LOCKPORT, NY (WKBW) — On Wednesday night, Lockport residents filled City Hall to ask officials and the Environmental Protection Agency questions regarding contamination concerns from the Eighteen Mile Creek Superfund site.
During the summer, residents received letters notifying them of contamination from the former Flintkote plant, an EPA spokesperson said they have been working to clean the Eighteen Mile Creek Superfund site and the surrounding area since 2016.
Earlier this week we spoke with Cindy Bucolo, who received a letter from the EPA. Inside that letter, was a map of lead contamination all over her family’s property.
Residents like John Miner said they want full transparency about what residential areas are contaminated.
"It just feels like they are kicking the can down the road to someone else," said Miner.
Many residents were concerned that history was repeating itself.
"A lot of people in this community have been asking for real testing to be done for people to pay attention, we don't need another Love Canal," said Tabatha Parker, a resident of Lockport.
EPA public affairs officer Michael Basile told me that remediation work is underway, but it will take 8 to 10 years.
"Eighteen Mile Creek is 15 miles. It's not small, and we have a lot of work ahead of us besides the 80 residential properties we have to clean up," said Basile. "Be patient with the federal government and the. We're here and we're going to get the job done but it will take some time."
