By Eileen Buckley
Buffalo, NY – The Citizens' Environmental Coalition says Kodak's hazardous-waste incinerators in Rochester burn over 70-million pounds of cancer-causing chemicals a year. In Buffalo, environmentalists rallied outside of the Walgreens at Main and Kenmore. Walgreens is a major retailer of Kodak products.
Coalition spokesperson Jaimie Radesi says they want Kodak to phase out incinerators and replace them with environmentally friendly technology.
"Kodak can utilize source reduction techniques and alternative technologies to eliminate the waste streams going into these incinerators," Radesi said. "Kodak should finance an independent investigation of health effects to the Rochester community. We also would like the company to install ambient air monitors to inform people when toxic emissions enter neighborhoods."
But Kodak says recent upgrades to its incinerators will reduce dioxin emissions 50 to 80 percent. The coalition says in 1991, the Environmental Protection Agency uncovered 150 hazardous waste violations at Kodak Park in Rochester. In 1999, the state Department of Environmental Conservation fined Kodak more than $700,000 for environmental violations.