Next week the NYS Assembly will vote on a bill that provides needed protections from toxic waste landfills that have the potential to pollute the Great Lakes System, which includes many counties such as Cayuga, Seneca and Onondaga.

I am concerned about the quality and care of the Great Lakes' 20 percent of our planet's fresh surface water. Historically we have not cared for these waters and protected them from toxic substances, yet they were and remain one of our greatest regional assets. Now that we are more aware of the impact of toxins on our water supplies, our economies, and our health, we are in a better position to stand up and make different and more thoughtful decisions about our Great Lakes.

This bill, No. A.248/S.5862, simply states that no new toxic waste landfill can be sited in any location with the potential to discharge into the Great Lakes System.

As an addition to existing Environmental Conservation Law this provision will apply only to commercial hazardous waste landfills that import toxic waste.

New York imported more PCBs for burial in the Great Lakes System in just one year than GE dumped into the Hudson River over 30 years. (Most hazardous waste landfilled in NYS is imported.) The 1986 Toxic Substances Control Agreement executed by New York and all Great Lakes states says, “The signatory states concur that the problem of persistent toxic substances constitutes the foremost environmental issue confronting the Great Lakes.”

All of it was landfilled near the Great Lakes. S5862/A248 deters this in the future.

This is a good bill that passed last year's Legislature virtually unanimously, but was vetoed by Gov. Pataki. I encourage Assemblyman Finch, Senator Nozzolio and Senator Valesky to vote again for this bill.

Hopefully, this time, the citizens and not the special interests will prevail.

Harriet Lane Tower

Youngstown