Removal of More Than 3,500 Pounds of Hazardous Waste from Patchogue Auto Repair Shop Takes Less Than Two Weeks

Nov. 10 - With EPA providing oversight, the current owner of the former Minty Auto Sales in Patchogue, NY, has completed a short-term cleanup of waste chemicals left on his property by a previous owner. "Working with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Suffolk County District Attorney, we were able to convince the owner to clean out the potentially hazardous materials and quickly eliminate a serious threat to the community," said EPA Regional Administrator Jane M. Kenny. "The work was paid for by the owner and completed in a very short time."
News Release

EPA Finishes $4.8 Million Cleanup at Ithaca Gun

Oct. 29 - Lead-tainted soil at the former Ithaca Gun Company is now cleaned up to acceptable levels. Over the past two years, EPA vacuumed up soil contaminated with lead from spent shot that was scattered throughout the area. "In the spring, after some minor restoration work is completed, EPA will return the once contaminated Fall Creek Gorge area to its former scenic grandeur," said EPA Regional Administrator Jane M. Kenny. "The terrain in this area made what would have been a relatively straight-forward cleanup much more difficult, but we got the job done."
News Release

Colonial Acres Is First Golf Course to Gain Entry to EPA Performance Track

Oct. 28 - The Colonial Acres Golf Course in Glenmont, NY is the only organization of its type in the national EPA Performance Track program. A winner of the NY Governor's Pollution Prevention Award, Colonial Acres has reduced water use, emissions of volatile organic chemicals, and use of synthetic pesticides by 70%.
News Release
Nitrogen Management Challenge for Golf Courses
Region 2 Performance Track Members

First Idle-Free Truck Stop Facility Provides Cleaner Air for Children and Families

Oct. 20 - With the aid of $1 million from the settlement of an EPA enforcement action with the Coastal Eagle Point Refinery, the Travel Center in Paulsboro, NJ became the state's first truck stop electrification facility. The equipment was installed at nearly 100 parking spaces, allowing truck drivers to "plug-in" to a window sized system that provides air conditioning and heat, internet services, television, telephone and other amenities. In doing so, they will be reducing harmful emissions caused by idling. Appropriately announced during National Children's Health Month, this initiative will eliminate noxious fumes from idling engines, and children and families residing in the Paulsboro will be the direct beneficiaries. Children, in particular, breathe more air proportionately than their parents and elders and are at greater risk for serious respiratory problems such as asthma.
News Release
EPA's Smartway Transport Partnership
Children's Health in Region 2

New Rochelle Girl Scouts Conduct Street Clean-up and Storm Drain Campaign

Oct. 11 - This past Columbus Day, 16 members of Girl Scout Troop 1865 and friends conducted a street cleanup and storm drain awareness campaign in their hometown, New Rochelle, NY. The cleanup crew affixed brightly colored stickers that read "No Dumping, Drains to Bay" to storm drains and distributed flyers, in English and Spanish, that told residents how to keep the streets litter-free. Donna Somboonlakana, an EPA Environmental Engineer, helped plan and coordinate the program.
New Rochelle's Stormwater Management Plan
EPA's Stormwater Program Outreach Materials

Third Annual Water Quality Monitoring Day Celebrated by Schoolchildren in Syracuse

Sept. 30 - One hundred forty children from six Syracuse area schools gained hands-on experience in water quality sampling at a Water Quality Monitoring Day event held September 30 and October 1, 2004. Testing was conducted at Onondaga Creek, Kimber Brook and Webster Pond. Chris Dere and Erika Clark of EPA and representatives of the US Geological Survey, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Upstate Freshwater Institute and the Onondoga Lake Cleanup Corporation introduced the students to the ecological significance of testing for pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen and turbidity.
News Release
National News Release

EPA Removes Love Canal from Superfund List

Sept. 30 - EPA has finalized its decision to remove the Love Canal site in Niagara County from the Superfund National Priorities List. All cleanup work at the site has been completed, and followup monitoring conducted over the past 15 years and continuing today confirms that the cleanup goals have been reached. "Love Canal taught us that we needed a mechanism to address abandoned hazardous waste sites, especially those that posed a threat to people's health," said Jane M. Kenny, EPA's Regional Administrator. "Decades later, Love Canal has become a symbol of our success under Superfund. It is once again a thriving community."
News Release
Love Canal Documents
FR - Notice of deletion of Love Canal

Where Saltwater Meets Freshwater: EPA Focuses on the Beauty and Importance of Our National Estuaries

Sept. 22 - EPA has announced educational and fun family-friendly events to celebrate the New York/New Jersey Harbor, starting on National Estuaries Day, Saturday, September 25. EPA will also participate in "EstuaryLive," an educational program featuring the Barnegat Bay and Peconic Estuaries, and accessible to public via live webcasts. In addition, EPA lauded East End Long Island golf courses for pledging to reduce fertilizer use and improve the Peconic Estuary.

Related News Releases
EPA & Public and Private Partners Celebrate National Estuaries Day With a Variety of NY/NJ Harbor Events (9/21)
East End Long Island Golf Courses Pledge to Reduce Fertilizer Use (9/22)
EPA Celebrates National Estuaries Day in New York and New Jersey With Live Webcast for Teachers and Students (9/23-24)

Other Stories ...

11-10 EPA Reaches Settlement in Action Against Super Value, Inc. for Underground Storage Tank violations at New York Facilities

11-10 EPA Proposes to Deny Waiver for Ponce Wastewater Treatment Plant

11-02 EPA Announces Completion of Construction at Colesville Site

11-01 EPA to Oversee Cleanup of Residential Properties in Depew

Region 2 News Release and Speech Directory

National News Release Directory