Four families in Western New York have secured housing after being temporarily relocated because of high levels of radiological contamination on their property. This comes after months of testing by the Environmental Protection Agency and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Lexi Hawk is among the affected residents. After so much confusion, she said she doesn’t want to ever return home.

“I think there’s a lot of mistrust,” said Hawk. “There’s just a lot of trauma. So even if there is nothing, I’m still going to question it. Every time I go outside, I’m still going to be weird and, you know, not let my daughter go to certain spots … we don’t want to come back.”

Hawk grew up in the same neighborhood in Niagara that she’s now moving away from. Many of the surrounding homes have been in the same family for generations.

“It just leaves us a sense of guilt,” said Hawk. “Other people, like my neighbor, my papa, who lives behind me, like they’re still in their homes.”

Some of Hawk’s neighbors are still waiting on test results. Jon Dullen lives next door and had testing done as recently as this week.

“It just took the EPA two months to even give me my first batch of results,” said Dullen. “At this moment in time, I just want answers for everyone as well as [for] my family’s generational curses, and I wish for them to end.”

But according to Hawk, there’s still a long road ahead. She still wants the raw data from earlier assessments.

“This is far from over. I mean, everybody deserves answers. This whole neighborhood deserves answers. I’m going to start working on the fact that. Why are we the only ones that are being relocated?” asked Hawk. “We need a better plan for all of Niagara to get cleaned up, because it can’t end here.”

In a statement to Spectrum News 1, the NYSDEC said, “Assessment teams continue to make substantial progress conducting fieldwork across areas of interest in Niagara and Erie counties through a multi-agency enhanced investigation response … Remediation plans … will be relayed directly to the homeowners.”