During a press event in Chautauqua County on Thursday, Gov. Kathy Hochul told reporters she’s letting experts handle the ongoing radiological investigation taking place in Niagara County.
“I have seen people go up there and politicize their cries for help. I’m not that kind of person. I am putting the people on the ground, the experts,” Hochul said, according to the Buffalo News.
The question of Hochul visiting Niagara comes after Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman met with impacted Town of Niagara residents and local state officials on Saturday.
Blakeman accused Hochul of failing to “take charge” during what he said he considers a “crisis” facing local homeowners.
“The last time I checked she was from this region, but she doesn’t act like that anymore,” he said on Saturday.
A group of Town of Niagara homeowners had sent a letter to Hochul’s office asking that their neighborhood be declared a state Superfund site. They also asked the state to help them relocate amid an ongoing regional radiological investigation being overseen by the New York State Department of Conservation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.