On Thursday evening, representatives from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation gathered with community members at their latest public information session at the Niagara Falls Convention Center.
The DEC recently did a flyover and road radiation tests in Niagara and Erie Counties to identify areas of interest based on changes in radiological signatures.
Tests were initiated in Niagara County and Grand Island but earlier this week it was made known DEC and EPA personnel were expanding into the Southtowns, asking homeowners there for permission to survey their properties.
Chad Staniszewski serves as the Acting Regional Director for Region 9 of the DEC and says that, for the homeowners impacted, to mitigate fear, it was best to hold individual conversations with property owners to explain results and next steps.
"What I'm finding is that individual conversations with property owners are really the most effective way for us to communicate that, which is why any results that we receive that indicate that follow-up action is necessary. We are actually sitting down with those property owners to explain in detail what those results actually mean, what the next steps are, and then to answer any of their questions, " said Staniszewski.
So far, about 1,000 access agreements have been sent out to homeowners. They have evaluated approximately 800 properties, with no further action letters prepared to be sent to approximately 500 of those properties currently.
For those impacted, results should be expected, but not overnight.
"We will go to each property owner, and I know there are those property owners who want the results immediately, right? There's a process," said Chad. "We have to evaluate that data. Risk assessors have to evaluate. We have an environmental unit evaluating that data. Once that evaluation is done, we prepare a packet with all of their with all of their results. Give that packet to them in hard copy, and then we sit down with them, with a health physicist in detail explain those results and answer any questions that they may have."
Chad emphasized that there's not a cause for panic at this point. There's no immediate risk, according to the DOH.
"Well, people are nervous, right? And they're scared when you talk about radiation. People don't really understand what it means, and rightfully so. If I got a letter in the mail that said, you know, we would like to come out and further evaluate your property for a potential radiological contamination, that's justified for sure." Chad added, "They have evaluated all of this data in detail, and I think that's really the message that we want to get out is not to have too much anxiety relative to this, because that's detrimental as well."
