Miller, Van, 1907-2015.]]> Buffalo Bills (Football team) -- History.]]> Radio broadcasting of sports -- New York (State) -- Buffalo -- History]]>
Born in Dunkirk, New York, south of Buffalo, Miller’s career echoed his calls in the booth, building to a crescendo from humble beginnings as a summer replacement announcer at WBEN-TV (now WIVB-TV) in the mid-1950s to the station’s legendary sports anchor. His upbeat delivery was punctuated by humor and wit, which became his trademarks on the air. He retired from WIVB in 1998 after a forty-three year run.

In 2004, Van Miller became the first local play-by-play announcer to be honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Ten years later his name was added to the Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame at the team’s home stadium in Orchard Park, New York.

During his final interview with WIVB-TV Senior Correspondent Rich Newberg, Miller reflected on his broadcast career in Buffalo, saying, “ That was a great ride. I was the luckiest man in the world.”

Miller coined many phrases and catchwords that added to his signature style during Bills games. During the final days of his life, when he was barely able to speak, Van Miller mustered enough energy to raise his hands from his bedsheets and utter a parting word to his Channel 4 colleagues who came to say their final goodbye. It was his word describing the euphoria when the Bills would score a winning touchdown. “Fan-damonium!” Van’s longtime WIVB-TV colleagues who were at his bedside, anchor Jacquie Walker, senior correspondent Rich Newberg, and meteorologist Don Paul, believe Miller wanted Buffalo fans to know they were still number one on his mind. ]]> Newberg, Rich (Writer, Reporter)]]> Swenson, Scott (Photographer, Editor)

]]> (publisher of digital)]]> Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Arts Director)]]> eng]]> Love Canal Chemical Waste Landfill (Niagara Falls, N.Y.)]]> Radioactive waste sites -- New York (State)]]> Hazardous substances -- Law and legislation.]]> Industrial safety -- Law and legislation.]]> Chemicals -- Safety measures]]> Environmental Pollutants -- Poisoning.]]> Olin Corporation]]> Bethlehem Steel Corporation]]> Hooker Chemical Corporation]]> Lead poisoning]]> Donner-Hanna Coke Corporation]]> Republic Steel Corporation]]> Union Carbide Corporation]]> Chemicals--Fires and fire prevention]]> In 1980, demands by Western New York union workers dealing with toxic chemicals reached a crescendo. They insisted on knowing the nature of the substances to which they were exposed, and the extent of that exposure on the job. Some were suffering from ailments they attributed to toxic exposure.

As a result of their efforts and similar demands that were being made around the country, “Right to Know” laws were passed locally, statewide, and nationally, granting workers and citizens access to chemical information critical to their health and safety.

The following series of WIVB-TV reports by Rich Newberg documents this critical period of awakening to environmental hazards. They were aired on WIVB-TV in 1980 and ’81. The same issues are surfacing again today. The incoming Biden administration is pledging to make environmental justice a top priority.

The opening comment is from Lois Gibbs. In 1980 Ms. Gibbs and the Love Canal Homeowners Association successfully organized the relocation of more than 700 families whose homes were in the toxic Love Canal neighborhood of Niagara Falls, New York. Their efforts led to the creation of the nation’s Superfund, providing relief for toxic neighborhoods around the country. Her comments are provided courtesy of Harvard University, where she was interviewed as part of the “Voices From the Field Leadership Series” on April 10, 2014.
[Total Running Time of Reports: 1:00:26]


1. ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST LOIS GIBBS REFLECTS BRIEFLY ON THE RIGHT TO KNOW
“Voices from the Field” (series)
Harvard University
School of Public Health
April 10, 2014
“Right to know actually started in the workplace, and then the workers moved it to the city level, then the county level, and then the state level. And then these various states did it, and the industry is going crazy because they’re filling out so many forms. And they said, we need a federal policy. This is insane.”
(Runs: :14)

2. WORKERS RIGHT TO KNOW LAW [SERIES]
“A Safe Place to Work?”
WIVB-TV Impact Series
5 Parts / February 1980
(Runs: 14:40)

Chemical and steel workers in the Buffalo-Niagara region demand to know the level of exposure to toxic substances in the workplace. There is increasing evidence that their health and safety are being compromised. Their efforts lead to the New York Right To Know Law, requiring industries to disclose the type of chemicals utilized in the workplace and the level of exposure to workers.

Western New York ranks in the top 10% of cancer regions in the country. Cancer experts believe exposure to toxic chemicals in the workplace is largely to blame.

This five part series by WIVB-TV reporter Rich Newberg takes viewers into the plants in question and explores the concerns expressed by workers who say they are suffering the consequences of exposure to dangerous chemicals.

[Part 1]
Workers at the Olin Chemical Plant in Niagara Falls, New York claim they are losing their hair and teeth due to exposure to mercury in a plant that produced chlorine.

A year earlier Occupational Health and Safety inspectors find that controls were not implemented to reduce unsafe levels of exposure to mercury.

While workers are given urine tests and the plant is making improvements, including a new ventilation system, the manager is unable to promise employees they will remain within federal safety limits of mercury exposure. He says in “certain operations it’s just not technically feasible to reduce the levels below that limit.”
(Runs: 3:35)

[Part 2]
Bethlehem Steel workers in Lackawanna, New York are exposed to suspected lead dust in the 13 Inch Bar. It is described by United Steel Workers Local 2603 president Art Sambuchi as, “A big heavy air, orange in color. You can’t see ten, fifteen feet in front of you.” Workers in the mill staged a wildcat strike believing their safety has been compromised.

At the same time, the federal government is investigating concerns that carcinogenic toxins from the coke ovens are exposing workers to dangerous carcinogens. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration finds 22 serious violations, indicating that workers are being exposed up to 13 times beyond the safe level of exposure to poisonous chemical emissions.

Stanley Lukasik, a 58 year old retired coke oven supervisor who attributes his weak heart to his 36 years at the steel plant, says he proved in 1970 (ten years earlier) that emissions could be controlled, even without the use of sophisticated equipment, but that Bethlehem Steel ignored his suggestions. Mr. Lukasik dies of a heart attack eight days after being interviewed for the WIVB-TV “Right To Know” series.
(Runs: 2:37)

[Part 3]
Joseph Pillittere of Niagara Falls, New York enters politics after working as a rocket test engineer at Bell Aerospace in Western New York. He believes several of his co-workers died as a result of chemical exposure while on the job.

As a freshman Assemblyman-(D), Niagara Falls), Pillittere fights for a law that will give workers the right to know the chemicals they are exposed to in the workplace and the risks involved.

Workers from all types of plants and mills in Western New York begin posting stickers demanding to know, “What’s In This Stuff?” Claiming their “safety and health is at stake,” they call for passage of the Right to Know Legislation.

Momentum is building as a result of environmental tests conducted around Bloody Run Creek in Niagara Falls. Results show the presence of deadly dioxin dust in some factories upstream. Dioxin is considered one of the most deadly chemicals ever created.

On December 20, 1979, the findings are announced to a cross section of workers who meet in Niagara Falls, New York. Assemblyman Pillittere presses federal health officials at the meeting, questioning why they were not aware of the fact that
Tam Ceramics Company had closed one of its buildings that had been contaminated by dioxin dust.

Pillittere realizes his legislation, if passed, would be costly to industry, but is willing to lose potential re-election support in order to fight for the rights of workers. He says, “It’s more important to be able to live with yourself, and If you can live with yourself and you get re-elected, it’s a plus. If you can live with yourself and you don’t get re-elected because of big money, at least you can say you always say that you did what you thought was right.”
(Runs: 3:03)

[Part 4]
At a state conducted hearing in Niagara Falls, Garath Tubbs of the Worker’s Compensation Reform Coalition tells the story of an industrial painter who developed a condition that led to uncontrollable shaking and great pain.

Chemical plant representatives from Niagara Falls also testify. Hooker Chemical Corp. Vice President of Operations Milo Harrison says his company is against new legislation that might lead to burdensome rules and regulations. He says Hooker is already studying workers’ health histories and releasing information to workers about hazardous chemicals.

Jeanne Reilly, President of Technical Engineers Union Local 57 at Hooker Chemical testifies that she has yet to see the results of monitoring tests on her fellow workers. This, despite “numerous promises and statements of corporate policy.”
(Runs: 2:27)

[Part 5] (conclusion)
Labor unions representing workers who deal with toxic chemicals call for a central agency that would deal with exposure on the job. Workers’ families, they say, have a right to know what’s being brought home.

Western New York’s scientific community also calls on area industries provide more information about hazardous chemicals.
Cancer researcher Beverly Paigen says, “Our knowledge is very limited in this area, partly because no records are kept of employee exposure, and no records are kept of occupational disease.”

The initial driving political force behind the movement against chemical contamination has its roots in the Love Canal neighborhood. Residents of contaminated communities, along with workers are demanding that the government and industry be more responsive to the hazards of chemical exposure.

Workers seek to know not just the trade name of the chemicals in the workplace, but the components as well. They also want to know if these chemicals accumulate in the human body to cause harm.

Public awareness and sensitivity to the problems of chemical contamination of the environment, in neighborhoods and the workplace is growing, thanks to grass roots and media efforts to dig deeper into health and safety issues.
(Runs: 2:35)

3. HOOKER CHEMICAL FIRES OUTSPOKEN WORKER
The President of Technical Engineers Union Local 57 at Hooker Chemical is fired after testifying that she has yet to see the results of monitoring tests on her fellow workers.
(Runs: 2:01)

4. NEW YORK STATE LAWMAKERS PASS WORKERS RIGHT TO KNOW BILL
The New York State legislature passes the Workers Right to Know Bill. It gives workers the right to know the nature of hazardous chemicals in the workplace.
The bill was first introduced by Niagara Falls Assemblyman Joe Pillittere. Senator John Daly handled the bill in the State Senate.
(Runs: :38)

5. BETHLEHEM STEEL WORKERS SHUT DOWN 13” BAR MILL OVER LEAD DUST SAFETY ISSUES
A wildcat strike by Bethlehem Steel workers shuts down the 13” bar mill. Workers say thick clouds of steel lead dust make breathing difficult. They have called on the company to install a proper ventilation system and allow studies to be conducted on medical histories of workers in the mill.
(Runs: 1:42)

6. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD RULES THAT STEEL WORKERS ARE ENTITLED TO THOUSANDS OF COMPANY FILES DATING BACK FIVE YEARS
1980
The National Labor Relations Board rules that the Steelworkers Union is entitled to thousands of Bethlehem Steel files dating back five years. The files will be used to determine whether exposure to potentially hazardous substances in the workplace may have impacted the health of workers.
(Runs: 1:41)

7. BETHLEHEM STEEL COKE OVEN TOUR
1980
Reporters are given a tour of the coke ovens on the Bethlehem Steel site in Lackawanna. A $113 million dollar cleanup effort has cut back on harmful emissions. A year earlier federal health and safety inspectors found harmful emissions thirteen times greater than federal standards allow.
(Runs: 1:42)

8. DONNER HANNA COKE EMISSIONS IMPACT QUALITY OF LIFE IN SOUTH BUFFALO NEIGHBORHOOD
(2 PARTS)
Black dust from the Donner Hanna Coke Company in South Buffalo is raining down on homes near the Bethlehem Steel plant in Lackawanna. The company’s huge ovens turn coal into coke for steel making. Residents, who refer to the pollutants as “the black rain,” learn that they are being exposed to harmful doses that can cause long term health problems. Some are already experiencing respiratory problems. The state says it will meet with Donner Hanna officials to discuss the issue.
1981
(Runs: 3:52)

9. 400 UNION LEADERS TAKE A STAND AGAINST ATTEMPTS TO TAKE POWER AWAY FROM THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
(2 PARTS)
1980
Western New York labor unions unite to fight proposed legislation that they claim would strip the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of its power. Congressmen representing the region, including Jack Kemp, come out against the Schweiker Bill.
(Runs: 3:00)

10. SICK AND INJURED WORKERS TELL STATE LAWMAKERS THEY CAN BARELY SURVIVE ON CURRENT WORKERS COMPENSATION BENEFITS
1980
Workers injured on the job testify before state lawmakers that the compensation payments they receive have not kept up with the cost of living. Older workers, whose compensation rates were set in stone, do not qualify for increased payments that went into effect years later. Members of the state compensation board agree that the law must change.
(Runs: 1:58)

11. FIGHTING CHEMICAL FIRES
Special training for firefighters who need to understand the nature of lethal
gases and smoke.
1981
(Runs: 1:31)

12. WESTERN NEW YORK CHEMICAL COMPANIES HAVE NO PLACE TO DUMP TOXIC WASTE
1981
Firefighters are trained to deal with toxic chemical blazes. Newer Scott Air Packs
ensure against mask leakage.
(Runs: 1:48)

13. 500 MILLION GALLONS OF CONTAMINATED WATER ARE BEING DUMPED INTO NIAGARA RIVER EVERY DAY ACCORDING TO NEW YORK PUBLIC INTEREST GROUP STUDY
(3 PARTS)
1981
Chemical companies are running out of places to dump their hazardous wastes.
Niagara Falls residents are concerned that current hazardous waste burial grounds may be expanding.

