Dear Joe,
A few months back, you wrote in an article that you hoped to hear from me soon. I have been meaning to drop you a line.
I do try my best to keep up with local happenings, trading the occasional note on local politics with Mark Scheer whenever possible. Being an activist in Niagara Falls doesn’t pay the bills, so my nose hasn’t looked up from the grindstone in quite some time.
These days, activism is sort of interwoven into my career as a writer, filmmaker, artist and storyteller. Outside of journalism, I recently helped write and produce a local documentary about the parasitic relationship between New York State (and their affiliates) and the City of Niagara Falls. There should be some news about it coming soon.
I haven’t given up fighting for our community, but anyone who has done it as long as I have (or longer) will tell you that it does take its toll.
My number one focus of concern in my hometown is toxic environmental contamination. I have been watching the slow burn of the Goodyear bladder cancer studies and accusations; and I have been watching the DEC public meetings regarding the radioactive waste that’s buried all around our community.
I have not been able to attend any of the DEC meetings but some of my friends attend regularly, and God bless them for their diligence and sacrifice for all of us living here in the Falls. It’s beyond upsetting and we all know that this has been an issue ever since the radioactive slag from the Manhattan Project was repurposed in our roads and lots. This is not a surprise to anyone, least of all to New York State.
It seems like every decade or so, locals make some noise and attract some regional media attention to these issues. But that energy always seems to dissipate before reaching a Love Canal 2.0 level. Politicians slow walk our local activists and the story becomes too boring for regional/local news to continue reporting on it.
The radioactive waste buried all around town is not breaking news. This gets covered up again and again. There is a good book by author Ginger Strand called “Inventing Niagara: Beauty, Power and Lies” which details the shipping and dumping of radioactive waste from all over the United States into Niagara County. Also, I have not read it yet, but author/attorney Christen Civiletto’s “Thundering Waters: The Toxic Legacy of Niagara Falls” keeps popping up in my algorithm.
Quite honestly, all of this is worse than embarrassing. Cancer rates in Niagara County are high, and will probably continue to climb unless serious action is taken once and for all. Our city is impoverished. We should be one of the greatest destinations in America but our leadership has historically failed us, sold us out and sent us down river and over the falls.
The reason I was compelled to write to you is because I recently watched “Teenage Wasteland” on Netflix. This docuseries tells the tale of a journalism class in 1990’s Middletown, NY that investigated illegal toxic waste dumping in their town’s aquifers. Their investigation revealed mafia ties (mob-owned waste management) and the landfill was owned by the local politicians who were profiting from the whole scheme.
The Middletown students were also gaslit by the editor of their local newspaper who disavowed their investigation.
I encourage our local Black Box media program at Niagara Falls High School, as well as the digital media program at SUNY Niagara to present this same type of journalistic idea to their students. Investigate the dumping, investigate the politicians and the executives who were involved. Are any of them still alive? We always hear about Hooker chemical company, but what about the others? Has there ever been any honest effort to fix these issues?
The NFHS and SUNY Niagara media programs can serve as the local information source on these ongoing issues, providing much needed support for the tired local activists who form the boots on the ground to make sure that this does not get covered up again.
Check out “Teenage Wasteland” on Netflix to see how it can be done. Ironically, the Middletown students were inspired by the media coverage of Love Canal.
Sincerely,
Ken Cosentino
