Environment

The recently indicted Senator Robert Ortt (R-North Tonawanda) owes his political career to his mentor, the former Senator and also recently indicted George Maziarz (R-Newfane), who ruled over Niagara County politics for decades. Maziarz served as the Chairman of the

BY LOU RICCIUTI Aside from the heart-string-tugging stories of the veterans, their families, their lives and sacrifices, Michelle Ann Kratts’ Niagara Falls in World War II is technically a historical fiction at best. Single-sourced references scream that this book was rushed, or

The US Army Corps of Engineers announced they will no longer allow the DAPL to cross under a river near the Standing Rock reservation. via 10 Heartwarming Photos of the Celebration at Standing Rock — Observer

BY FRANK PARLATO ‘Equate,’ the brown, blackish, mulch-like product – with a piquant taste and curious smell – is made up of about 60 percent human excrement, mixed with other undissolved solids that once went happily down the drain after

BY MIKE HUDSON High priced flood insurance, erosion that eats up your back yard and government inaction are just a few of the joys associated with creekside living in Lackawanna. For years, residents living along Smokes Creek in all four

BY MATTHEW RICCHIAZZI Since The Reporter broke a story about illegal dumping at a city-operated composting facility last week, the State’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has launched an investigation into the illegal dumping. On the same day, last Thursday, Department of

BY JAMES HUFNAGEL Later this month, and for the second time during his five years in office, Gov. Andrew Cuomo will make a decision that has enormous implications for the future of Western New York’s water resources. The Governor will

BY C.B. MILLER Governor Andrew Cuomo promised to rebuild Buffalo with great fanfare, branding his economic development spending as the Buffalo Billion. While Elon Musk received $750 million of Buffalo’s Billion, the city’s aging sewer infrastructure received nothing. The Scajaquada Creek sits

THE EDITORIAL BOARD Councilman Darius Pridgen is circulating a two paragraph legal opinion on social media, appearing to be on the stationary of Harter, Secrest & Emory, making the claim that the residents at his True Bethel Townhomes development are not at risk

BY FRANK PARLATO The New York Power Authority (NYPA) successfully installed the three remaining floating sections of the Lake Erie-Niagara River ice boom on December 28, completing the work for the 2015-2016 season. The official Lake Erie water temperature on December

The land affectionately known as the Ferry Fields — now the site of True Bethel Townhomes — was used as a massive dumping ground for toxic ash, a byproduct of lead production and metal processing. Those fields were commonly used by children

Councilman Darius Pridgen was well aware of toxic contaminants at 858 East Ferry Street, long before he developed the industrial site into market rate residential housing, located across the street from his ministry. The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) awarded a

BY CAROLETTE MEADOWS The black community has been indoctrinated to the point of brainwashing to never question the “man of God.” But the Bible warns of building wealth. Jesus never worked with Caesar but instead told the servants of Caesar to give up

County legislator Lynne Dixon (I-Hamburg) is rallying the community against the State Department of Environmental Conservation’s plan to only partially clean up the former Bethlehem Steel plant in Lackawanna. The Cuomo administration plan calls for excavating contaminants, but the relocating

President George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005, creating renewable biofuel incentives that included a mandate that gasoline contains at least 10% corn-based ethanol. In 10 short years, those ethanol policies — widely considered patronage for the politically pivotal Iowa corn growers — has devastated

If he is reelected to the New York State Senate, retired Senator Alfred Coppola is pledging to introduce the “Great Lakes Environmental Restoration Act” (GLERA) to address several ongoing threats to the Great Lakes’ ecosystem. “There is no greater natural resource on this continent