Survey Updates & Resources

Need help or want to request a survey?

Property surveys are voluntary and require permission from the property owner. After an access agreement is received, NYSDEC will contact the owner to schedule screening. Property owners are contacted directly if additional investigation or sampling is needed.

IMPORTANT: NEW YORK STATE REQUIRES RADIATION DETECTION AT CERTAIN WASTE FACILITIES, BUT IT DOES NOT REQUIRE UNIVERSAL RADIOACTIVITY SCREENING OF DEMOLITION DEBRIS BEFORE IT IS RECYCLED AS GRAVEL OR FILL.

Important: Read the access agreement before signing

PROPERTY ACCESS AGREEMENTS

Residents and advocates raised concerns that earlier property-access agreements contained release language they believed could waive or limit a homeowner’s ability to bring legal claims against EPA or other government entities. Officials later said the agreement had been revised. Several homeowners contacted more recently report that similar language has appeared again.

Before signing an access agreement, read every provision carefully, keep a complete copy, request clarification in writing, and consider having an independent attorney review it.

Latest survey update

JULY 26, 2026

EPA and DEC teams are continuing outreach, ground-level screening, and soil sampling where further investigation is needed.

Available Data and Readings from Public Spaces

PUBLIC DATA

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No numerical radiological readings from streets, sidewalks, parks, roadways, or other public spaces have been released through NECRA. The public has been shown where surveys occurred, but not the actual measurements collected.

Save Our Backyards

COMMUNITY OVERSIGHT

Keeping close watch on the assessment is Save Our Backyards, a grassroots group formed by four homeowners who were contacted by EPA after elevated radiological readings were identified in their backyards. What first appeared to involve four individual properties has become a wider community effort demanding transparent data, clear answers, appropriate relocation and remediation support, and accountability from the agencies overseeing the investigation.

Their experiences have shown that these are not isolated backyard discoveries, but part of a broader contamination problem that residents are still trying to understand.