The New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) says chemical companies have been dumping 500 Million gallons of contaminated water into the Niagara River every day. NYPIRG is concerned that the drinking water for 380,000 area residents may be polluted.

The Chemical Manufacturers Association questions the NYPIRG findings and accuses the public interest group of putting jobs in jeopardy. The federal government will provide millions of dollars to improve processing at the Niagara Falls Waste Water Treatment Plant.

NYPIRG faults the City of Niagara Falls for allowing Hooker Chemical’s S Dump to remain open. NYPIRG says the intake system there is contaminated and that tons of toxic chemicals are leaching into the Niagara Falls Water Filtration Plant.
(Runs: 6:26)

14. REPUBLIC STEEL FILTERS OUT HARMFUL CHEMICALS —RETURNING CLEAN WATER TO BUFFALO RIVER
1980
Republic Steel says it has filtered out harmful chemicals and is returning clean wager to the Buffalo River. Reporters and government officials are given a tour of the $11 million dollar filtration system. Republic Steel had been cited in the past for water pollution violations.
(Runs: 2:03)

15. RADIATION EXPOSURE DURING DEVELOPMENT OF THE ATOMIC BOMB AT LINDE PLANT TOWN OF TONAWANDA
1980
During the development of the atomic bomb, the Linde Division of Union Carbide in the Town of Tonawanda allowed up to 70 million gallons of radioactive liquid waste to be discharged into waste water wells on its property. The U.S. Department of Energy maintains the uranium concentrations in that waste were not significant enough to pose a health threat. Water samples are continuing around the Linde site. It was revealed that some Linde employees may not have been told they were working on the Manhattan project. Efforts are underway to find these employees and check their health records.
(Runs: 1:52)

16. RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL SHIPMENTS FROM CANADA
There is growing concern that shipment of radioactive material from Canada are going unreported as they enter Western New York. Buffalo lawmakers move toward initiating regulations that would alert localities when shipments are passing through on their roadways.
(2 PARTS)
1981
(Runs: 4:57)

17. “THE PRICE WE PAY FOR LEAD”
(2 PARTS)
8/1 - 8/2/1995
Even though lead paint was banned in 1978, Buffalo’s old housing stock makes residents vulnerable to exposure. Even lower levels can be harmful. Children have been poisoned, some suffering irreversible damage, including hyperactivity and learning disabilities.

More than 61 percent of children in Erie County, ages 6 months to 5 years, are estimated to exceed the safety limits of lead in the blood. Black children, many from the inner city, make up 78 percent of youngsters treated for lead poisoning in Erie County.

Lawsuits are filed against landlords in Buffalo who have failed to remove lead paint from their properties. However, defense attorneys say it is difficult to prove that exposure to lead paint is the cause of certain ailments.
(Runs: 10:08)]]> Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Arts Director)]]> Gibbs, Lois (Environmental Activist)]]> Harvard University (School of Public Health)]]> Pillittere, Joseph (New York State Assemblyman)]]> Spatorico, Sal (Chemical Worker)]]> Sambuchi, Art (United Steel Workers Local 2603 President)]]> Lukasik, Stanley (Retired Steel Worker)]]> Reilly, Jeanne (Technical Engineers Local 57 President)]]> New York Public Interest Research Group]]> eng]]> Love Canal Chemical Waste Landfill (Niagara Falls, N.Y.)]]> Chemical plants -- Waste disposal -- Environmental aspects -- New York (State) -- Niagara Falls]]>
The cries of families ravaged by chemical exposure in their own homes had initially been ignored by lawmakers who were in a position to offer meaningful support. The grassroots struggle of these homeowners and their ultimate victory in winning federal support offers powerful lessons to a nation still troubled by environmental injustice.

Mr. Newberg tracked down the former Niagara Gazette rookie reporter who broke the story in 1978. In a rare interview, Michael Brown recalls his "journalistic obsession" after going door-to-door in the Love Canal neighborhood and establishing a pattern of still births and cancer.

Lois Gibbs, the stay-at-home mom who rose to national prominence in her fight to be heard, tells Mr. Newberg that local broadcast journalists played a major role in getting the word out. “When people are right and people peacefully demonstrate and speak truth to power,” she said, “that’s how democracy works, and then we got what we needed.”

The story ends with President Joe Biden bemoaning the fact that the right of every American to breathe clean air and drink clean water has yet to be fulfilled.

“A Toxic Nightmare: The Awakening” received a New York Emmy Award in the category of Science/Environment. It also won a national Telly Award. In addition, Rich Newberg and co-producer Tom Vetter took first place “Enterprise Reporting” honors from the Journalists Association of New York.

The piece appeared as a featured segment of the Buffalo primetime special, “The Buffalo Story: History Happens Here,” which won a New York Emmy Award for “Public Service.”

Originally aired on WIVB-TV and WNLO-TV / Buffalo, New York.]]> Newberg, Rich (Producer, Writer, Host)]]> Vetter, Tom (Producer, Editor)]]>
]]> Walker, Jacquie (Co-producer)]]> Murphy, Kurt (Co-producer)]]> Love Canal: Neighborhood of Fear [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 2] ]]> Turning Anger Into Action [The Story of Love Canal Pt.3]]]> What Have We Learned? [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 4]]]> An Interview with Michael Brown]]> An Interview with Lois Gibbs [Her battle and victory on behalf of Love Canal homeowners]]]> eng]]> ]]> Chemical plants -- Waste disposal -- Environmental aspects -- New York (State) -- Niagara Falls]]> Love Canal Chemical Waste Landfill (Niagara Falls, N.Y.)]]>
She says that her son, who had been “perfectly healthy,” suddenly got “sicker and sicker and sicker.” He developed epilepsy. Lois began reading articles by Michael Brown in the Niagara Gazette, questioning whether a disproportionate number of health issues in the community could be attributed to toxic chemical exposure.

Mrs. Gibbs, who said it was “terrifying,” began her search for answers by going to the Niagara Falls school board, City Hall, and the offices of state senators and other representatives. She says no one offered to help. She says Mayor Michael O’Laughlin told her Michael Brown was a “troublemaker,” and that she should “go home and take care of my child.”

In her interview with Rich Newberg, Lois Gibbs reflects on the strategies employed to finally get the president of the United States to come to Niagara Falls and sign legislation benefitting Love Canal families wishing to move out of the neighborhood. It also created a Superfund to assist other communities across the country dealing with the hazards of toxic chemical exposure.

Portions of the Lois Gibbs interview appear in the 2021 documentary, “The Buffalo Story: History Happens Here.” It is part of the Rich Newberg Reports Collection. The Love Canal segment entitled “A Toxic Nightmare: The Awakening,” won a New York Emmy award in 2022 in the category of Science/Environment.]]> Newberg, Rich (Interviewer)]]> Gibbs, Lois (Interviewee)]]> Vetter, Tom (Producer)]]> Terranova, Michael (Editor)]]> A Toxic Nightmare: The Awakening [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 1] 

Love Canal: Neighborhood of Fear [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 2]

Turning Anger Into Action [The Story of Love Canal Pt.3]

What Have We Learned? [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 4]

An Interview with Michael Brown

]]> eng]]> Chemical plants -- Waste disposal -- Environmental aspects -- New York (State) -- Niagara Falls
]]> Love Canal Chemical Waste Landfill (Niagara Falls, N.Y.)]]>
Mr. Brown had begun covering toxic waste dumpsites in Niagara County. That became his journalistic focus. He managed to stir up a lot of controversy in the process.

While covering a public hearing, a woman in her early 20s from the Love Canal neighborhood broke down in tears when describing her concerns about potential health issues associated with chemicals believed to be leaking into her and her neighbors’ homes.

The city of Niagara Falls had initiated an assessment of the issue and considered covering the old dumpsite with clay. In 1977, Mr. Brown talked with a city engineer who felt the situation was very serious and could effect future generations if not properly addressed.

A period of silence by the city followed. Brown decided to follow up but said he got no answers from the County Health Department. He had become the Niagara Falls City Hall reporter for the Gazette. His journalistic intuition prompted him to go door-to-door, talking with Love Canal families. His goal was to determine whether the presence of toxic chemicals may have been having an effect on their health.

Rich Newberg’s interview with Michael Brown takes us back to that initial period of discovery and what followed next. At the time of the interview, more than four decades had passed since the Love Canal disaster became a “journalistic obsession” for Mr. Brown.

Viewers will learn of the obstacles he faced and how his reporting for the Niagara Gazette led to the rise of Lois Gibbs, leader of the Love Canal Homeowners Association, whose tireless efforts not only ended in victory for her neighbors, but served as the beginning of the environmental justice movement for people exposed to toxic chemicals in their communities.

Portions of the Brown and Gibbs interviews appear in the 2021 documentary, “The Buffalo Story: History Happens Here.” The segment entitled “A Toxic Nightmare: The Awakening,” won a New York Emmy award in 2022 in the category of Science/Environment.]]> Newberg, Rich (Interviewer)]]> Brown, Michael (Interviewee)]]> Vetter, Tom (Producer)]]> Terranova, Michael (Editor)]]> A Toxic Nightmare: The Awakening [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 1] 

Love Canal: Neighborhood of Fear [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 2]

Turning Anger Into Action [The Story of Love Canal Pt.3]

What Have We Learned? [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 4]

An Interview with Lois Gibbs [Her Battle and Victory on Behalf of Love Canal Homeowners]

]]> eng]]> Love Canal Chemical Waste Landfill (Niagara Falls, N.Y.)]]> Chemical plants -- Waste disposal -- Environmental aspects -- New York (State) -- Niagara Falls]]>
The half hour presentation, was written, produced and reported by Marie Rice, who co-anchored the special with WIVB anchor John Beard. It featured some of the most emotional testimony from Love Canal family members whose loved ones were sick and dying due to chemical exposure. More than seven hundred families were demanding that they be relocated and that their grievances be properly addressed.

Tests determined that residents had suffered “ominous” rare chromosomal damage. Lois Gibbs, who ultimately led the Love Canal Homeowners Association to victory, later attributed Buffalo news coverage to the successful outcome. The grassroots crusade has been credited with launching the environmental justice movement in the United States.

