Report a company
It is extremely important we keep our eyes on polluters. If you see violations, email info@cacwny.org or one of our staff members directly, and we will be in touch.
Report an Complaint to the NYS Attorney General’s Environmental Protection Bureau
The NYS Attorney General’s office has strong enforcement power to protect residents of New York State. You can find out how to file a complaint here.
Report an Complaint to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
If you smell something gross, see dark smoke, have soot on your house, anything that disrupts your quality of life – WRITE OR CALL THE DEC! Click here for the DEC’s webpage on reporting possible violations.
Emergencies
In the event of an emergency, like an explosion at an industrial site or spill, please call 911 and also NYS DEC’s Environmental Conservation Police Officers (ECOs) at 1-844-DEC-ECOS (1-844-332-3267).
In the event of a oil or other chemical spill, you can also call the DEC’s Spill Hotline at 1-800-457-7362.
For any oil, chemical, radiological, biological and etiological discharges into the environment, as well as railroad incidents, you can also call the EPA’s National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802.
All hotlines are available 24/7, and you can request to remain anonymous.
We also encourage contacting us at info@cacwny.org or 716-852-3813 for support, but please be aware that we do not monitor these 24/7, that we might not return your message right away, and that we can only offer advisory, campaign development, or mutual aid support.
Complaint Logs
If you are dealing with ongoing issues at an industrial site, the best evidence that can be provided to the DEC and EPA are logs kept documenting issues over a period of time, like a week or a month.
With any ongoing issues, if it is SAFE to do so, we encourage taking photos, sound recordings, or video footage as well, and to contact one of our staff organizers for support. You can also call DEC ECOS for ongoing violations, including idling trucks or debris dumping.
NYS DEC uses these two log forms for tracking smoke and odors –
After filling out the log, you can either mail it directly to NYS DEC Region 9 at 700 Delaware Avenue Buffalo NY 14209, Attention RAPCE, or email it to RAPCE.R9@dec.ny.gov. (RAPCE is short for Regional Air Pollution Control Engineer.)
If you would prefer, you can also return it to the us by mailing it to Clean Air Coalition (371 Delaware Ave Buffalo, NY 14210) or emailing it to info@cacwny.org. We’ll pass it onto the DEC and keep a copy on file in case you would like to reference it later or develop a campaign.
We also have an older version of this log which is a useful reference ideas of what NYS DEC and USEPA staff are looking for.
If you are dealing with an issue other than smoke or odors, you can use the same basic template for tracking and reporting. Here is a blank version you can fill in.
We are the eyes and the ears watching our industrial neighbors. If we don’t keep a written record and report what the companies are doing, no one will!