Spill site in Western NY was never safe

Several students at the LeRoy High School have developed a tourette type illnesses unexplainable over the past few months.  A few doctors have diagnosed it as mass psychogenic illness related and not any other illness but further investigation uncovered that on Dec 6^th, 1970 Lehigh Railroad derailed a few miles from the school spilling cyanide and TCE.  LeRoy is located in Livingston County in western NY State with a population of 4369.

The NYSDEC and EPA did not conclude their investigation until 1997 and in 2008 the EPA announced a reinvestigation of the spill site.  EPA has designated the site as a SUPERFUND site, a category used to list all highly toxic areas that need remediation across the US, such as Love Canal.

Leaking and rusted containers sit at site leeching back into ground

When approached the LCSD Superintendent, Kim Cox denies that this has anything to do with the train crash but after a little more digging Zombified Times uncovered a second SUPERFUND site less than 2 mile from the school, Jones Chemicals Inc. Plant.  In 1986 NYSDEC and DOH determined that the area was at a high toxic level containing, Toluene, dichloroethene, methylene, chloride, chloroform, PCE and as well as more TCE.  Spring Creek also showed very high levels in both standing water as well as sediment.

Ms. Cox also has commented that the DEC and EPA have been on site and tested.  Certified school was fine but when pressed she would not or could not present documentation or give details.  Verification has been requested from the EPA Region 2 field office.

We also reviewed the EPA NPL Listing History for the Lehigh Valley accident and it listed the record closed as of 1/16/1999.  The accident happened in 1970 and some cleanup took place in 1970-1972.  In 1991 the EPA began testing the area to establish long term cleanup plan.  Why did this take so long to address?  There were residents of the town that had displayed illnesses such as cancer, birth defects and early onset Parkinson, can all be linked to possible TCE exposure.

The file report stated that contamination was still present and remediation included a public water system attached to Monroe County’s.  The NYSDEC also found the site to contain high levels of TCE as far away as 3 to 4 miles south to east, possibly moving do to the aquifer and bedrock under ground.

We also found that the “Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry” were asked to do an independent assessment but after careful reading it appears all they did was take the NYSDEC ROD and copy it and recertify.  So much so as it read word for word as the DEC’s report with the exception that the first page stated “NO APPARENT PUBLIC HEALTH HAZZARD”, but the DEC reports that up to 58 wells remain contaminated.

Now even if these students are affected by mass psychogenic illness, it still does not excuse the blatant denial of the school that possibly the sports fields could be affected from percolation, gasses that only appear during high water table periods. Ms. Cox is not a qualified environmental engineer or scientist.  Schools and school boards are quit clever at hiding issues but the truth is something they are hiding, by not allowing access from outside independent testing groups accept their own.  LeRoy CSD and Ms. Cox, Zombified Times is watching you as well as America.

We will keep you posted on any new findings we come across and all the EPA documentation is available on the web via the EPA.