President Jimmy Carter came to Niagara Falls to sign legislation that met homeowners demands and led to the creation of the Superfund. Formerly known as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, the program is designed to provide emergency responses to sites contaminated by hazardous substances. By one count there are 40,000 federal Superfund sites across the United States.]]> Rice, Marie (Producer, Writer, Host)]]> News 4 Buffalo (WIVB-TV Newsroom)]]> Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Artist)]]> Beard, John (Co-host)]]> Swan, Ray (Editor)]]> A Toxic Nightmare: The Awakening [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 1] 

Turning Anger Into Action [The Story of Love Canal Pt.3]

What Have We Learned? [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 4]

An Interview with Michael Brown

An Interview with Lois Gibbs [Her Battle and Victory on Behalf of Love Canal Homeowners]

]]> eng]]> Love Canal Chemical Waste Landfill (Niagara Falls, N.Y.)]]> Chemical plants -- Waste disposal -- Environmental aspects -- New York (State) -- Niagara Falls]]>
Beginning in the summer of 1978, when blood tests were first administered and only a selected number of households were ordered to evacuate their contaminated homes, Lois Gibbs and her Love Canal Homeowners Association demanded that arrangements be made to move out more families for permanent relocation.

After strong lobbying efforts, president Jimmy Carter took initial action in approving enough funds for New York State to buy 236 Love Canal homes. Families were relocated at a cost of $10 million dollars.

Three months later it was revealed that 200 tons of dioxin, one of the most lethal chemicals produced by humans, were buried in the canal. Residents said they witnessed the military also using the canal as a dumpsite.

In May 1980 the Environmental Protection Agency determined that some residents suffered from chromosome damage. Four days later President Carter declared Love Canal a national emergency. Eventually another 710 Love Canal families were relocated.

Love Canal families had originally sought $15 billion dollars in damages from Hooker Chemical’s parent company Occidental Chemical Corporation. In 1983, about 1,330 families got a settlement of $20 million dollars. In addition, a one million dollar medical trust fund was created.

In 1995, Occidental Chemical Corporation and Occidental Petroleum agreed to pay the federal government $129 million dollars as reimbursement for clean-up costs of the Love Canal landfill.]]> Newberg, Rich (Reporter)]]> Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Artist)]]> Rice, Marie (Reporter)]]> Beard, John (Co-host)]]> Gunter, Gary (Reporter)]]> A Toxic Nightmare: The Awakening [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 1] 

Love Canal: Neighborhood of Fear [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 2]

Turning Anger Into Action [The Story of Love Canal Pt.3]

What Have We Learned? [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 4]

An Interview with Michael Brown

An Interview with Lois Gibbs [Her Battle and Victory on Behalf of Love Canal Homeowners]

]]> eng]]> Chemical plants -- Waste disposal -- Environmental aspects -- New York (State) -- Niagara Falls]]> Love Canal Chemical Waste Landfill (Niagara Falls, N.Y.)]]>
In this series of reports presented ten to forty years after the evacuation of an entire Niagara Falls community due to toxic chemical exposure, a sad truth emerges. History appears to be repeating itself.

Viewers learn that the losses of life and property that received international attention beginning in the late 1970s failed to prevent others from establishing homes in close proximity to where 20,000 thousand tons of toxic chemicals remain buried in the ground. The industrial and military waste was capped and continues to be monitored by the federal government, which has insisted the area is safe.

However, new lawsuits have been filed claiming that chemicals have migrated from the site, again taking a toll on human health. Lois Gibbs, the environmental rights crusader who organized fellow homeowners when the Love Canal story first broke, revisited the neighborhood in 2013. She couldn’t understand how anyone could move anywhere near the Love Canal site.

“We said it so many times, don’t bring people back here,” exclaimed Mrs. Gibbs during a walking tour of the site. She added, “they bamboozled them into believing it was safe…and they innocently went in and bought what I bought thirty-five years ago, ‘the American dream.’”]]> Newberg, Rich (Reporter)]]> Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Artist)]]> Rice, Marie (Reporter)]]> McClintick, Michelle (Reporter)]]> Newberg, Rich (Reporter)]]> Williams, Jordan (Reporter)]]> Schanz, Jenn (Reporter)]]> A Toxic Nightmare: The Awakening [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 1] 

Love Canal: Neighborhood of Fear [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 2]

Turning Anger Into Action [The Story of Love Canal Pt.3]

An Interview with Michael Brown

An Interview with Lois Gibbs [Her Battle and Victory on Behalf of Love Canal Homeowners]

]]> eng]]> Radioactive waste disposal in the ground -- New York (State) -- West Valley]]> Radioactive waste sites -- New York (State) -- West Valley]]> Reactor fuel reprocessing -- New York (State) -- West Valley]]>
Initial projections for the cleanup of radioactive waste pegged costs at $235 million dollars. The project, it was thought, would take seventeen years to complete. By 2018 the amount spent totaled $2.3 billion dollars. The full cleanup price tag could be in the range of $10 billion dollars, according to earlier estimates by the U.S. Department of Energy.  

In 2020, forty years after the site was declared a National Demonstration Project, efforts were still underway to dismantle and remove the remaining contaminated buildings still standing on the site. Other efforts were focused on either dismantling and removing radioactive waste material from burial and storage areas or making them more secure. Environmental watchdog groups continue to raise serious questions about public safety and health.

WIVB-TV, the CBS affiliate in Buffalo, closely covered the West Valley story and presented many reports that focused on the grassroots efforts that helped shape the massive cleanup project. The movement grew in intensity as New York State and the federal government considered proposals to accept more nuclear waste at the site. 

This overview is the first of five groups of television news reports, videos, and films documenting the political, economic, and social processes that led to a forty-year cleanup effort that is still in progress. The multi-billion-dollar undertaking continues to serve as a national demonstration project. 

The reports and summaries that follow are compiled by WIVB-TV senior correspondent (ret.) Rich Newberg. He played a major role in covering initial events as they unfolded in the early 1980s. 

Overview Summary: (1979 - 2020)                

1. The Nuclear Waste Challenge
CBS report by Robert Schackne lays out the challenge: 1979
“Some 600,000 gallons of lethally radioactive liquid waste that must be disposed of by a technology that has never been developed.” 

2. Migrating Radioactive Waste
WIVB-TV report by Rich Newberg: 1982
Sand “lenses” in trenches containing low level nuclear waste provide paths for migration of contaminated rain water. Sierra Club issues a warning that the “flaky” bedrock is not a suitable barrier.  

3. Lessons Learned the Hard Way
Reports by WIS-TV, Columbia South Carolina: 1983 
Problems at West Valley lead to a rethinking of plans to activate a similar privately-owed nuclear reprocessing plant in Barnwell, South Carolina.

4. Who Would Accept Radioactive Waste?
CBS report by Bill Curtis: 1982
The small Texas Town of Tulia considers accepting radioactive waste from sites such as West Valley. Tulia sits on top of one of the biggest salt beds in the country. Salt beds are one of three geological formations deemed suitable by the federal government to store radioactive waste. 

5. West Valley Chosen for a National Demonstration Project (1980)
WIVB-TV Report by Allen Costantini: 1982
Ten years after Nuclear Fuel Services stopped operations at West Valley, control of the site is turned over to the state and federal governments and the Westinghouse Corporation. Westinghouse is the primary contractor hired to clean up the site at West Valley. The 600,000 gallons of high-level liquid waste is to be solidified into a glasslike substance and then moved to a secure storage outside of the region.
            
6. Entering the First Radioactive Cell for Testing 
WIVB-TV Report by Rich Newberg: 1983
Rich Newberg and photographer Jay Lauder cover the first tests conducted by Westinghouse experts inside a radioactive cell where uranium was extracted from spent fuel rods. The tests would help establish the best techniques for preparing the facility for the task of solidifying the high-level liquid radioactive waste. 

7. Storing the High Level Radioactive Waste
Video by CHBWV West Valley Decommissioning Team: 2015
The West Valley Demonstration project becomes the first site in U.S. history to place high level radioactive waste into long term outdoor storage. This video traces the history of the nation’s first and only commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing plant and the enormous task of cleaning up the waste it generated during its six year run, from 1966 to 1972. (see West Valley File 5 of 5 in this collection for present and future safety concerns.)

Background
West Valley is located In the Cattaraugus County Town of Ashford. It is here where Nuclear Fuel Services once served as the nation’s only commercial plant that reprocessed spent nuclear fuel rods used to produce atomic energy. The rods contained plutonium and uranium which could be recovered for reuse. The first rods were delivered to the plant in 1966, but when federal regulations toughened, the costs were deemed too much to bare. The plant closed in 1972.

The entire site initially became the responsibility of the state of New York. In 1961 the state had bought and leased 3,300 acres of West Valley land for atomic industrial use. The plant was first owned by a subsidiary of the W.R. Grace Company, which later sold the operation to Getty Oil. 

The Cleanup Challenge
Hundreds of thousands of gallons of high-level radioactive liquid waste needed to be removed from underground steel storage tanks located on an eight-acre burial ground site. Another fifteen acres of burial land is also of major concern because it served as one of the nation’s six commercial burial grounds for radioactive waste. The material was buried in unlined soil trenches and included at least fourteen pounds of plutonium. Yet another burial site contained waste from the reprocessing operations at West Valley, including damaged irradiated fuel. This waste was buried in fifty-foot-deep holes.  

Environmental activists, scientists from the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, and professors from the University at Buffalo pointed out that the trenches were geologically unstable, and that ground water could be contaminated and migrate from the site. In addition, the area is situated on a fault line and is potentially susceptible to earthquakes. 

A group called The Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Wastes was formed in 1974. Some of its members specialized in technical aspects of radioactive waste disposal and health effects of radiation. The Coalition began putting pressure on the state and federal governments to have the West Valley site stabilized and cleaned up. It also fought against proposals to have additional nuclear waste material brought to the site for burial, incineration, other waste processing, or disposal. 

The Coalition played a major role in the creation of the West Valley Demonstration Project Act which was signed into law by President Jimmy Carter in 1980. It gave the U.S. Department of Energy the responsibility to solidify the high-level waste. It also granted the D.O.E.  the authority to address the issues involved in decontaminating and decommissioning the facilities. West Valley is believed to be the only radioactive waste site in the country with its own act of Congress.  

In 1982, the federal government took control of two hundred acres at the West Valley site, including the underground high level radioactive waste tanks, the high level waste burial grounds, and the contaminated buildings where nuclear fuel rods had been reprocessed. 

In 1985 Congress required states to assume responsibility for the storage and management of what it termed “low level” radioactive waste generated within their borders. Watchdog groups say much of this waste is “high level” and dangerous. At West Valley, New York State maintains control over the fifteen acres of “low level” burial grounds mentioned above. This area had closed in 1975 after radioactive water had filtered through an inadequate landfill cap and found its way into surrounding streams that eventually drain into Lake Erie.

The greatest challenge to the federal government was finding a company that was capable of turning the liquid high level waste into a solid and more stable material for storage. Between 1996 and 2002, Westinghouse removed most of the high level liquid waste from the underground tanks and converted it into glass logs. It used a process known as vitrification. 275 intensely radioactive logs were formed and initially stored deep in the bowels of the reprocessing building, which helped provide shielding from the radioactivity.

In 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy selected the company that goes by the name CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley, LLC as its contractor. Its tasks were to secure the storage of the high-level waste and to demolish the closed radioactive buildings and the underground piping. 

In order to secure the storage of what came out of the underground tanks, 275 stainless steel canisters containing the vitrified waste were placed in steel-lined giant concrete storage casks, each weighing 87 1/2 tons.

A 16,000 square foot reinforced concrete storage pad now holds 56 casks for what is termed “long term passive storage.” The casks are certified to hold the high-level waste for fifty years. Since there is no designated national repository for high level nuclear waste, the material must remain on the grounds of the West Valley site, at least for now.

A coalition of radioactive waste experts and concerned citizens prevented more waste from coming into West Valley and has been providing oversight of cleanup efforts since the late 1970s. As final decisions for the site are expected to be made by 2022 or 2023, critical issues of health and safety continue to be raised by these citizen watchdogs. (See File 5 of 5 in this collection for detailed concerns involving air and water contamination.)
 
