State Senator George Maziarz [1] has spoken out against the Department of Environmental Conservation [2]'s plan to transport 75,000 tons of contaminated material to a landfill in Niagara County [3]. The waste is laden with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), carcinogenic chemicals once used by General Electric [4] as electrical coolants. The DEC has decided to move the material from existing landfills in Glens Falls [5] to CWM Chemical Services [6], the only hazardous waste dump in the Northeast.

Trucks Used to Transport Contaminated   WasteNone of the material has been moved from Warren County [7], but excavation has already begun. The removal of the waste is expected to take a year and cost $22.3 million. Half is to be shipped to Niagara in 1,500 truckloads. The other half will be treated on site by a process called thermal desorption, which involves heating material to remove any toxins.

Ideally, all of the waste would be treated this way, but the state deemed it too expensive. Senator Maziarz has sent a letter of protest to DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis [8]. He believes that the current plan won't solve the problem, and that it will unnecessarily pass it on to the residents of Porter [9].