EPA regional administrator rebuts Hochul in letter: federal work already accelerated, 1,200 Niagara properties visited

EPA Region 2 Administrator Mike Martucci wrote to Gov. Hochul on Monday, Aug 10, defending the federal role in the Niagara County radiological assessment and saying her July 14 request to accelerate the work was unnecessary because it was already happening. "Everything we can speed up — access agreements, field work, deeper sampling, and potential cleanups, where needed — is being accelerated," Martucci wrote, describing EPA as "surging resources and manpower" into Niagara and Erie counties with dozens of expert staff working alongside NYSDEC. He put numbers to it: since July 23, EPA and state teams have visited more than 1,200 properties, obtained property-access permission from 756 homeowners, and screened 350 properties, working seven days a week. Martucci had earlier called Hochul's claim of EPA testing delays an "outright lie"; in this letter he wrote that EPA's focus is "ensuring the resources needed are provided without delay – and without regard to partisan politics." Hochul's July 14 letter had blamed the "wheels of federal bureaucracy" for leaving families waiting. Hochul senior communications adviser Ken Lovett responded Wednesday that public health and safety are the governor's first priority and that she directed a surge of NYSDEC and State Incident Management Team resources. Blakeman and Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt are pushing to amend New York's superfund law to cover radiological contamination; Hochul's office argues EPA is better equipped for radiological cleanups and that the Ortt approach would require additional specialized DEC staff and cause delays.

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