WILSON: Town backs Restoration Advisory Board

Communities

June 19, 2008

By Bill Wolcott<br><a href="mailto:wolcottb@gnnewspaper.com">E-mail Bill</a> The Lockport Union-Sun %26 Journal Thu Jun 19, 2008, 02:19 AM EDT

WILSON — The Restoration Advisory Board, Lake Ontario Ordinance Works feels it’s getting bad rap from the Army Corps of Engineers and is taking its case to the towns.

William Choboy, who represents Porter in the RAB, and Nils Olsen, who represents the county, presented their case to the Wilson Town Board on Wednesday. Supervisor Joe Jastrzemski and the board were sympathetic to their cause.

“The Army Corps of Engineers want to dissolve the present board and appoint a new one,” the supervisor said. “Why would you want to do that if you have one that works, especially if you have the expertise sitting on the board. Something doesn’t seem quite right there.”

According to Choboy and Olsen, the Army Corps claims their RAB no longer exists. However, the Niagara County Legislature thinks otherwise and voted unanimously on Tuesday to support the local group.

“We’re concerned that the people with knowledge that can have a meaningful dialogue with the corps be permitted to do so,” said Olsen, a University at Buffalo law professor. “The Army Corps has taken the position that a this is not an appropriately constituted advisory group that can meet with them.”

The men noted that it was the Army Corps that helped put the RAB together in 2002.

“We don’t exist anymore. We can’t ask questions,” Choboy said. “We have a lot of talented people. Ph.Ds, that can ask questions. It’s confusing, because the Army Corps took part in creating it.”

Niagara Falls Storage Site and the Lake Ontario Ordinance Works in Lewiston and Porter are the properties in question. The Department of Defense produced missile fuel and munitions there.

“It’s a dirty site,” Olsen said. “It is not just an issue in Niagara Falls or Model City. Niagara County is one of the most polluted counties in New York state.”

Army Corps suggests letting the site sit. RAB questioned the study and the methodology it used. The NFSS is a very complex parcel with various stakeholders, including the Lewiston-Porter School District. It has complicated uses, according to the RAB reps.

“It’s about a complicated stew that was left over by the Department of Defense activities over 50 years,” Olsen said.

Radium is buried in the county.

“It’s a very difficult thing to deal with, but it has to be dealt with and not just stored,” Olsen said. “It’s not an appropriate area to be kept.”

Kyle Andrews, the Wilson town attorney, is also a county legislator. “The Legislature unanimously went on record in support of the RAB as it is currently constituted,” he said. “It was 19-0.”

n The board approved making Riverview Drive a one-way street. It is also supporting the Town of Lockport’s effort to build a hockey rink.

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