Kathy Hochul needs to resign

(Editor’s Note: Author, community advocate and lawyer Christen Civiletto has had enough of the gaslighting and misdirection coming from the administration of Gov. Kathy Hochul. She wants the governor to take the McKiernan family’s Love Canal crisis seriously. So far the governor refuses. Below is a rant Civiletto posted as a Facebook status.)

Today, three generations of Love Canal families, two geologists, an engineer, retired EPA professionals, caregivers, a legal advisor (me), federal lawmakers, and several powerful community groups (Clean Air Commission, SOB WNY, Sierra Club, NAACP, NIRS, Don't Waste New York) publicly called on Governor Hochul to evacuate the McKiernan family from their contaminated home. Their home -- a mere 300 feet from Love Canal -- is highly contaminated both inside and outside.The family's health is suffering. 

Caregivers have not been permitted by their employers to enter their home for 51 days to provide nursing and social care for their medically fragile son.This situation is an outrage.The Governor's response thus far? Gaslighting. Malfeasance. Neglect. Some of the State's latest spin is laughable -- They're peddling lies like these to the press: maybe their Love Canal house was an old orchard and that's where the pesticides came from ???!! My God. Stop the insanity.

The chemicals are visible. You can smell them. You can taste them. Testing by DEC and a well known engineering firm has confirmed their presence. Even worse for the Governor, the State's own records show that the McKiernan's home was known in 1993 to be polluted with BHC, mercury, ash, and more. Their house was never remediated. AND THEN THE STATE TOLD BUYERS IT WAS SAFE AND REMEDIATED. 

Mike Basile (EPA)'s statements were along the lines of "probably the most tested place on the planet," and the "safest place to be." Unfortunately, in 1993, the state confirmed hazardous waste right in the same spot that would eventually become the family's playset area. It's still there (but hey, maybe it's because it was an orchard?! Note: it was never an orchard). If you are a New York taxpayer or voter, you should be mad. Governor Hochul must resign, along with the commissioner and top managers of DOH and DEC. 

The excuses and delay tactics that I have heard over the past two months have floored me. And let's not forget: all of the harm to the McKiernans was avoidable. For years, we TOLD the state and EPA that Love Canal poisons were migrating and harming people. I have letters going back to early 2011. 

The excuses we heard then were despicable. Just wait until the Korson family starts releasing their 2011 testing data. It bears a striking resemblance to the McKiernan's 2026 data. It also bears a resemblance to the Love Canal monitoring well data and Colvin Boulevard sewer project from 2011, where Love Canal waste was found a mere few hundred feet from the Korsons and McKiernans.

New York has not learned its lesson from Love Canal. I implore this community to help the McKiernans. They are desperate. We need to stand up for them. Call and write the Governor. Call and write Lee Zeldin (who said he needs the Governor to ask for help). Tell them these elected officials that the McKiernans need immediate relocation -- TODAY -- and then further testing can ensue. As my friend Cherrish Beals likes to say, it takes a village. You are the village. Please help.