In May 2020, the U.S. Department of Energy said its Office of Environmental Management “is continuing to make safe and steady progress with decommissioning activities at the West Valley Demonstration Project. 

With regard to ongoing concerns by citizen watchdog groups, the DOE statement reads, “The goal of the extensive demolition activity air and radiation monitoring program is to detect any change in radiological conditions, so that work can be slowed, modified, or even stopped to protect employees, general public and the environment.  The work is carefully planned and carried out such that all contamination is controlled within the boundaries of the demolition area. (See File 5 of 5 in this collection for the full statement by the U.S. Department of Energy.)]]> Newberg, Rich (Reporter)]]> (publisher of digital)]]> Murphy, Kurt (WIVB-TV Graphic Arts Director) ]]> Vetter, Tom (Editor)]]> Schackne, Robert (CBS News Correspondent)]]> Roberts, John (WIS-TV Columbia, South Carolina)]]> Curtis, Bill (CBS News Morning Anchor)]]> Costantini, Allen (WIVB-TV Reporter)]]> Newberg, Rich (WIVB-TV Reporter)]]> Lauder, Jay (WIVB-TV Photographer)]]> D’Arrigo, Diane (Nuclear Information and Resource Service)]]> Resnikoff, Marvin (Nuclear Physicist) ]]> Hameister, Joanne (The Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Wastes) ]]> Vaughan, Ray (The Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Wastes)]]> Shepp, Amanda (Coordinator of Special Collections & Archives, SUNY Fredonia) ]]> Pillittere, Joe (Communications Manager for West Valley contractor)]]> Bower, Brian (DOE Director for West Valley Demonstration Project)]]> Bembia, Paul (NYSERDA Director at West Valley)]]> eng]]> Radioactive waste disposal in the ground -- New York (State) -- West Valley]]> Radioactive waste sites -- New York (State)]]> Reactor fuel reprocessing -- New York (State) -- West Valley]]> 1. This video file begins with a film entitled “The Story of Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing.” It was produced by Nuclear Fuel Services and describes the operation of the plant at West Valley. It describes the benefits of “unlocking the power of the atom” which “promises almost unlimited energy sources.” The plant’s mission is to reclaim the uranium and plutonium inside spent nuclear fuel rods used by atomic power plants, researchers, and test reactors throughout the United States. The material is shipped to West Valley in “ruggedly built trucks and special railroad cars.” The plant is capable of the processing of up to one ton a day of spent fuel elements.
(Runs: 11 minutes)

2. Reporter John Beard’s story of a recommendation by the New York State Department of Energy that the plant reopen as a storage facility for more spent nuclear fuel. Beard’s report includes a warning by environmentalists who say that “West Valley is a time bomb threatening to leak radioactive liquid into the soil and eventually into the waterways of Western New York.” Some local residents are in favor of the reopening, saying it would be beneficial for tax purposes and jobs. 

Dr. Marvin Resnikoff, a nuclear physicist and staff scientist to the Radioactive Waste Campaign, emerges as a major voice of opposition.
Those against reopening the facility as a repository call for a ban against spent fuel moving through Cattaraugus County. Congressman Stanley Lundine (D-Jamestown) says it there is “a remote possibility that the site could reopen as a federal nuclear waste storage facility. Lundine points out there is limited storage space and “seismic or environmental problems.” Researchers have determined that West Valley sits in a seismic fault zone. 
(Runs: 3:05)

3. Reporter Rich Newberg’s story on more safety questions raised by area environmentalists. A former lab supervisor at Nuclear Fuel Services (NFS) says there had been problems with the crane that moved the radioactive rods in the pool of water that stored them. David Pyles says there were problems stopping the crane, causing rods to “slam” into other canisters. A spokesman for NFS says he knew of no crane problems while the plant was in operation.
 
Another concern is raised about the potential for a leak in a portion of a containing wall, as described in a study commissioned by the Federal Energy Commission. The report says this could occur if there were a seismic occurrence in the area. NFS terms that a “minor” defect. Environmental scientist Ray Vaughan says it’s “absurd to talk about bringing in more fuel.”
(Runs: 2:07)

4. Reporter Rich Newberg’s story showing a petition by area residents calling for a ban on any further nuclear waste to West Valley, as well as the removal of all present nuclear waste stored at the site. 

Dairy farmer Emil Zimmerman, who owns 7 cows and 175 acres of land in West Valley, expresses his concerns. He can see the site from his farm. 
(Runs: 1:55)

5. Reporter Rich Newberg’s story showing deer heading toward the low level nuclear burial site.
They are then seen eating grass twenty feet above radioactive waste. The New York State Department of Conservation (DEC) says its samples of deer in the area shows the animals safe for human consumption. 

However, in the early 1970s when the plant was active, state environmental officials became concerned when high levels of radioactive strontium 90 and cesium 137 were found in deer and fish. Even then, the levels were deemed not to pose an imminent danger to humans. 

Since the plant’s closing, leaks were detected in the low level burial ground area. 

Dr. Marvin Resnikoff, a nuclear physicist and staff scientist to the Radioactive Waste Campaign, says the grass where the deer were grazing is contaminated. 

Newberg reports that contaminated water will soon be drained from the site and placed in a holding pond, but that there are no plans to fence off the pond from area animals. 
(Runs: 1:47)

6. Rich Newberg’s report on concerned citizens meeting to map out a strategy to fight a proposal to reopen the nuclear waste storage facility at West Valley. 82 communities in 10 states have banned the transportation of nuclear waste within their borders. The citizens against the proposal express concerns that a major accident involving a vehicle transporting nuclear waste, or an accident at the plant, could threatened the entire region. They say the environmental risks would outweigh the economic gains if the plant facility were to reopen as a storage site. 
(Runs: 1:32)

7. Rich Newberg’s story on concerns by the Buffalo nuclear medical and research communities about a lack of storage space for low level nuclear waste. They support the reopening of the West Valley burial site for this type of waste. Only South Carolina and the state of Washington are accepting radioactive waste from Buffalo and other hospitals and research labs around the country.

Dr. Monte Blau, PhD., the chairmen of the University at Buffalo Department of Nuclear Medicine (1976 - 1983) believes low level nuclear waste should be stored in the regions where they are generated. 

The use of radioactive isotopes injected into patients are able to help identify tumors in the body. Radioactive tracers have been powerful tools in fundamental studies of the nature of cancer.  
With South Carolina and Washington having second thoughts about accepting waste from other states,  there is a growing concern that the practice of nuclear medicine might be forced to come to a halt. 
(Runs: 1:57)

8. Rich Newberg’s story on the Department of Energy assuring New York Governor Hugh Carey that the federal government will manage and pay for cleanup efforts at West Valley. However, in order for that to happen, Congress must pass a bill that environmentalists warn could lead to a reopening of the site as a nuclear storage facility. 
(Runs: 1:19)

9. Rich Newberg’s story on environmentalists warning that the West Valley low level nuclear burial site has serious issues that should rule it out as a repository for future nuclear waste. They say plutonium is buried there, even though that practice was prohibited in 1977. 

They also point to leaks in the burial ground in 1975. Water, they say infiltrated the ditches where radioactive waste is stored. They say strontium 90 and plutonium should be unearthed and put in bins above ground.

Another issue brought to light focuses on sand “lenses” discovered in a clay burial ground area.
Radioactive tritium was said to have migrated from the sides of trenches in 1977. 

Activists say there is inadequate monitoring of the soil composition.

Those who favor reopening the burial grounds say it is becoming more difficult to dispose of waste from nuclear medicine. 
(Runs: 2:23)

10. Rich Newberg’s story on the federal General Accounting Office (GAO) proposal for full funding of the West Valley cleanup in exchange for a reopening of the site for more nuclear waste. 
Judith McConnell of the Sierra Club Radioactive Waste Campaign says, “that’s like sweeping up a pile of dirt and then turning around and dumping another one on the floor.”

Governor Hugh Carey’s office says the GAO proposal carries little weight. 
(Runs: 1:58)

11. Rich Newberg’s story on New York Governor Hugh Cary’s signing of a bill that sets up a five member siting board for future burial of radioactive waste. 

While he assures the public there will be no future burial of high level radioactive waste at the West Valley site, he leaves the door open for future nuclear medical waste disposal at the low level radioactive burial grounds. 

Carol Mongerson of the Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Wastes reacts by saying, “that will never be acceptable to the people of the area.”
(Runs: 1:47)

12. WIVB-TV’s Washington D.C reporter Bob Patrick’s story on New York Governor Hugh Carey’s support of a bill sponsored by Congressman Stanley Lundine (D-Jamestown). The bill would separate the federal government’s willingness to clean up the high level nuclear waste at West Valley from the insistence by some federal energy officials that the site remain open for the disposal of more radioactive waste.  
(Runs: 1:33)

13. Rich Newberg’s report on Cattaraugus County lawmakers hearing from area residents opposed to reopening West Valley for the storage of nuclear waste. 

Dairy farmer Emil Zimmerman testifies that conditions exist where contaminated water could leak from radioactive trenches where waste is buried. He cites one such case. 

There is a speaker in favor of burying solid, low level nuclear waste at the site. He is Kenneth Dufrane, a former worker at Nuclear Fuel Services who now represents Chem-Nuclear Systems, a company interested in the site. He says the radioactive leaks are “very minor…and did not cause any kind of a problem to anyone at any time.” 

Twelve thousand petitions are signed by citizens against future burial at the site. 
(Runs: 2:00)

14. Aerial and ground video of West Valley site
(Runs: 3:29)]]> (publisher of digital)
]]> Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Arts Director)]]> Newberg, Rich (WIVB-TV Reporter)]]> Beard, John (Reporter)]]> Petrick, Bob (Reporter)]]> D’Arrigo, Diane (Nuclear Information and Resource Service)]]> Resnikoff, Marvin (Nuclear Physicist) ]]> Ameister, Joanne (The Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Wastes) ]]> Vaughan, Ray (The Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Wastes)]]> Shepp, Amanda (Coordinator of Special Collections & Archives, SUNY Fredonia) ]]> eng]]> Radioactive waste disposal in the ground -- New York (State) -- West Valley]]> Radioactive waste sites -- New York (State) -- West Valley]]> Reactor fuel reprocessing -- New York (State) -- West Valley]]> 1. WIVB-TV reporter Bob Petrick’s interview with Rep. Stan Lundine of Jamestown. The lawmaker says three important committees in the House of Representatives have approved some sort of West Valley project. 

Now one bill has to be crafted that will be passed by the House and then the Senate.
(Runs: 2:01)

2. Shots of artwork and tee shirts representing the cause of environmentalists who are opposed to reopening West Valley for more nuclear waste. One graphic by those who are against nuclear power and weapons states, “JOIN US…FOR THE SAKE OF THE CHILDREN." A tee shirt worn by an environmental activist reads, “DON’T DUMP ON US” “MAKE THE POLLUTERS PAY.” Another tee shirt put out by the Sierra Club Radioactive Waste Campaign reads, “YOU CAN’T RUN FROM RADIOACTIVE WASTES!”

The visuals are followed by reporter Sandy White’s interview with Judith McDonnell, a volunteer who works in the Sierra Club’s Radioactive Waste Campaign. She says thirty people are going to Washington D.C. to lobby against the McCormick bill, which calls for the siting of four high level nuclear waste repositories by the end of 1984. West Valley and the Finger Lakes region are under consideration. The bill calls for funding to come from the federal government and not the nuclear industry. 

