• June

    USACE Buffalo District employee raises disability awareness through volunteer work

    Karen Keil, Buffalo District Environmental Toxicologist, performed with the Gliding Stars of Western New York as a volunteer assistant skater at its 14th annual ice show at the Northtown Center in Amherst, NY, Apr. 14, 2018.
  • Seneca Bluffs ecosystem restoration project ready for native species planting phase this summer

    The Corps of Engineers ecosystem restoration project at Seneca Bluffs Natural Habitat Park, along the Buffalo River in South Buffalo, is approaching its final phase. The project team will plant native riverbank plant species to replace the invasive species like Japanese knotweed and phragmites removed last year.
  • May

    Buffalo District sends good wishes to Patti McKenna

    Longtime Buffalo District employee Patti McKenna is officially retiring at the end of June 2018, after 35 years of outstanding service to the District. Her retirement party will be held on June 28.
  • Facilities Engineering training prepares USACE Buffalo District for long-term facilities planning

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo District held Advanced Facilities Engineering training (known as FE-302) at the District headquarters, May 7-11, 2018, in order to increase facility lifecycle efficiencies and save taxpayer dollars.
  • Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey now available to eligible federal personnel

    The Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) will be available to all eligible U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employees from May 8 through June 19, 2018.
  • April

    Earth Day cleanup project highlights improvements in Seneca Bluffs Park in Buffalo

    Seneca Bluffs Park is located along Seneca Street in Buffalo, N.Y., and borders the Buffalo River. Since Aug. 2016, the Buffalo District’s NY/PA Construction Office has managed a project at this park, which is a staple in the surrounding community. The Seneca Bluffs Habitat Restoration Project is entering its final year of construction as the contractor is finishing invasive treatment this summer and will be planting the final shrub clusters in the fall. To date, work on the park’s lower terrace has consisted of riverbank stabilization, habitat improvements, creation of a wetland area, enhancement of the small recreation boat launch, and removal of invasive species, namely Phragmites and Japanese Knotweed.
  • USACE Buffalo District springs into April with 4 project ceremonies

    In just a matter of two weeks, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District has already participated in four project ceremonies, foreshadowing what the district expects to be a busy spring and summer in 2018.
  • Much anticipated cleanup of contaminated site in Luckey, Ohio begins

    Excitement was in the air of Building 6 on the Buffalo District reservation the afternoon of Apr.16, 2018. The Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) project delivery team for a site in Luckey, Ohio was waiting to hear from the field that the Phase 1 cleanup began. At 4:08 p.m. the first photo was taken; the Luckey site contractor, North Wind-Portage, had just started excavating soil contaminated with beryllium, lead, radium-226, thorium-230, uranium-234 and uranium-238 from the Phase 1 cleanup area of the site.
  • March

    Ever-active USACE Buffalo District dive team inspects Guajataca Dam in Puerto Rico

    Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico in late Sept. 2017. While the majority of sustained news media coverage was concerned with power restoration, there were countless other blows to critical infrastructure resulting from the storm; the 90-year-old dam in Guajataca was one such structure.
  • USACE works with Cuyahoga Valley National Park on Cuyahoga River bank stabilization

    National Parks in the U.S. are popular tourist destinations. Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio, for example, had over 2.2 million visitors in 2017. National Parks are set aside for us to appreciate nature’s beauty, and guests who visit these areas expect to see healthy wildlife, lush vegetation and clean waters. Cuyahoga Valley National Park is within the Cuyahoga River Watershed, which drains about 809 square miles, split right down the center by the Cuyahoga River; the river is one of the park’s most important natural assets.
  • Government agencies collaborate to restore coastal wetlands in the Great Lakes

    Sometimes, when people at different levels of government put their minds together, good things happen.Take what’s going on at Port Clinton, Ohio, where the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the City of Port Clinton, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have joined together to restore 12 acres and add another 1.4 acres of coastal wetlands on Lake Erie.
  • February

    USACE Buffalo District engineer visits his project after more than 30 years in retirement

    Retired former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Design Chief Joseph Foley tours the Eisenhower and Snell Navigation Locks on the St. Lawrence Seaway in Aug. 2017.
  • January

    Life-saving skills are the calling card for USACE Buffalo District’s Jean Brockner

    Ms. Brockner’s selfless heroism is known in the Western New York community and deservedly, she’s been previously recognized for assisting others in critical need.
  • Civilian training alive and well in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

    When a hiring official is comparing two potential candidates with comparable education and experience, the official must look further for something that distinguishes one candidate over the other. Sometimes that distinction is that one of the candidates took a CES course.
  • December

    The value of Value Engineering in USACE projects

    The Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 1121, 1711), requires each executive agency to establish and maintain cost-effective VE procedures and processes. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-131 requires Federal agencies to apply VE procedures to all new projects and programs with estimated costs of at least $5 million or such lower dollar threshold as determined by the Senior Accountable Official and identified in the agency's VE guidelines. For USACE, any project of $2 million or above must go through the VE process.
  • The value of training federal employees: My Puerto Rico story

    The feature story provides a personal anecdote about the specialized training a public affairs specialist received, while showing how that training was applied to a real life scenario working in Puerto Rico in response to Hurricane Maria.
  • USACE Buffalo District shows the spirit of giving this holiday season

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is a premiere engineering organization that performs a host of critical services and manages projects from maintaining dams, operating locks, dredging waterways, to restoring ecosystems. However, at this time of year, the USACE Buffalo District is focused on a different type of project—spreading joy in the community.
  • November

    USACE IA team inspires young interpreter’s career plans

    After Hurricane Maria, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was tasked to assist with inspecting and evaluating the damage to the island’s schools. While inspecting a school in Coamo in the southern part of the island, the Infrastructure Assessment team left a lasting impression on one particular student.
  • Diving in the St. Lawrence River to better understand Lake Erie and Ontario

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Buffalo District Dive Team, accompanied by USACE Detroit District Hydraulic Engineers, traveled north to the St. Lawrence River and installed an Acoustic Doppler Velocity Meter (ADVM) 4-miles upstream of Morristown, New York.
  • USACE Buffalo District delivers in Fiscal Year 2017

    During Fiscal Year 2017 the USACE, Buffalo District delivered $92.3 million worth of programs, contributing to the Army Corps of Engineers mission success, while delivering on promises to District stakeholders.