News stories tagged with "superfund"

(08/31/10) The post-bailout arm of General Motors that's in charge of liquidating failed assets of the car-maker wants to tear down the Powertrain plant in Massena. The plant closed for good last year. But the buildings, the equipment, and the soil underneath is contaminated with toxic PCB oil. Federal environment officials now say Motors Liquidation Company has to clean it all up before demolition can begin. As David Sommerstein reports, the extent of the contamination has some former workers and the Massena community worried.

(04/15/08) In 1997, Massena's 200-year old dam breached, sending miles of slow, flat water downstream. Environmentalists saw the change as a victory for free-flowing rivers and the endangered fish that thrive in them. But many Massena residents miss the high, placid waters of the old Grasse River. People used to fish and boat there. Local leaders have started a movement to return the pond, by building a hydropower dam half-a-mile downriver from where the old dam used to be. The dam's fueled a classic debate of the economy versus the environment, but with a twist. A Superfund site of toxic chemicals is also in the mix. David Sommerstein reports.

(09/30/05) Environmentalists are marking the 25th anniversary of the Superfund by criticizing the Bush administration for not doing enough to clean up toxic waste sites. Karen DeWitt reports.

(09/24/04) After a 14-year impasse, the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe will allow General Motors on to tribal land to clean up an inlet on the St. Lawrence River. Turtle Cove is contaminated with PCBs, a cancer-causing chemical. The EPA ordered the work to be done in 1990. But tribal officials wouldn't allow it because General Motors giant toxic landfill is right next to the cove and they feared the water would get re-contaminated. Different visions of what "clean" means have stalled clean-up of the GM landfill Superfund site near Massena. Listen again to David Sommerstein's report from 2001 on how GM, the EPA and the Mohawks see the PCB problem.

(03/05/04) An appeals court has ruled General Electric has the right to challenge federal orders to clean up toxic waste sires, a decision the Environmental Protection Agency warns could weaken the Superfund cleanup program. Jody Tosti has more.

(10/20/03) A toxic waste dump in St. Lawrence County will get the next stage of a clean-up this week. Federal contractors will install a filter to clean up contaminated groundwater at the Sealand Restoration landfill in the town of Lisbon. But as David Sommerstein reports, neighbors see the work as too little, too late.

(09/19/03) David Sommerstein talks with state Assemblyman Darrel Aubertine about what the new Superfund and Brownfields bill will mean for North Country industrial sites.

(08/08/03) Environmentalists say the cleanup of the Superfund sites in New York have already been delayed because of the failure of Governor Pataki and the legislature to agree on a renewal plan. Now, they say, the federal government is also dragging its feet on cleaning up polluted sites. Karen DeWitt reports.

(06/26/03) No new Superfund hazardous waste sites in New York will be cleaned up for at least several months, and a program to reuse industrial Brownfields is on hold, because Governor Pataki and state legislative leaders failed to approve a new law, despite the fact that all three say they agree on the legislation. Karen DeWitt reports.

(06/02/03) Environmentalists say the legislature is close to finally agreeing on how to renew the bankrupt State Superfund. They've sent a letter encouraging the Senate and Assembly to work together with Governor Pataki to pass a law before the legislative session ends. Karen DeWitt reports.