In fighting against the bill, McDonnell says there are no provisions for local community input on where the repositories are placed. She claims it is a federal “preemption of state’s rights.” She adds the West Valley site has a history of leakage and sits on “an earthquake fault…” She says the site should “be cleaned up and closed and that nothing else should be dumped there at all.” McDonnell says two weeks earlier, nineteen people went to the nation’s capital and lobbied more than seventy congressmen. The new lobbying effort seeks to reach at least one hundred twenty congressional offices. She says, “We feel that the government should take more time, there should be more study put into the siting of a high level repository, and we also feel that the state should have something to say about where this is going to be put and how it’s going to be done.”
(video then shows volunteers leaving for Washington)
(Runs: 2:08)

3. Reporter Marie Rice’s story on a radioactive spill at West Valley. Rain water had to be pumped out from a radioactive waste trench. A coupling that connected a plastic hose carrying the water from the trench to a nearby lagoon broke. About a thousand gallons of the liquid spilled onto the clay soil. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) officials termed it a minor accident. 

John Spagnole, the Regional Director of the DEC says the quantity was small and the contaminated concentrations were “miniscule.” He calls it “lightly dirty water or dusty water…”

Dr. Marvin Resnikoff, a nuclear physicist and staff scientist to the Radioactive Waste Campaign says “a large amount of radioactive material” has entered the Cattaraugus Creek watershed since 1975. He says the most recent spill is “not one isolated event…” 

The Sierra Club wants to know what has previously made its way into Edman Brook, Buttermilk Creek and Cattaraugus Creek, whose water eventually flows into Lake Erie. Water samples have been sent to Albany for analysis. 
(Runs: 1:52)

4. Rich Newberg’s story on the price we pay for advanced nuclear medical technology. While nuclear medicine provides the means to help fight cancerous tumors and scan the innermost parts of the brain and other organs, the radioactive waste it generates requires special storage sites that most states don’t want to host. 

New York State Energy Commissioner James Larocca announces that the low level burial ground at West Valley “has had too many problems and is too closely identified with the rest of the facility to really be a viable option for us at this time.” 
(Runs: 1:43)

5. Rich Newberg’s second story on the news conference featuring New York State Energy Commissioner James Larocca. The commissioner declares that the state will no longer consider West Valley as a site for the burial of low level nuclear waste. The decision poses a problem for Buffalo area hospitals with departments of nuclear medicine.

Larocca also addresses the massive cleanup effort soon to take shape at West Valley, where 600,000 gallons of high level radioactive waste sits in underground steel storage tanks. He says cleanup work at West Valley will meet all state and national environmental policies and will involve the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 90% of the project, which at this time is projected to be $285 million dollars, will come from the federal government. 10% of the funding will come from the state. The federal Department of Energy is slated to take possession of the property no later than October 1, 1981. The project could last as long as 17 years according to first estimates. 
The high level radioactive waste would be solidified into a glass like substance and ultimately removed from the site to a federal repository for permanent disposal. 

At his news conference, Larocca states, “The agreement precludes the use of West Valley for any other purpose but the solidification removal of these wastes during the conduct of this project.”
(Runs: 1:37)

6. Rich Newberg’s interview with Monte Blau, PhD, chair of the Department of Nuclear Medicine at the University at Buffalo (1976 - 1983). He warns that nuclear medicine and research in Buffalo might be in jeopardy if there is not a place to store its radioactive waste. He says West Valley is a “reasonable place” to put radioactive medical waste. He says nuclear medicine and research are threatened with a shut-down “within three or four months” should there be no place to deposit the radioactive waste generated by these institutions. This includes cancer research, diagnosis, and treatment. He says, “Almost every patient that comes into a hospital in the state of New York receives one radio-isotope diagnostic procedure or another.”

In response, Dr. Marvin Resnikoff, a nuclear physicist and staff scientist to the Radioactive Waste Campaign, says the nuclear burial ground at West Valley is not in good condition. He says, “It has leaked radioactive materials…” He says over 3 million gallons of water has been pumped out of the trenches that hold low level radioactive waste. He says radioactive tritium is released into Cattaraugus Creek “and into the water intakes, in effect, for the Southtowns and from Buffalo.”

Environmentalists have suggested that the radioactive waste be put in above-ground bunkers or buildings rather than in the ground.
(Runs: 2:19)

7. Rich Newberg’s interview with Dr. J. Steinbeck, Chief of Nuclear Medicine at the V.A. Hospital in Buffalo. He  demonstrates the use of a gamma camera on a cardiac patient. It is a procedure that relies on nuclear medicine. A radio tracer is injected into the patient, allowing the heart to be photographed during dilation and contraction. This allows a study of the heart while avoiding surgical procedures. Catheterization into the heart through an artery is not necessary. Nuclear medicine enables doctors to diagnose the presence of cancer at a much earlier stage. 
(Runs: 2:33)

8. Rich Newberg’s story on a proposal by federal energy officials to reduce a $35 Million dollar cash credit to New York State to $12 Million for the cleanup of 600,000 thousand gallons of nuclear waste buried at West Valley. Jamestown Congressman Stanley Lundine, along with congressman Jack Kemp and U.S. Senators Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Alfonse D’Amato are telling U.S. Energy Secretary James Edwards that the proposal goes against an earlier commitment he made to New York. New York State Energy Commissioner James Larocca called the reduction proposal “…another double-cross in what now seems to be a series of double-crosses.” In October 1980, President Jimmy Carter had come to Western New York to sign the federal agreement with New York to clean up West Valley.
(Runs: 1:56)

9. Rich Newberg’s second story on a proposal by federal energy officials to reduce the cash credit to New York State for the cleanup of the West Valley nuclear waste storage site. Congressman Stanley Lundine calls the situation at West Valley, “A real and present danger.” He urges the Reagan administration not to charge New York State $23 Million dollars more for the cleanup project.
(Runs: 1:25)

10. Rich Newberg’s overview of high and low level nuclear waste storage issues at West Valley. Photos include receptacles containing radioactive waste that are placed in trenches on the West Valley property. Mina Hamilton, executive director of the Sierra Club’s Radioactive Waste Campaign, says eight pounds of plutonium are buried here. Another photo includes a trench where sand lenses could be providing underground migration paths for some of the radioactive waste. Hamilton says the flaky composition of the bedrock and the sand lenses pose a major threat of migration of radioactive material. There was also a filter blowout in the stacks in 1968, two years after the plant began reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods.

The Sierra Club says there has been a noted increase in small amounts of radiation around the nuclear storage site. It is questionable whether the amount of radiation poses an immediate health threat to the area. State officials say they will review any new evidence gathered by the Sierra Club.
(Runs: 1:46)

11. Bill Curtis, reporting for CBS News presents the story of the small Texas town of Tulia, which is considering accepting radioactive waste from sites such as West Valley. Tulia is located on top of one of the biggest salt beds in the country. A site in Tulia is one of several being considered by the U.S. Department of Energy. Salt beds, and the volcanic rock formations of basalt and tuff are believed to be suitable for the storage of nuclear waste. Besides Tulia, the federal government is examining sites in Louisiana, Mississippi, Utah, Nevada, and Washington State. In Tulia, those in favor of accepting radioactive waste say it would create jobs. Those against say there are very real dangers attached to putting this kind of waste in an agricultural area.
(Runs: 5:24)

12. Rich Newberg’s story on federal officials addressing local residents, about five days before the U.S. government takes possession of the portion of the West Valley site that contains the reprocessing building and the burial ground licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The state continues to possess of most of the 3,300 acre site. 

Energy Department representative James Turi assures an audience of concerned citizens that, “We want to be good neighbors and we want to work with you.”

The high level radioactive waste cleanup project will take an estimated 16 years to complete. The federal government and Westinghouse Electric Corporation will attempt to turn 600,000 gallons of radioactive liquid waste into a glass like substance which would possibly be shipped off to a federal repository still to be designated.

Citizens Committee Chairman Peter Skinner calls for “…careful planning and public involvement from start to finish.” Westinghouse representative Ray Maison promises to keep the community “fully informed of what we’re doing and what we plan to do every step of the way.”  
(Runs: 2:33)

13. Exterior video of the West Valley facility and property.
(Runs: 2:05)]]> (publisher of digital)]]> Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Arts Director)]]> Newberg, Rich (WIVB-TV Reporter)]]> Rice, Marie (WIVB-TV Reporter)]]> Petrick, Bob (Reporter)]]> Curtis, Bill (CBS News Reporter)]]> D’Arrigo, Diane (Nuclear Information and Resource Service)]]> Resnikoff, Marvin (Nuclear Physicist) ]]> Hameister, Joanne (The Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Wastes) ]]> Shepp, Amanda (Coordinator of Special Collections & Archives, SUNY Fredonia) ]]> eng]]> Radioactive waste disposal in the ground -- New York (State) -- West Valley]]> Radioactive waste sites -- New York (State) -- West Valley]]> Reactor fuel reprocessing -- New York (State) -- West Valley]]> 1. Rich Newberg’s story documenting top U.S. energy officials assuring West Valley residents that the massive cleanup effort will be safely conducted with citizen input. The federal government takes possession of the high level nuclear waste burial grounds and the facilities there in about five days. 
A citizens panel led by Peter Skinner is aware of “the technological difficulties of the project, the public sensitivity of the facility, and the hazards of the undertaking…” Westinghouse representative Ray Maison promises to keep the community “fully informed of what we’re doing and what we plan to do every step of the way.” 

However, dairy farmer Emil Zimmerman questions what would happen if the milk from his cows is contaminated with strontium 90. He is concerned about the livelihood of the people in the area. He wants to also know about liability should there be an accident. He says this issue should be considered as a priority as cleanup plans progress.

There is also concern about the Reagan administration’s plans to possibly dissolve the U.S. Department of Energy. The department’s representative,Sheldon Meyers, says if there is “dismantlement,” he believes that “the various functions in the department which are mandated by law or are necessary to do, will be either distributed to other agencies or a new independent agency will be set up.”
(Runs: 3:33)

2. Reporter Rich Newberg questions Jim Duckworth, who ran the Nuclear Fuel Services plant for Getty Oil. Getty purchased the reprocessing facility from W.R. Grace Company in 1969. The first shipments of spent nuclear fuel rods at arrived in 1965, with reprocessing beginning 1966.

A steel storage tank containing 600,000 gallons of high level liquid radioactive must be emptied and converted into a solidified, glass like substance for permanent storage.

During an informational briefing featuring a scale model of the tank, Duckworth explains how the original safety system for high level radioactive waste was compromised. He confirms that the catch basin that sits under the steel tank has a hole in it.

Newberg asks: “Is there a crack in the pan?”

Answer:  “There is a hole in the pan between the pan and the vault.”

He says there is no radioactivity outside the tank. The ‘saucer’ is supposed to be a catch basin for the tank, should there be a spill. Duckworth says “Since that system was compromised, we have put in more sensitive systems that have been approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission…”

At the beginning of the briefing, the model is shown to be on a scale of 3/8th“ to a foot. The actual tank measures 70 feet in diameter and is 27 feet high. It sits in a “partial tank” (catch basin) about 5 feet high. It is a “cup and saucer” design. The cup and saucer are sitting in a one-foot thick concrete vault. 

The entire vault is underground sitting on four feet of gravel which is covered with 8 feet of dirt. Outside the vault, water is injected so that the entire area is saturated with liquid. If the vault should crack, Duckworth says the water would leak in. He explains that liquid level detectors are installed inside the vault and inside the pan (saucer). 

Duckworth says there is a 24 inch pipe that extends from the center of the tank up above grade. He says there is an empty spare tank beside the tank containing the waste. If a leak were detected, he says the contents would be pumped into the spare tank. 

Duckworth points out that this was the design technology in 1963. The criteria for the tank’s construction was given to the original reprocessing company by the Atomic Energy Commission.

The tank is described as “mild steel,” which has a high resistance to breakage. Duckworth says the waste put in the tank is neutralized with “caustic” (he says it is the same chemical as oven cleaner). Caustic will not dissolve mild steel. The tank was to be replaced every 50 years. Duckworth says a  test on a piece of pipe from the tank was made in 1977 or ’78 on how much corrosion had taken place. He says it was determined that the tank could last another 400 years if the corrosion rate stayed the same. The maximum temperature of the tank was 240 degrees Fahrenheit. It is now held at 185 degrees F. He says the corrosion rate has been reduced by a factor of two. 

