New York Business Designated Toxic Waste Site

April 22, 2010 - The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has placed the Rosendale Citgo Station property at Route 32 and Madeline Lane on the Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites as a Class 2 site. The classification of a Class 2 site, according to the state agency, means the site presents a considerable threat to public health and/or the environment.

From 1960 to 1970, the site operated as a chemical company that dyed clothing. From 1970 to 1979 an automotive repair garage operated there and from 1979 to 1994 various gas stations were open for business. The present-day Citgo gas station has operated at the site since 1994.
DEC spokesperson Wendy Rosenbach said that, in her experience, this is an unusual situation.
"It's odd that an active gas station is in this classification," Rosenbach said.

More...

Lansing MI largest park could reopen years after closure

March 10, 2010- The gates to Lansing's largest park could swing open again for the public if city officials and nearby neighbors don’t raise a din of objections.

Some effusively anticipate a future of picnicking in Crego Park, which has been closed since 1986, when investigators found 200 drums of paint sludge and other toxic waste.

More...

Raytheon Estimates 78 Years for Florida Pollution Cleanup

March 2, 2010- Homeowners surrounding the now-shuttered Raytheon defense plant may not live long enough to see their neighborhood rid of the industrial pollution that's been creeping under parks, playgrounds and homes for decades.

In a new report, Raytheon's environmental consultant Arcadis says it will take as long as 78 years to cleanup the last of an underground mess that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has known about since 1991.

Neighbors were already angry when the company said last year it would take more than 25 years to clean up the toxic waste plume that has polluted dozes of irrigation wells in their neighborhood.

More...

EPA to Visit Calif. Town With Birth Defect Cluster

February 1, 2010- Dozens of people chanted and held signs outside the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in San Francisco to draw more attention to a cluster of birth defects in a town near the largest toxic waste dump in the West.

The rally came on the heels of an announcement that a top-ranking EPA official would visit the California farm town of Kettleman City, a town of 1,500 halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Jared Blumenfeld, administrator for the EPA's Pacific Southwest region, promised to probe his own department and make sure "every enforcement, regulatory and permitting action that should've been taken has been taken."

More...

Luxury Condos Built On Toxic Waste Site Near Tacoma, WA

May 26, 2009 - How do you build luxury condos on top of a Superfund site? Local residents are outraged.

Real estate developer Mike Cohen and his investors plan to shell out over $100 million to transform almost 100 acres of Superfund land into a luxury waterfront village. The land is made up largely of industrial waste from a nine-story copper smelter, including the remains of an arsenic kitchen.

More...

Santa Clarita, CA Plans Park On Contaminated Land

May 18, 2009 - A city plan to buy a piece of contaminated land near Placerita Canyon is drawing criticism. It's also drawing comparisons to another infamous toxic-waste site.

The city of Santa Clarita plans to spend $2.5 million to buy the 140-acre Special Devices site near Placerita Canyon, said Rick Gould, city of Santa Clarita park director. The site was the home to Special Devices Inc. The company manufactured explosives for the air bags used in automotive safety systems, and explosive release charges for the doors on the Mercury space capsules, Gould said.

More...