For several weeks now, Daniel and Jocelyn McKiernan have been calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul and state environmental regulators to relocate their family while tests for potentially harmful contaminants continue in and around their home on 99th Street near Love Canal.
On Thursday, the couple’s health and safety concerns were heightened even more when a grayish-black liquid bubbled up from the ground while a private drilling company attempted to install monitoring wells in their yard.
The release of the material, which will be sent to a lab for testing, prompted the contractor to cease all work. It also resulted in plans to formally report the incident as a spill to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, which did send a representative to the couple’s home at 1026 99th Street following the incident on Thursday.
A crew from the Niagara Falls Fire Department also visited the home in response to a call seeking medical attention for Dan, who said he felt violently ill and nauseous after tests were performed on the sump pump in the basement of his house earlier in the day.
The McKiernans brought in the private company at their own expense to perform additional on-site monitoring and testing. Daniel said they made the move to get a clearer understanding of what materials may be inside their house and in their backyard and due to ongoing frustrations about the DEC’s handling of the entire situation.
“The reason we did this is that there is a consistent history of deception and cover-up by the DEC and (the Department of Health) at this property and it was time for the McKiernans to control their own destiny.”
The McKiernans went public with their environmental concerns in July after carbon rods and other pieces of industrial waste were found in dirt excavated from their yard as part of a pool installation project.
Follow-up testing by a representative from the DEC’s spill response team showed readings within “safe limits”; however, the couple was cautioned to keep themselves, their children and their pets away from the piles and to have the materials removed as soon as possible.
For weeks, the couple has been pushing Hochul and officials with the DEC and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to relocate their family, including their three small children, while additional testing is conducted.
To date, DEC officials have insisted the situation does not warrant relocation for the family because they have not yet detected any hazardous materials that would pose an “immediate” threat to their health or welfare.
“We’re stuck here,” Daniel said.
Workers from the private drilling company started drilling holes in the McKiernans’ backyard on Thursday to collect samples. They dug the first hole, which was 10 feet deep, on land located at 9903 Black Creek Drive, a property owned by the McKiernans that is adjacent to their residence. In the process, Daniel said the drilling revealed ash, cinder and what appeared to be pieces of old brick.
He believes the findings may be significant as the materials were located on a lot the DEC noted, in a report from 1993, required excavation and off-site disposal of “certain areas of fill” due to the discovery of elevated levels of benzene hexachloride, a commonly used insecticide.
The private workers drilled two more holes, one about 8 feet deep and a second about 15 feet deep, in the yard of the McKiernans’ home at 1026 99th Street. Daniel said the company’s rig pulled up what looked like slag and ash material from the 8-foot hole. He said drilling the third and deepest hole caused a grayish-black liquid that had what he described as a “sheen,” which is a shiny, rainbow colored look that is often associated with petroleum spills.
The material has been sent out for laboratory testing to determine what it contains and if it is potentially harmful.
In response to questions and a request for comment, a spokesperson for the DEC issued a statement indicating that the safety and well-being of the McKiernans “remains a top priority” and that the agency is committed to a full investigation and remediation of the property.
DEC representatives have been in contact with the McKiernans and have met with the couple several times in the weeks since the initial discovery of industrial waste in their yard in July. The agency has developed what it describes as a “thorough investigation work plan” together with the Niagara County and state health departments. On Wednesday, the agency provided the McKiernans with a work plan outlining anticipated soil borings and soil vapor sampling, which it suggested could start next week. The DEC said it is waiting for the McKiernans to approve the plan so it can be implemented.
“The health and safety plan DEC put forward is meant to guarantee the health of the residents and the surrounding community. DEC and the state department of health (DOH) are continuing to work closely together on the comprehensive response and investigation at the 99th Street property to ensure public health and the environment are fully protected,” the spokesperson said in the agency’s statement.
As to the liquid bubbling up from holes drilled by the private company on Thursday, the DEC said it is possible, during that kind of activity, that saturated clay emulsified during the drilling, which exerted pressure, allowing fluid to exit the borehole.
“That said, DEC will take samples and test the material that came up during drilling today and will provide results to the residents when analysis is complete,” the agency’s spokesperson said.
In the meantime, Daniel said there has still been “radio silence” from Hochul’s office and it has now been 44 days since he and his wife filed their first formal request for relocation. He said the couple’s 6-year-old son, Wyatt, who has encephalitis and other health concerns requiring in-home care, has not received medical service from several providers who are refusing to visit due to potential on-site hazards.
Highly frustrated, Dan said at this point he’d be willing to give his house, as is, to any official because he’s certain none of them would want it in its current condition.
“The McKiernans offer their home to any EPA, DEC or Department of Health individual who wants to come and live here for free,” he said.