New York State is home to some notable pollution. Niagara Falls is chalk full of it - as the birthplace of electrified industry you would expect no less - starring both the remains of the Manhattan Project and Love Canal. Endicott, NY has a less celebrity in the accumulated waste generated by the birth of IBM in this decidely less glam part of NY - the clean up of which has only just begun to ramp up in the past 10 years.
That brings us to Mr. Mark Bacon and his unsubtle message to New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in the photo above:
In 2003, traces of trichloroethylene (TCE) were found entering homes and buildings through vapor intrusion. The former IBM building, where the highest concentration of the pollution has been documented, is across the street from Bacon's property. He fears that the pumping, which is taking place in the rear of his home, will cause the pollution to travel directly under his home.
"It's almost a guarantee that I'm going to get cancer," he said. "If you were in my situation, would you be happy?"
Hard to know how to resolve such a mess where the real boogy man is a faceless corporation that fled Edicott for a more fashionable home after devastating this small down. They should have just bought out the whole town to save the worry of folks like Mr. Bacon, but they have more lawyers...
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