Radioactive leak is feared By Aaron Besecker NEWS NIAGARA REPORTER July 19, 2009, 7:32 AM An underground container that holds about half of the worldâs supply of radium may be leaking into groundwater in northwestern Niagara County, an advisory group to federal regulators warns. University at Buffalo Professor Joseph A. Gardella Jr. is among members of the Restoration Advisory Board concerned about radioactive material leaking into the groundwater at the former Lake Ontario Ordnance Works site. Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News The Army Corps of Engineers, the federal agency responsible for investigating an area in the towns of Lewiston and Porter holding leftovers from the Manhattan Project, has found uranium contamination beneath ground level in portions of a former federal weapons site. Those substances include uranium and about half the worldâs supply of radium. Joseph A. Gardella Jr., chairman of the Lake Ontario Ordnance Works Restoration Advisory Board â a group of residents, academics and industry professionalsâbelieves the issue plays a major role in the ultimate decision on the future of the radioactive substances buried in Niagara County. âThe big question is: If the storage site is already showing some evidence of wear,â Gardella said, âisnât that something that we should be concerned about?" The cell boundary is about 50 feet from an area known as the Central Drainage Ditch, which drains into Lake Ontario, he said... http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/niagaracounty/story/738086.html