Environment DEC
From the June 2003 issue
State Seeks Cleanup of Buffalo "Garbage Train" Site
Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and DEC Commissioner Erin M. Crotty have announced a lawsuit, filed in Erie County Supreme Court, against three companies for operating an illegal waste transfer station in Buffalo.
Lawsuit Allegations
The lawsuit alleges that the companies that have transported waste to the SK Rail Yard on the south side of Buffalo are violating environmental laws and have created a public nuisance. The lawsuit seeks a court order to compel the site operators to remove hundreds of containers that hold an estimated 20 million to 40 million pounds of garbage and construction debris. The containers have been stored there for more than five months.
The Attorney General's office and DEC are suing Chem-Rail Logistics, LLC; Express Inter-Modal Service, and Canadian Pacific Railway Company. The defendants began transporting waste to the yard in August 2002, using it as a holding site for household garbage and construction and demolition waste shipped from New York City and other locations. The materials were then to be trucked to a landfill in Niagara County. However, instead of moving the containers or the waste to the landfill, the defendants have illegally stored the waste at the rail yard since December 2002.
Complaints
The garbage has caused severe odors, litter and other problems in the neighborhood, prompting complaints from hundreds of area citizens.
DEC has been seeking corrective action by the operators, who failed to comply with requirements. The state has now gone to court seeking an immediate cleanup while DEC continues to work with the facility owners to remove the waste.