The principle radioactive isotopes in the tank are strontium 90 and cesium 137. They have half-lives of about 30 years. Duckworth notes the scale model is not entirely accurate regarding the piping at the base. 

Video then includes exterior shots of where the tank is stored underground as well as shots of the buildings on the site. 
(Runs: 12:55)

3. Rich Newberg’s overview report on terms of the cleanup agreement at West Valley. New York State Energy Commissioner James LaRocca says the agreement “marks a new era for the federal government in assuming its responsibilities for dealing with this very very difficult problem of nuclear waste disposal.”

90 percent of the projected $285 million dollar cost for the project will be paid by the federal government. 10 percent will be the state’s responsibility. The site is slated to be turned over to the federal government no later than October 1, 1981. The cleanup effort is projected to take 17 years. The high level liquid waste is to be turned into a glass like substance and ultimately removed to a yet unnamed federal repository for permanent storage. 

Commissioner LaRocca says “the agreement precludes the use of West Valley for any other purpose but the solidification removal of these wastes during the conduct of this project.”
(Runs: 1:25) (November, 1980)

[Note: Since the original projections, the cost to clean up nuclear waste at West Valley is estimated in 2020 to be between $5 billion and $10 billion dollars. The hopes of developing a lucrative nuclear fuel reprocessing plant were dashed when the operation shut down in 1972, six years after it began. The State of New York had originally provided a loan of $32 million in 1963 to build the plant. During the course of its operation it brought in $22 million in sales.]

4. The clean-up agreement at West Valley calls for Getty Oil’s Nuclear Fuel Services company to transfer ownership of the high level radioactive site to the federal government. 
(Runs: 0:37)

5. Allen Costantini’s story on the transfer of the West Valley site to the federal government. U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-New York) says the high level waste cleanup effort will serve as a demonstration project for the nation. While the 600,000 gallons of high level radioactive waste will be solidified and removed from the site, there is still a question about the future placement of the highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel rods contained in canisters submerged in a pool of water. New York State Energy Commissioner James LaRocca says that issue will be addressed when a national spent fuel program is put in place.
(Runs: 2:13)

6. Rich Newberg’s story on the U.S. Senate’s vote to consider West Valleys as one of three future sites for the storage of spent nuclear fuel rods. There are 162 metric tons of those rods from nuclear power plants stored at West Valley. The bill would allow trucks to deliver radioactive waste to West Valley or the other sites under consideration in South Carolina and Illinois. U.S. Senator Alfonse D’Amato (R-New York) is concerned that there would be “incidents” as atomic waste is carried over the nation’s roadways. The Senate bill does not allow radioactive waste to be stored on the property of the nuclear power plants that generated the waste. 
(Runs: 1:53)

7. Emil Jablonski’s story on a public relations effort by Westinghouse to educate citizens about the project to clean up and remove high level radioactive waste from the West Valley site. Ray Maison of Westinghouse gives assurances that the 600,000 thousands of high level liquid waste that will be turned into a glass like substance will not be permanently stored at the site. “No chance at all,” he says. “This is not considered a suitable site for a federal repository.” The public learns that old fuel reprocessing equipment will be decontaminated and removed, so machinery to solidify radioactive waste can be moved in.
(Runs: 2:15)

8. The final federal report on long-term management of liquid high-level radioactive wastes stored at West Valley recommends that the waste be shipped to a federal repository for permanent storage. The federal government, however, still does not have a permanent disposal sight designated. 
(Runs: 0:45)

9. The future of the West Valley site is again in question when the House Energy Committee fails to stop the U.S. Department of Energy from creating radioactive waste storage sites away from nuclear power plants.

Representative Stanley Lundine (D-Jamestown) is concerned that the Senate will view West Valley as “the most convenient dumping ground.” Representative Jack Kemp (R-Hamburg) says that he and Lundine will work to “remove any possibility of West Valley being used either temporarily or permanently as a storage ground for nuclear waste.”
(Runs: 1:14)

10. WIS-TV (Columbia, South Carolina) interview with U.S. Energy Secretary James Edwards, who serves in the Reagan administration. The interview is conducted as a facility in Barnwell, South Carolina is considering opening a privately owned nuclear reprocessing plant. It would be similar to what was once the West Valley operation. 
Edwards says the plant at West Valley had operated successfully for four or five years and then closed down in order to upgrade the operation. He explains that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission changed the rules “in the middle of the stream on them, and they started adding more requirements and more regulations…” 
As a result he says the company said it couldn’t afford what was being required and went out of business. Edwards adds that defense work had been done at West Valley which justifies taxpayers covering cleanup costs.
 
He said “these weapons helped keep us safe and free.” He calls sites like West Valley “little places that are thorns in our sides and thorns into the future development of nuclear energy…” He says he has “put a lot of emphasis in cleaning those up.” He goes on to say that the country will learn from West Valley because of methods that will be employed to clean up the high level radioactive waste there. 
(Runs: 3:03)

[Note: Dr. Marvin Resnikoff, a nuclear physicist and staff scientist to the Radioactive Waste Campaign, which fought proposals to reopen West Valley for more nuclear waste, has said upgrades to the plant in 1972 would have cost about $600 million dollars. “In the Sierra Club’s extensive petition to intervene in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s proceeding to expand the plant,” says Resnikoff, “we argued that the plant could not withstand a potential earthquake.” The new conditions that were going to be imposed on the plant required safeguards, should an earthquake occur. West Valley sits on a geological fault line. 
The cost to upgrade was prohibitive and Getty Oil never re-opened the nation’s only commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing plant.] 

11. WIS-TV (Columbia, South Carolina) reporter John Roberts series on lesson learned from the problems at the West Valley nuclear storage site. (This same piece appears in the Crisis at West Valley 1 : Overview report.)

Atomic power plants and the Department of Energy want to open an already built reprocessing plant for spent nuclear fuel rods in Barnwell, South Carolina. The $350 million dollar plant was built in 1976 (about six years before these reports aired). Uranium and plutonium would be extracted from the fuel rods used in nuclear reactors, and then used again. 

Critics of opening the plant point to problems at West Valley as a good reason not to allow the plant to open. 

Reporter Roberts points out that the West Valley plant closed in 1972 after operating for six years. He says the reprocessing plant had suffered $42 million dollars in losses. The costs of removing 600,000 gallons of highly radioactive liquid and sludge will cost a lot more, reports Roberts. He also shows the 163 metric tons of radioactive fuel assemblies stored at the bottom of cooling tanks at West Valley. The tanks hold 615 canisters filled with spent fuel rods. Utility companies that had sent the rods refuse to take them back. The water in the tank must be recirculated, cooled and purified in order to prevent the rods from heating the tank to 185 degrees. 

Using footage provided by WIVB-TV and gathered by reporter Rich Newberg and photographer Jay Lauder, reporter Roberts shows the start of cleanup and testing operations at West Valley. The contaminated cell where uranium was once removed is entered by radiation experts in protective gear. Roberts reports that their task is to determine the level of radioactivity lodged in the cement walls and piping. The same cell might be used to during cleanup operations when the high level radioactive liquid waste is converted into a solid glass like substance. Engineers are now predicting the cleanup at West Valley could go as high as one billion dollars. 

In the series, West Valley dairy farmer Emil Zimmerman speaks at a meeting about concerns that milk from his and other farmers’ cows could become contaminated with strontium 90. 

As South Carolina is learning about the problems at West Valley, the federal government is seeking out companies that might be interested in opening the plant at Barnwell. U.S. Energy Secretary James Edwards says the country needs plutonium for research programs. He adds that plutonium is also needed to “fire our breeder reactor.” Edwards is negotiating with a dozen companies saying the U.S. would buy the plutonium produced at Barnwell. He says reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods could become “a viable commercial venture.” Critics say such operations would become a financial and technical failure. 

Reporter Roberts also points out potential risks to workers maintaining operations in a plant dealing with high levels of radioactive waste. He notes that the West Valley plant once “chopped up” nuclear fuel rods, dissolved them in acid, and then separated uranium and plutonium from other radioactive elements. He further notes that the work was done behind thick concrete walls and leaded glass because exposure to gamma and beta rays can cause cancer and genetic damage. (This same piece appears in the Crisis at West Valley 1 : Overview report.)

12. Exterior and interior video of West Valley nuclear storage site. Some off-camera narration as reporters are given a tour. Depth of pool holding spent nuclear fuel rods is 44 feet.  Caution sign reads CONTAMINATED ZONE 4  HIGH RADIATION AREA   AIRBORNE RADIOACTIVITY AREA. Line of robotic arm controls in front of glass enclosed cells. Sign: SAFETY GLASSES REQUIRED IN THIS AREA  CAUTION RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS. Control room. Panel of controls.  Closeup shot of buttons to sound evacuation alarm. Fenced exterior shots of property. More exterior shots including NFS blue building. 
(Runs: 2:48)
   
13. Rich Newberg’s report with photographer Jay Lauder documenting the first tests conducted by Westinghouse experts inside a radioactive cell where uranium was extracted from spent fuel rods. The tests are to help establish the best techniques for preparing the facility for the task of solidifying the high level liquid radioactive waste sitting in an underground storage tank at West Valley. (This same piece appears in the Crisis at West Valley 1 : Overview report.)

[Note: The U.S. demonstration project that formally got underway in 1981 is still in progress in the year 2020. The cleanup project could end up costing taxpayers $5 billion to $10 billion dollars.]]]> Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Arts Director)]]> Newberg, Rich (WIVB-TV Reporter)]]> Lauder, Jay (WIVB-TV News Photographer)]]> Costantini, Allen (WIVB-TV Reporter)]]> Jablonski, Emil (WIVB-T Reporter)]]> Roberts, John (WIS-TV Reporter)]]> D’Arrigo, Diane (Nuclear Information and Resource Service)]]> Resnikoff, Marvin (Nuclear Physicist) ]]> Hameister, Joanne (The Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Wastes) ]]> Vaughan, Ray (The Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Wastes) ]]> Shepp, Amanda (Coordinator of Special Collections & Archives, SUNY Fredonia) ]]> eng]]> Radioactive waste disposal in the ground -- New York (State) -- West Valley]]> Radioactive waste sites -- New York (State) -- West Valley]]> Reactor fuel reprocessing -- New York (State) -- West Valley]]>
Since the mid-1970s citizen watchdog groups including experts in the field of nuclear waste have expressed concern about the health, safety and environmental issues involved in the storage and management of nuclear waste at West Valley as well as the subsequent efforts to clean up the site.

In 2020, decisions still must be made on how much nuclear waste can be left in trenches, holes, tanks and the below-ground portion of the building that once reprocessed spent nuclear fuel rods.

Watchdog groups continue to express concerns that the site itself is on rapidly eroding plateaus surrounded by creeks that drain through the Seneca Nation of Indians into Lake Erie. They warn that there is a potential for this erosion to reach the underground nuclear waste and release long-lasting dangerous radioactive materials into the Great Lakes.

