TOXIC TOUR WITH LOIS GIBBS!
On Thursday, March 16, 2000, the residents of South Buffalo's Hickory Woods community toured Abby Street. Despite the cold temperature and the mixture of snow and rain, a large number of people gathered for this event in an effort to educate outsiders to the community and to express their concerns over the toxic waste situation. Lois Gibbs, head of The Center for Health and Environmental Justice in Washington, D.C., viewed the area and expressed her opinions to the press. Also spotted at the event were Council Member Mary Martino and Council President James Pitts.
While Abby Street is the location of the first discovered toxins, it is important to recognize that the entire neighborhood of Hickory Woods is affected, whether toxins are found directly on individuals' property or not. It is undetermined at this point just where the contamination ends and how far-reaching the effect of those contaminated areas is. If there was no contamination on your property, but your neighbor's lot contained hazardous wastes that far exceeded acceptable levels, would you feel safe? When it rains, does the water remain on his property alone? When the wind blows across the berm, does it always blow away from your house?
In addition, the value of the homes of all of Hickory Woods has substantially decreased, not just those on Abby Street. Residents of the neighborhood who lived there before the City started its development now face the prospect of a huge decline in their property values, even if no contaminants are specifically found on their properties. If you were told that my lot was clean but the lot next door, or even down a block, was contaminated, would YOU want to purchase my house? Even if the entire neighborhood was cleaned up and certified safe, would anyone want to buy your house at fair market value? The answer to that question is a resounding "NO." Why? Because no one trusts the City. The City lured people into the neighborhood with the knowledge that there may possibly be contaminants on the property they were developing but chose to proceed anyway, without further investigation. The City has lost credibility and residents have lost faith in the government. Would you believe the property was safe if the City told you it was? Didn't they tell the first residents it was safe?
What is the message the Association is trying to get across? We are a united group seeking relocation from an area that carries an unjustifiable level of risk to the health of ourselves and our families. While cleanup of the area is an obvious necessity, we do not wish to be in the neighborhood while this cleanup is being performed, nor do we wish to return once the area has been certified as "safe." The government has lost its credibility and trustworthiness in the eyes of most Hickory Woods residents. In addition, cleanup of Hickory Woods does not address the fact that the neighborhood is bordered by a Superfund Site; a fact which had not been revealed to many residents until recently. No signs are posted in the vicinity identifying the land as contaminated and warning of its dangers. If Hickory Woods is ultimately cleaned up, what has been gained? A few more feet of clean soil until you reach contamination again?
Many residents are alarmed about the cleanup proposal, as identified in the March 9, 2000 edition of the Buffalo News, which incidentally only involves a few uninhabited lots. Cleanup of those lots does NOT resolve the issue. It is unknown at this time how many lots are contaminated with hazardous chemicals. Residents are offended that they have not been consulted regarding the removal of toxic substances from that area. No one wishes to have the toxins become anymore airborne than they already are. We do not wish to remain in this area during remediation and we demand relocation. Would YOU want to be there during clean up? Would YOU want to be in the house next door, or down the street while these toxins are being removed? Would YOU want YOUR baby breathing the air? or playing in YOUR back yard after a rain shower may have washed those toxins onto YOUR property?
The residents of Hickory Woods are just like you. We are taxpaying citizens trying to live the American dream; a dream which has swiftly and completely been pulled out from under our feet. Aren't we entitled to live in an area free from excessive contamination? Do we have to be forced into being human guinea pigs in an effort to determine health effects? Should we wait 20 or 30 years and count how many of us have developed cancer or other diseases? Or count how many of our babies are born with birth defects? And THEN have it determined that we should have been moved out? Wouldn't you say at that point that it was a LITTLE TOO LATE?? Time will tell us one thing though. How important is one small community to the Governor of New York? We are the average little guy, the guy who gets up every morning to work to feed the family, to try to build a future for our children. We are not a large community but we are entitled to be heard and to have our interests protected. Isn't each and everyone of us entitled to be represented and protected by the State of New York? The State of New York has the power to help us relocate our families to a safe area. Why won't they? If the Governor lived in Hickory Woods, would we have been relocated by now?? What do YOU think?