Concerned Niagara County residents host community meeting amid en­vi­ron­mental in­ves­ti­ga­tions – Spectrum News

Concerned Niagara County residents host community meeting amid en­vi­ron­mental in­ves­ti­ga­tions  Spectrum News

Despite assurances from government agencies, citizens shared their feelings of anxiety and frustration on Tuesday. NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — Late into the night on Tuesday, Niagara County residents filled Frontier Fire Hall. They were there to find community as environmental issues continue to plague their backyards. Jackie Medcalf, the executive director of The Center for Health, Environment and Justice, flew in all the way from Texas just to be at that meeting. “How many of you are just upset?” Medcalf asked from a podium at the front of the room. “How many of you are angry about this?” Nearly every hand in the room waved high. Residents from throughout the county spoke.

Among them was Jackie Linkowski. She said that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation recently discovered radioactive sand in the foundation of her home. “I had to say goodbye to my wedding dress because my wedding dress has radioactive dust all over it,” said Linkowski. She urged residents to request workers from the NYSDEC test the inside of homes. “They're going through the yards and clearing properties based on the yard screening. They need to go inside the houses, because that is the only way they're going to be able to tell," she said. Other people came from Cayuga Island, where the NYSDEC is investigating high