#7. Bump the Dump

Walk back up Hughes Street towards town. Turn Right onto King St., and the school will come into view on your right. When finished, roam back to town and enjoy our downtown shops and restaurants.

In December of 1988, the federal government announced they selected five towns as possible low-level nuclear waste dumping grounds. Allegany county was on their list. The people of this county were not happy to hear this news, and they came together and fought against the federal government's "taking" of their land in acts of non-violent civil resistance.

Over the span of a few years, Allegany citizens united, chanted and sang together during many protests. One verse, written by Sue Beckhorn, was sung with such frequency that Mario Cuomo stated he'd never heard people sing so much. The words to the verse were, "Allegany, rise to your feet. Lock arms and stand for the people and the land you love. Never let the poison spread."

The New York Times published headlines such as "Guerilla Warfare . . ." and "Quiet Towns in an Uproar . . . ".

With these protests, there were over 100 arrests. Troopers arrived to the stand-offs prepared with police vans to take away protesters, but citizens young and old stood their ground. When officers asked for their names, they would state, "My name is Allegany County."

1/26/1989. You are currently standing in front of Belfast High School - home of the Bulldogs. At this school, the first informational meeting about the proposed dumping sites was held between the federal Siting Commission officials and the public. Five thousand people came to this public meeting! The school was so full that most of the attendees were forced to listen to the discussion outdoors through loudspeakers. This was to be the biggest public meeting to ever be held in Western New York - and it happened right here.

4/5/1990. This saga will come to an end with a story line fit for a movie scene. Having been subverted time and time again, the Siting Commission planned to visit a nearby prospective dump site with a new injunction (and a slew of troopers). As they neared the site, they came upon six grandparents who had chained themselves to a bridge. The elders were flanked by a barricade that consisted of mounds of old farm equipment and three hundred masked protesters. They all stood together in silence. The troopers began the task of unchaining the elders and partaking in the futile gesture of arresting the crowd. However, they were soon confronted by a band of masked horsemen! Needless to say, the government entourage retreated.

On March 30, 1992, the United States Supreme Court voted six to three against the "Take Title" provision of the Federal law. NOTE: There is no nuclear dump in Allegany County.

When you have some time, check out this video titled "My name is Allegany County":