J.H.:

I for one would like to thank you for the franchising comment over on that other thread. I'm going over there at some point today or tonight and explain a littleof this about franchises and NYS et al. As a franchisee at one time, I know something about these laws, especially in NYS.

I was just curious, did you miss this opinion piece by Tim Henderson in the online Niagara Gazette today? It seems to highlight another environmentalist who is concerned about dumping up on top of the Artpark Spoils Pile (as it has been known for decades). He does work for the Town of Lewiston, doesn't he? Isn't this one of the groups that you have mentioned as "working together" in the past? I'm very curious now to know just how it is these groups "work together."  To me, they NHP, NFWHC, RRG, ROLE, and other groups, all seem to "work toward" things of very little consequence. Some have even called this a diversionary tactic from the real problems at hand.

Just a thought.: Since a week or so ago, there were two men in Niagara County caught doing midnight dumping of hazardous chemicals, it seems to me that there might be a bigger problem there than just the surface debris left by this midnight dumping--"temporary storage." If this wasn't midnight dumping and it was "only" road pavement millings from jobs done this year around Lewiston-Porter and the LOOW site , I'd be VERY, EXTREMELY, suspicious of this situation that has shown its ugly face up on the spoils pile. Do you recall the road paving at Porter Road in Niagara Falls, a couple of years ago that was so radiologically contaminated that they shut down the road job for a week (see below).

What if this material is like that? There's plenty of documentation showing road contamination from industrial and atomic waste used previously in paving done all over Niagara County! There's also plenty of documentation of radioactive "hotspots" around Lewiston-Porter, now potentially also in the road millings that Mr. Henderson describes in his letter of opinion to the Niagara Gazette as being on top of the appropriately named Spoils Pile.

Sounds more and more like that whole area maybe needs to be cordoned off until a thorough set of test results can be presented. God only knows what's up there now.

NL

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Spoiling the spoils area
By Timothy P. Henderson
Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Several years ago, environmental groups and individuals were approached by the Village of Lewiston to support a grant application to the Niagara County Environmental Fund, created as part of a settlement to decades-long Love Canal litigation.

The original “vision” for the Spoils Area atop Art Park Plateau involved 15 soccer fields and an area that was to be created and preserved as a natural habitat with wildflowers and grasses that had long disappeared from this region. The plan was to restore the area to a Savannah-like setting much as what Father Hennepin had been greeted by when he explored the lower Niagara in the 1700s.

During numerous meetings between the grant writers, engineers, politicians and environmentalists, it was decided to scale back the number of soccer fields to five and increase the natural habitat. The environmentalists were elated that green space was actually going to be increased in Lewiston.

A plan by the town to develop that area was shut down by the County. Plans moved ahead to plant the long neglected area with indigenous seeds and construct ponds that would attract whole species of nesting birds and butterflies that haven't been seen in this region for generations. This was forward thinking at it best and it would tap the burgeoning ecotourism market, making Lewiston an even more attractive destination.

At no time during negotiations between the signatories to the project were plans discussed for dumping road millings and the accompanying truck traffic adjacent to the nature preserve. At no time was consideration given for a model airplane club and its noisy mini-airport adjacent to the preserve.

Yet, despite protests and letters from the crafters and protectors of the nature preserve, permission was granted and a sign now designates the area as a radio controlled airplane flying zone. As a way of explaining away the dumping area, a village board member recently referred to it as a 'temporary' site. The parking lot at Art Park was also declared 'temporary' in 1964 when it paved over the rich archeological site of Joncoire’s trading post with the stated intention of “preserving it” until it could be professionally excavated. How did that “temporary” site work out?

To call Mrs. Johnson’s informative letter to the Gazette a “cheap shot” because she didn’t first talk to a village trustee is absurd. We made our disappointment regarding the Village’s handling of the plateau crystal clear and the outcome of our talks was the creation of a dump area and permission granted to the noisy mini-airport. So much for talking.

In the early morning hours, songbirds that have moved into the preserve can be heard greeting the sun. Unfortunately, the loud whining of model airplanes combined with dump truck traffic has encroached upon the nesting birds needed tranquility.

Clearly, the spirit and intent of the $800,000 grant has been violated. This worthwhile asset deserves far more respect than has been afforded it for it is too important a project to be allowed to fail. Relocate the mini-airport and the dump immediately or return the grant money. The time for talk has ended.

Timothy P. Henderson is the president of R.O.L.E. (Residents Organized for Lewiston-Porter’s Environment)

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I wonder if the "temporary storage" was caused when the landfill wouldn't accept these "road millings" because of the following situation that happened elsewhere in the county Niagara, once beautiful...  Hmm, sure raises a lot of questions about that situation On Top of Old Artpark.