A vehicle-based radiological survey of Erie and Niagara counties will begin the week of July 7, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials announced Tuesday. 

This phase of the survey will be conducted by an EPA truck equipped with a suite of sensors for measuring potential radiation sources. The truck will be equipped with four sensors to measure radiological energy emissions from four separate directions, as well as a mobile GPS unit.

The survey is expected to take approximately four weeks, with the unmarked EPA pickup truck traveling 180 to 240 miles per day on selected roadways in Niagara and Erie counties. The vehicle will travel slowly on the shoulder of the road with hazard flashers.

This survey will add to data collected during the first phase of the radiological survey, which was conducted by a single-engine, low-flying plane called the Airborne Spectral Photometric Environmental Collection Technology (ASPECT), in 2023-24, as well as historic surveys.  

Phase 3 of the survey will involve on-the-ground surveys using data captured in Phases 1 and 2 and is scheduled to start later this year.