Scully Toxic Waste Dump...Digging up the Dirt!

Remember when we blogged about this ...Observer Dispatch article?

Fast forward to August 2009...

(Click on invitation to view larger!)

A couple of days ago, we wrote to Gail Rymer of Lockheed Martin requesting a copy of the invitation that we learned had been mailed to some residents. Ms. Rymer replied:

Mr. Wiatr and Ms. Lawrence,

Thank you for your note. I believe Mr. Wiatr is on our mailing list and should have received the invitation to the meeting. Our mailing list is pretty extensive and includes everyone who has ever contacted us, been involved in previous meetings, neighbors, community members around the former Scully site, and officials and staff of the Town of New Hartford. It also includes the media in both New Hartford and Utica. A news release and media advisory are also being provided to the media. I have attached a scanned copy of the invitation per your request. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at 800-449-4486 or via e-mail at gail.rymer@lmco.com.

Everyone's invited...If you plan on taking the tour, before you go, you might want to look at this video...it is from 1995 and shows that not all the dirt was taken from the dump site; a good deal of the dirt was deposited along the back fence of the owners of 202 Valley View Road. At the end of the tape, you will hear the homeowner say that "Peter Ouderkirk [Peter Ouderkirk, NYS DEC - Region 6 Headquarters, 317 Washington Street, Watertown, NY 13601] said that the reason the dirt was kept on site was because they couldn't find a landfill." Not every landfill can accept toxic waste.

According to ... this picture provided to us by the owners of 202 Valley View, the mound of dirt even grassed over; that is, until February of 2009 when they were videotaped putting the same dirt right back in the excavation site hole. [This is only a portion of the videotape we have. We apologize for the quality of this video; we had to make a video from a videotape played on a television, but we have the original tape.] The owners of the home tried to tell D.E.C. that the dirt is the same dirt that was taken out of the hole, but they chose not to listen.

Read the report put out by Lockheed Martin as to what they claim they did with the dirt from 2006 to present......Transportation and Disposal Plan. Guess they forgot about the dirt that was taken out of the dump site and piled behind 202 Valley View in 1995 when the first clean-up was underway.

Incidentally, the corporation that recently bought 204 Valley View Road ......as reported in the Observer Dispatch was none other than Glen Acres, Inc. - Peter Cragnolin. Remember our blog...They used that oily substance where??

Now why would a developer buy land that was part of a toxic waste dump that according to the D.E.C. is still being monitored and will be for at least the next year? It is particularly puzzling because in February 2009, Lockheed Martin purchased 210 Valley View Road from the sister of Mr. Peter Cragnolin because of the toxic dump site problem. Hmmm!

p.s. When we first received a copy of the invitation, we telephoned Kay Armstrong at the toll-free number listed on the invitation. At the February 25, 2009 Town Board meeting, we thought we were introduced to her as being a representative of Lockheed Martin.

Must be our mistake, Ms. Armstrong and her husband own ARMSTRONG and Associates and specialize in CRISIS PLANNING AND TRAINING. A free report can be downloaded from their website "What we learned from Love Canal - The 12 Lessons in Environmental Activism". In other words, they are there to try to derail any attempt "to shine a light" on the toxic waste dump site!