Federal and state agencies say they’re making significant progress in testing properties as part of an ongoing radiation assessment in Niagara and Erie counties.
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency say they are making significant progress in the latest phase of the Niagara and Erie County Radiological Assessment Program.
The program represents an effort to identify properties that may contain potentially dangerous levels of radiation. The work includes surveying properties and testing soil, a process that has raised concerns among homeowners in the affected areas.
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As of Friday morning, the agencies reported obtaining an additional 16 signed access agreements from property owners. The agreements allow field teams to enter private properties to conduct surveys and soil testing as part of the ongoing assessment.
Officials said crews screened 28 public and private properties on Thursday, and on Friday, teams were conducting soil testing at one property.
So far, the agencies have offered voluntary relocation to four property owners to allow for additional sampling and evaluation. Officials said those offers were made to facilitate further testing and analysis.
“I’m terrified,” Lexi Hawk told 2 On Your Side earlier in the week, after testing with surface instruments conducted outside her home on Fox Avenue in the Town of Niagara yielded some troubling results. “The DEC and EPA have confirmed I have radioactive contamination in large areas of in my yard all the way up to my flower bed and into the back near my garage.”
A mini excavator sat outside her home on Tuesday, poised to dig eight-foot deep holes in her lawn to further test the extent of the contamination and eventually determine the health risks of staying there.