VIDEOS

1. Huge steel lined concrete casks provide on-site storage of high level radioactive glass logs converted from liquid waste at West Valley.
56 casks holding the high level waste are stored above ground on the property of the West Valley Demonstration Project site. They sit on a reinforced concrete slab until they can be shipped out to a national nuclear waste repository yet to be named. The casks each hold five canisters containing the glass logs which will remain highly radioactive for thousands of years. Each cask weights close to 90 tons. The high level waste needed to be removed from the plant at West Valley so building demolition could take place.
[“HLW Progress Video” produced by DOE contractor CH2M HILL BWXT WEST VALLEY, LLC. ; 7/7/2016 ; Runs: 1:58]

2. Transporting highly radioactive building material from West Valley to Texas.
When U.S. Department of Energy Took over West Valley site it had to solidify 600,000 gallons of high level radioactive waste. The process, called vitrification, turned the liquid into glass like rods. While the solidified high level waste is still stored on-site at West Valley, the equipment used for the vitrification process then had to be safely packaged and disposed of off site. Each of three vessels containing highly radioactive dismantled parts from the “Melter” were loaded onto special trailers with 130 tires. They were then transported from West Valley, through neighborhoods, to the rail yard in Blasdell, New York. The giant containers were then taken by rail to waste control specialists at a site in Andrews, Texas.
[“Melter Shipment “ Video” produced by DOE contractor CH2M HILL BWXT WEST VALLEY, LLC. ; 12/14/2016 ; Runs: 3:57]

3. Resident records radioactive waste from West Valley rolling through his neighborhood.
A citizen reacts to a huge vessel containing dismantled parts from the “Melter” being transported through his neighborhood. He provides a short narrative along with what he captures on video.
[Posted on YouTube by “Robert” ; October 26, 2016 ; Runs: 1:36]

4. Second radioactive waste transport video posted on YouTube by “Robert”.
A week after recording the first transport of radioactive waste through his neighborhood, “Robert” posts a second video showing how the special trailer carrying its radioactive load, negotiates the crossing over railroad tracks.
[November 2, 2016 ; Runs: 2:33]

5. Demolition of radioactive buildings begin at West Valley.
Demolishing the building where high level liquid radioactive waste was turned into a glass like substance - This radiological demolition requires continuous monitoring and specialized equipment. Continuous air monitors provide a real time read out for the protection of personnel on-site as well as the public and the environment. Citizen watchdog groups have strongly recommended that real time off-site monitoring of the air take place when demolition of the Main Processing Building is carried out. (See Requests by Citizen Watchdog Groups below.)
[“VIT DEMO V4” produced by DOE contractor CH2M HILL BWXT, WEST VALLEY, LLC. ; 12/19/2017 ; Runs: 4:28]

6. The decisions that will impact generations to come.
This presentation produced by Diane D’Arrigo summarizes concerns by citizen watchdog groups and environmental experts who have been tracking developments at the West Valley nuclear waste site since the mid-1970s. Using original photographs and graphics, she presents the history of radioactive wastes at the site and concerns about the present and future storage of this hazardous material. Ms. D’Arrigo is a native of Western New York who now serves as the Radioactive Waste Project Director of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS). She has been with NIRS since 1986 and has a degree in chemistry and environmental studies as well as work experience in analytical chemistry and biological research.
[NARRATED SLIDE PRESENTATION produced by Diane D’Arrigo, Radioactive Waste Project Director/Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) ; 5/18/2020 ; Runs: 20:25]

Request by Citizen Watchdog Groups

In 2006 the West Valley Action Network was created, comprised of local, state, regional, and international organizations. This network is pushing for a full cleanup of the West Valley nuclear waste site as soon as possible. It is providing public oversight for demolition, cleanup, and storage operations.

The state and federal governments have commissioned a $4.3 million-dollar assessment study to determine the best way to proceed for the final cleanup phase. The study could take two to three more years to complete (2022-2023).

As final plans are made, the Action Network is insisting on full disclosure of all information and assumptions used by the Department of Energy and the New York Energy Research and Development Authority to make decisions. The Network has also requested that a searchable electronic library be created to facilitate independent review of details.

The next big physical challenge as of 2020 is the demolition of the main building where the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel rods took place from 1966 to 1972. The Action Network has called for the U.S. Department of Energy to provide the region with comprehensive real-time monitoring and reporting of the air — before, during, and after the demolition of the highly contaminated Main Plant Processing Building.

One of the Action Network organizations, The Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), has issued warnings about the potential spread of radioactivity in the air and water downstream and downwind of the West Valley site. NIRS is an activist organization that supports renewable energy and opposes nuclear power.

Diane D’Arrigo, a Western New York native who serves as the Radioactive Waste Director for NIRS, says the Main Plant Building may be “the most intensely radioactive building in the nuclear power and weapons fuel chain…” She points out that the D.O.E. and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the state agency responsible for the fifteen-acre burial site, “refuse to monitor offsite in real time…” She says, “The general population and local government officials are entitled to know if radioactivity has contaminated the air as the massive cleanup effort continues.”

D’Arrigo warns that “some of the radioactivity from the West Valley site will stay radioactive for hundreds, thousands, millions of years--so the contamination is irreversible. Some long-lasting radioactivity from West Valley operations between 1966 and 1972 has been detected throughout Western New York on land and in water as far as Lake Ontario.”

During the time the plant was active, there was a spill in the basement. Strontium 90, among many radioactive isotopes, made their way from the basement into the ground water. A radioactive plume is now a quarter of a mile long. The Department of Energy has used Zeolite, a special kind of clay, to absorb the radioactive material. This “interceptor wall” is 900 feet long and 20 feet deep. However, Joanne Hameister, a research analyst who has spent forty years representing the public’s interest at West Valley, notes that water has a way of rerouting itself. She believes removing the source of the leaking Strontium and the contaminated soil would be a better solution, although very costly.

“If the plume keeps on moving,” she says, “it can hit a bunch of creeks. That plateau is loaded with creeks. They all lead into Buttermilk Creek, which drains into Cattaraugus Creek, which drains into Lake Erie. That is right around the corner from Sturgeon Point, where Erie County gets its water. Strontium 90 takes three hundred years to decay to levels that are more difficult to detect.

Right now, there are no plans to remove the earth or massive network of pipes under the Main Processing Building when demolition is carried out. Hameister says she is also concerned about the workers who will take part in the project. “That place is hot. There has to be a lot of worker protection.” She also wants assurances there will be some kind of protective covering over the building while it is being dismantled. “They’ll be chopping up walls,” she says. “They have to monitor the excursion from the site during that process. You just don’t want that stuff flying around.”

In addition, there is concern that soil erosion resulting from floods in 2009 is making its way closer to the trenches where radioactive waste is buried. Future flooding, say members of the West Valley Action Network, could potentially threaten releases of radioactive elements into brooks and creeks that eventually feed into Lake Erie.

The Department of Energy installed an “armor wall” in 2019 to slow down the erosion. Hameister says the wall was installed without public input, which she says was a violation of the legal agreement between the Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Wastes and the Department of Energy. She questions whether there might be other issues to which the public isn’t aware.

Response by U.S. Department of Energy (5/8/2020) Brian Bower/West Valley Demonstration Project Director, DOE

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Environmental Management is continuing to make safe and steady progress with decommissioning activities at the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP). After successfully completing the solidification of 600,000 gallons of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) liquid into a highly durable glass material in 2006, the focus of the Project shifted to removing the old, highly contaminated reprocessing facilities and the facilities used in the solidification of the HLW. In 2018, DOE safely completed the demolition of the Vitrification Facility, a 50-foot tall, 10,000 square foot nuclear facility where the HLW was converted into glass. The demolition of the Vitrification Facility represented the largest and most complex demolition of a radioactively contaminated facility at the WVDP to date. Prior to that, the Department demolished the site’s 01-14 Building, a former building that treated processed off-gases from the Vitrification Facility and a number of support facilities.

DOE is now preparing to embark on the demolition of the Main Plant Process Building (MPPB), the central facility used in the commercial spent nuclear fuel reprocessing operation. This facility is the largest and most contaminated building on the site. In preparing the MPPB for demolition, the Department of Energy removed a number of contaminated support facilities surrounding the MPPB, and completed extensive deactivation work inside the highly reinforced building before beginning the carefully planned, controlled and monitored demolition activity. The agency has also demolished over 40 additional site facilities and upgraded the site’s infrastructure to support the work, including the water supply, gas supply and distribution, electric service, and IT systems.

Radiological, industrial, and environmental safety are foremost considerations in planning and executing demolition of the MPPB. The work planning process for the demolition of the MPPB brought to bear the extensive experience of the site’s workforce, industry best practices and lessons learned from the demolition of the Vitrification Facility and similar facilities across the country. Throughout the demolition work, onsite activities will be monitored and controlled in real-time to ensure worker, public and environmental safety.

The Environmental Monitoring Program at the West Valley Demonstration Project has been part of the ongoing cleanup efforts since the beginning of the Project in 1982. The monitoring program includes sampling to evaluate the surface water, groundwater and air. Along with demolition air and radiation monitoring, on-site and off-site air, surface water, drinking water, sediment, soil, venison (deer), fish, milk, and food crop samples will be collected before, during, and after demolition.

The goal of the extensive demolition activity air and radiation monitoring program is to detect any change in radiological conditions, so that work can be slowed, modified, or even stopped to protect employees, general public and the environment. The work is carefully planned and carried out such that all contamination is controlled within the boundaries of the demolition area.

As DOE begins another important phase of the WVDP’s work at West Valley, we welcome all interested members of the public to attend our Quarterly Public Meetings and Citizen Task Force meetings to ask questions and hear about progress on this very important work. Site background information and all environmental information can also be found on the WVDP website at http://www.wv.doe.gov.]]> Murphy, Kurt (WIVB-TV Graphic Arts Director) ]]> Vetter, Tom (Editor)]]> Newberg, Rich (WIVB-TV Reporter)]]> D’Arrigo, Diane (Nuclear Information and Resource Service)]]> Resnikoff, Marvin (Nuclear Physicist) ]]> Hameister, Joanne (The Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Wastes) ]]> Vaughan, Ray (The Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Wastes)]]> Shepp, Amanda (Coordinator of Special Collections & Archives, SUNY Fredonia) ]]> Pillittere, Joe (Communications Manager for West Valley contractor)]]> Bower, Brian (DOE Director for West Valley Demonstration Project)]]> Bembia, Paul (NYSERDA Director at West Valley)]]> eng]]> Aircraft accidents--New York (State)--Clarence]]>
The twin-engine turboprop belonged to Colgan Air, a regional airline company serving Continental Airlines. The flight had originated in Newark, New Jersey. It crashed only a few miles from the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport.

This composite of stories begins the night of the crash. WIVB-TV’s Lisa Flynn was the first to report that it was a commercial airliner that crashed, not a small plane, as had been first thought. The crash sent a shock wave across Western New York. Many of the victims were from the Buffalo area.

Families and friends of those who perished in the crash remembered their loved ones during grief stricken moments, and Western New York went through a period of mourning. Many questions were raised about the cause of the crash and whether the crew had been properly trained to operate this particular aircraft. Family members began attending hearings in Washington DC and closely followed the investigation.

A year after the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board determined that pilot error was the probable cause of the accident. Captain Marvin Renslow had failed to correctly respond to a stall, which is the sudden reduction in lift of an aircraft. The pilot had pulled back on the control column, tilting the nose of the plane up instead of lowering it and applying full power.

Families had begun questioning whether Federal Aviation Administration regulations for regional airlines were adequate. Critical safety issues raised included pilot training and fatigue. On the one year anniversary of the crash, family members and supporters walked from the accident site on Long Street in Clarence to the Buffalo Niagara International Airport to draw attention to their cause.

In a series of WIVB investigative reports, Rich Newberg revealed that internal emails from Colgan Airlines were obtained by lawyers representing the relatives of deceased passengers. They indicated that pilot Marvin Renslow had training problems and appeared not ready to handle the Bombardier Q400 aircraft. However, a month later he was flying the plane. When Newberg questioned an attorney representing Colgan Air, he maintained that Capt. Renslow was qualified to fly the plane.

Attorneys representing the crash victims determined that Colgan Air had been expanding air routes and moving to fifteen of the bigger models of the Q 400 planes. Attorney Hugh Russ said Colgan was “desperately looking for pilots to fly these planes.” Russ said, “These emails in our judgement prove that Colgan sacrificed safety for profits.”

