Officers from the New York State Office of Environmental Conservation and representatives from the Niagara Falls police and fire departments, as well as the code enforcement office, descended on a industrial property owned by mayoral candidate Demetreus Nix in response to a pair of complaints filed about a potential potential. environmental hazards at work.
Nix, who earlier this month won a lawsuit against the Niagara County Board of Elections that resulted in a spot on the ballot for the upcoming Democratic mayoral primary, accused one of other candidates in the race, incumbent Democrat Robert Restaino, selectively. directing his property for political reasons.
“It’s a successful job 30 days before the election,” Nix said. “The mayor is showing he’s afraid.”
The owner of local contracting company, Nix Contracting and Management, acquired the former city public works department located at 2500 Hyde Park Blvd. last year. He said he uses the property to store containers, equipment and materials left over from construction work.
Nix said he arrived at the scene around 9 a.m. Friday to find police officers, code enforcement and fire department representatives already on the scene. Nix, who made several videos of his meeting with DEC representatives and city officials, said police officers were inside the property’s open gate near the entrance, but inspectors were watching around it through the interior of the property, including within an unlocked garage.
Nix said he told the officers and others to leave the premises and the DEC officer told him he planned to return with a search warrant. Nix said he has not yet received a formal notice of violation from city officials.
He described the scene, which he said included more than 20 officers and city employees, as “mad as hell.”
“It’s been like this for years,” Nix said, referring to the state of his property. “All of a sudden a mob of city cops showed up, with an outside agent? It’s an intimidation tactic to scare me and make me look bad.”
“There is no search warrant. There is nothing,” he added. “They opened all the doors to my garage with no warrant, no nothing.”
City Manager Anthony Restaino confirmed the mayor’s office contacted the DEC after receiving a pair of complaints, one in a text message and the other in an email , about potential environmental hazards related to construction debris that was on Nix’s property and was not properly contained or covered. He noted that one of the complaints concerned the possibility of asbestos being among the construction debris deposited on Nix’s property.
Restino said he would have to contact the people who filed the complaints to get permission to release their names publicly.
“They were concerned that there was some dumping on the property,” Restino said. “There were also some concerns about whether any of the materials there had any kind of environmental issues.”
Restino denied the claim that the mayor’s office contacted the DEC to investigate the allegations had anything to do with politics. He said it was a situation where the city received complaints about a potential environmental problem and contacted the state oversight body to investigate what he called a “potential health issue.”
“I don’t think it’s a goal at all,” he said.
When asked if there is a formal process involving a written complaint form that is used to notify City Council of such situations, Restaino said it is not uncommon for City Hall to receive complaints via email , letters or even text messages and that there are “all kinds of safeguards”. that involve concerns or complaints to your office.
“That’s pretty much how it’s run,” he said.
Restaino added that it will be the DEC, not the city, that will oversee any further investigation on the Nix property.
Nix said he doesn’t think it’s a coincidence that agents and inspectors arrived at his property roughly 30 days after the June 27 Democratic primary election.
“That’s what happens in the life we have here,” Nix said. “We’re afraid to do anything because people are afraid I’ll come after them.”
“It’s to keep people away,” he added. “They have to be scared. You have to put that fear into people. That’s what’s happening right now. I’m trying to take that fear out of us. I’m saying if we stick together they can’t break us. I’m not going to stop. This m “It’s made it harder. Malcolm X said it’s the bullet or the ballot box. We’re going to the polls on June 27th. That’s who we’re going to beat. . We’re going to beat him at the ballot box.”
