills.
3. Provide information and guidance for the public to have a real voice in state, local, and federal decisions.
4. Encourage health studies to determine cause of high rates of illness around the LOOW/CWM site.
5. Assure health and safety of nearby Lewiston-Porter School students and staff from possible dangers due to proximity to Niagara Falls Storage Site and CWM site.
6. Promote quality of life and environment to improve tourism and real estate values.
7. Build coalitions with organizations in New York State and across the continent, including Canada.
8. Encourage alternative waste disposal technologies other than landfills, and at point of generation.
RRG Meetings
RRG's Board meetings are 7:00 p.m. every fourth Wednesday of the month in the library of the First Presbyterian Church in Youngstown, NY. We hold several open meetings each year. Notices will be posted on this site.