Families charged that Colgan Air had withheld the emails during the investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB then ordered Colgan Air’s parent company, Pinnacle Airlines, to produce the internal emails in question. The company said it would comply.

A former Colgan Air crew scheduler came forward and told Newberg that the airline would fly pilots who lacked sleep to cover each leg of a flight itinerary. Colgan had no comment.

Eventually, the families, after many trips to Washington, got the FAA to implement tougher regulations including more hours of flight training and a requirement that airlines keep more extensive records detailing how pilots performed during training. Measures were also implemented to cut down on pilot fatigue.

Deborah Hersman, who was chair of the NTSB, told Rich Newberg, “…the families in this accident have been simply amazing. We have seen some incredible grace come out of the people who have gone through the worst experience of their life to really come together and try to determine if there’s anything good that can come from this, to make sure that no one has to go through what they went through. They have been a strong voice. They have been aggressive. They’ve been educated on the issues, and they’ve been a great help to the safety board as we try to focus attention on the issues related to this accident.”]]> Newberg, Rich]]> Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Artist)]]> Walker, Jacquie (Anchor)]]> Postles, Don (Anchor)]]> Flynn, Lisa (Reporter) ]]> Macko, Rob (Reporter)]]> Moretti, Luke (Reporter)]]> Newberg, Rich (Reporter)]]> Shultz, Lorey (Reporter)]]> eng]]> Aircraft accidents--New York (State)--Clarence]]>
“4 The Families” included eulogies from relatives and friends and the latest details on the crash investigation.

Colgan Air Flight 3407 was on its way from Newark, New Jersey to the Buffalo Niagara International Airport. Colgan Air was a regional company servicing Continental Airlines.

Shortly before the crash, the crew had reported a buildup of ice on the aircraft's wings and windshield. The Bombardier Q400 two-engine turbo-prop failed to recover from a stall and crashed into a house on Long Street in Clarence Center. Three people were in the house. A mother and her daughter were able to escape. The father did not survive. The accident occurred at 10:17 pm, about five miles from the Buffalo airport.

An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board would later attribute the crash to pilot error. Instead of pointing the nose of the plane downward and applying full power, the proper reaction to an aerodynamic stall, Captain Marvin Renslow pulled back on the control column pointing the nose upward causing the plane to pitch and roll. It quickly lost altitude and crashed.

Among those killed in the crash were Allison Des Forges, a human rights investigator and an expert on the Rwandan genocide, Beverly Eckert, named co-chair of the 9/11 Family Steering Committee after her husband was killed in the September 11 attacks, Susan Wehle, the first American female Jewish Renewal cantor, and jazz musicians Gerry Niewood and Coleman Mellett, who were en route to a concert with Chuck Mangione and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.]]> WIVB-TV]]> Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Artist)]]> Jacquie Walker, Jacquie (Anchor)]]> Postles, Don (Anchor)]]> Holmes, Melissa (Reporter) ]]> Richert, George (Reporter)]]> Newberg, Rich (Reporter)]]> Vaughters, Al (Reporter)]]> Schultz, Lorey (Reporter)]]> Arena, Joe (Reporter)]]> McClintick, Michele ]]> Hairston, Mylous (Reporter)]]> Cruze, Tricia (Reporter)]]> Moretti, Luke (Reporter)]]> eng]]> Labor--New York (State)--Buffalo.]]> Playwriting.]]> Interview One
Manny Fried turns 80 and reflects on his life and the struggles he endured after being blacklisted from 1956 to 1972 for his political beliefs. He says that growing up as one of nine children, “We were taught to be honest and stick up for your rights.” In his books and plays he writes about relationships inside the labor movement. “I tried hard to be a voice for the American worker,” he tells Rich Newberg.

He talks about refusing to answer any questions by the House Un-American Activities Committee, and about receiving support from Albert Einstein. Fried says the committee did not have a constitutional right to exist. He says he has no regrets, even though his life has been tough. He says, “I’ve tried to embody my experience in plays I write and the novels I write.”

The interview is conducted at the Alleyway Theater before scenes are rehearsed for his play “Big Ben Hood.” Fried says the underlying theme is, “The need to be true to yourself, the need to have integrity, and the need to make a choice and not try to stand on the fence.”

When the interview ends, the actors on stage celebrate Manny Fried's birthday, surprising him with a song and a cake. He joins them on stage and blows out the candles with one breath. The actors, including Jim Santella, pay tribute to Fried, pointing out his honesty and integrity.
March 1, 1993
Interview Runs: 12:36
21:18 including b-roll

Interview Two
In 1994 Manny Fried is interviewed by Rich Newberg at home, where he discusses his lawsuit against the FBI and the price he paid for being labeled “the most dangerous man in Western New York.”

At age 81, he discusses the lawsuit he filed against the FBI based on testimony he learned two years earlier from a former FBI worker. He says the woman told him that the FBI set up 25 agents to follow him around the clock, bug his conversations, read his mail and work toward getting him indicted.

Fried says the most important goal of his lawsuit is to “have them admit what they did... and to make amends and so it’s not easy for them to do it again.” He says former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, through his agents, damaged his marriage and convinced neighbors not to allow their children to play with his children. Fried says the agents assigned to his case also convinced friends of his wife Rhoda, who came from an upper class Buffalo family, to stop socializing with her. He says they went to her friends’ employers or clients and pressured them to stay away from the Fried family.

Rhoda’s family owned the upscale Park Lane Restaurant and apartment building on Gates Circle in Buffalo. She had been a part owner but was barred from entering the restaurant according to Fried, after a priest called for a boycott of the establishment.
Fried blames the actions of government agents for breaking his wife’s spirit and believes they were probably responsible for her death. He says she had become an alcoholic and a heavy smoker and eventually had a stroke.

He says he has no regrets having been a member of the Communist Party in Western New York, whose goals locally he says were to “better the standard of living, the wages and the working conditions of the people here.” But he adds, “The only sense of guilt I have about this whole thing is what my wife and kids went through and the part I played in sticking up for these ideals.” He says, “They went through hell on account of it and that bothers me yet!”

The number one hope expresses at age 81 is that “working people are able to get decent jobs and don’t have to worry where their bread’s coming from.” He adds, “I want people to have enough to eat. I want them to have decent homes. I want them to get along. That’s what I want.”

[June 9, 1994]
[Interview Runs: 31:01]
[32:58 including b-roll]]]> Newberg, Rich (Writer, Reporter)]]> 1994-06-09]]> Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Artist)]]> eng]]> Labor--New York (State)--Buffalo.]]> Playwriting.]]>
His refusal to answer questions from the House Un-American Activities Committee earned the respect of Albert Einstein, who sent him a note on April 16, 1954 saying, “You did the right thing and fulfilled your duty as a citizen.”

After finding it impossible to find work in the US, Fried took a job with a Canadian company as a life insurance salesmen. He established his voice as a playwright, author, actor and teacher. He began teaching creative writing at Buffalo State College in 1972.

Later in life he sued the FBI for emotional and financial damage, claiming he and his family were harassed and intimidated by twenty-five agents under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover. Fried’s book, “The Un-American,” retells the nightmare he and his family were made to endure.

When Manny Fried passed away in 2011 at the age of 97, Buffalo News columnist Colin Dabkowski wrote, “He remained a guiding presence in Buffalo’s theater, literary and social activist communities and was widely regarded as the most important figure on Buffalo’s theater scene.”

Manny Fried told his story to Rich Newberg, who produced three reports in 1993 and 1994.]]> Newberg, Rich (Writer, Reporter)]]> 1994-06-02
1994-06-09]]> Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Artist)]]> eng]]> Goodell, Lyndon]]> Drunk Driving]]> Trials (Manslaughter)--New York (State)]]>
The jury had to determine that it was 23 year old Goodell behind the wheel. His passenger, Carol Rokicki, was with him at the time of the accident. She had been granted immunity by the prosecution in exchange for her testimony.

Defense attorney Fern Acomb said it was Rokicki who supplied the alcohol and had the keys to the car, and that she was driving at the time of the crash. However, it was Goodell's chest injuries that convinced the jury that he was in the driver's seat.

The manslaughter and vehicular manslaughter convictions of Goodell were based on the belief that he knew, or should have known that his reckless drunken driving had the potential to kill. District Attorney Robert Noonan said, "...a guilty verdict on all counts was the only verdict that I would have been happy with."

The victims' relatives comforted each other after the two week trial ended with a guilty verdict. Tricia Collins, whose husband Patrick was killed in the accident, expressed the hope the trial would serve as a powerful lesson that drinking and driving can lead to tragic consequences.

Genesee County Judge Glenn Morton sentenced Goodell to 7 1/2 to 15 years in state prison. A wrongful-death settlement totaling $340,000 dollars was paid out by insurance companies to the families of all four of the victims. Goodell kept maintaining that he was not driving, but lost subsequent appeals.]]> Newberg, Rich]]> Reeve, Richard (Reporter)]]> eng]]> Humanitarian aid workers--Afghanistan]]> Mercer, Heather]]> Taliban]]> Shelter Now (Organization)]]>
Heather Mercer and her friend and co-worker Dayna Curry, were American aid workers arrested in Afghanistan by the Taliban on August 3, 2001. They were part of the Antioch International Movement of Churches and employed by a German-based Christian aid organization called Shelter Now International.

Following their arrest, six other Western aid workers and sixteen co-workers from Afghanistan were taken into custody and charged with preaching Christianity, a crime potentially punishable by death under Taliban law.

The workers were initially held as prisoners in Kabul. When Northern Alliance forces took control of Kabul on November 13, 2001, the aid workers from Afghanistan were freed. The Western aid workers, however, were moved by the Taliban to a prison in Ghazni. There, anti-Taliban forces freed those prisoners as well. They were airlifted to safety in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Heather Mercer grew up in suburban Virginia, outside of Washington. Her parents were divorced. Heather's mother, Deborah Eddy from Lewiston, and her grandmother, Norma Anderson from Niagara Falls, worked tirelessly for Heather's release.

Heather Mercer and Dayna Curry were welcomed home by President Bush and invited to join him at the White House.
The president said, "They had a calling to serve the poorest of the poor." Heather commented, "We know we're here because of the prayers of people all over the country, all over the world!"]]> Newberg, Rich]]> Hill, Ahmir (Graphic artist)]]> eng]]> Escaped prisoners]]> Phillips, Ralph James ]]> Fugitives from justice.]]> Ralph "Bucky" Phillips had appeared on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.

Background
On April 2, 2006, Ralph "Bucky" Phillips escaped from the Erie County Correctional Facility by using a can opener to cut through the metal roof of the kitchen.

He had been arrested on a parole violation following a burglary conviction in 2005. Although his criminal record also included grand larceny and other crimes,
he was initially not considered to be a violent person by friends and relatives, according to early reports.
Some believed he was intent on patching up his relationship with his daughter and grandchildren.

During the initial phases of his escape, the public became fixated on Phillips' ability to allude police, who at times were hot on his trail. Feeding into his "folk hero" status, one restaurant established the to-go "Bucky Burger," for those "On the Run." T-shirts were marketed saying "Run, Bucky, Run!" A song with the same title was written.

The Bucky Phillips saga turned dark when he shot and wounded New York State Trooper Sean Brown near Elmira on June 10, 2006. Trooper Brown was approaching a stolen Ford Mustang Phillips was driving.

A second shooting took place in the Chautauqua County town of Pomfret on August 31st. State Troopers Donald Baker Jr. and Joseph Longobardo were hit during a house stakeout of a relative of Phillips. Longobardo later died from his wounds.

Phillips was captured by Pennsylvania State Police on September 8, 2006. He surrendered in a wooded area with his hands raised. While in custody and taken in for processing, there were still supporters who cheered him on, much to the disgust of troopers.

On November 29, 2006, Phillips pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder. He was sentenced in Chautauqua County Court to life without parole.]]> Newberg, Rich]]> eng]]>