Community Mobilization for Environmental Problems: How a Grassro ...

The parcels purchased from LTV Steel cover a 10-square-block area in South Buffalo. Abbey Street is the western border, and Hopkins Street forms the eastern border. South Park and Bell Street form the north and south borders, respectively. Newer homes are interspersed among older homes throughout the neighborhood, but Abbey Street contains the majority of the newest residences, built between 1994 and 1998. Comprising primarily lower-middle and middle-class homes, the community provides comfortable living space for about 80 families. According to the Census 2000 census tract and zip code level data, 95% of the area was white (non-Hispanic), 1% African American, and 4% Hispanic (of any race). Some 65% of the residents owned their homes, and 35% rented. The first set of houses was completed between 1986 and 1990, the second set between 1990 and 1994, and the third between 1994 and 1998.

Initial concerns about the safety of the properties emerged in 1998 as the last four homes in the development plan were being constructed. While digging the foundation of the last home, contractors came upon refractory bricks, black, oozing substances in the soil, and other unnatural fill. Construction stopped when contractors hit a large metal gasoline tank. Tests performed by a testing service hired by the City of Buffalo indicated traces of benzene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on the tank and in the surrounding soil.² In May 1999 city contractors attended a Hickory Woods block-club meeting to present the findings to residents. They explained that because benzene is a substance found naturally in gasoline, it was not unusual to see it at these levels. They did not, however, explain why the tank was present in the first place. At this early stage, these explanations made sense to some residents, whereas others immediately questioned the findings and the lack of mention of PAHs and their chemical indications.

The City of Buffalo acknowledged the potential seriousness of the contamination and allocated $800,000 for the cleanup of the four lots. Having learned this, the Hickory Woods block club requested that