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Onondaga Lake Cleanup EK335 Presentation
By: Nancy Neely
Area: 4.6 square miles
Location: Syracuse, New York
Most Polluted Lake in the United States
1799- Salt production
begins
1825- Erie Canal
opens
1883- Solvey Process builds on shore
1884- Soda ash
production begins
1918- Organic
chemicals and chlorine gas production
1940- Lake declared
unsafe for swimming
1970- Fishing Banned
1972- Federal Clean
Water Act
1976- Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act
1994- Lake
becomes Federal
Superfund Priority
Onondaga Lake Timeline
Onondaga Lake after the Industrial Revolution Added to National Priorities List by
United States Environmental Protection Agency
List is the “most serious uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the United States”
165,000 pounds of mercury over 100 years
Chemicals include; mercury, petroleum hydrocarbons (fuel products), chlorinated solvents and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's) – proven carcinogens
Effect on Wildlife
“A major goal of the remedial actions being undertaken in Onondaga Lake is to reduce the level of mercury contamination in the lake’s fish. It is uncertain that this goal can be achieved.” – 2002 DEC report
Metro
Cleanup begins… Onondaga County Metro sued by State
of New York and Atlantic States Legal Foundation – forced to bring wastewater into compliance
New York State sued Allied-Signal, Inc. (now Honeywell) seeking to compel the company to pay to clean the lake
Estimated $451 million total
Sustainable Restoration Plan The Onondaga Lake Cleanup Plan issued
by DEC and EPA in 2005 1. Preventing migration of containments from old
industrial sites 2. Removing and containing sediment from the
bottom of the lake at approved sites 3. Creating a sustainable habitat along the shore for
wildlife and local recreation 4. Implementing a long-term operation, maintenance,
and monitoring program to ensure effectiveness
Dredging Equipment
Cleanup Process
2.65 million cubic yards of “lake muck” dredged
500 acres of lake bottom will be “capped” with sand and dirt
Metal retaining wall to keep contaminated groundwater from flowing into the lake
Dredging soil in adjacent creeks and brooks
3 billion gallons of water being treated
December 2013 Review
Progress Lake quality is reported as being “the
best it has been in decades” Reports of lower mercury levels in fish
Controversy Onondaga Nation Up to 80% of polluted sediment is
remaining in place Temporary solution- some believe excess
wave action will make the cap fail eventually
Camillus- suing for not monitoring dumping of “sludge”
Questions?Resources:
http://www.lakecleanup.com/progress-news/metrics/
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2013/03/camillus_residents_sue_honeywe.html
www.dec.ny.gov
http://www.upstatefreshwater.org/html/onondaga_lake.html
http://students.sunyocc.edu/central.aspx?menu=542&id=13388
http://students.sunyocc.edu/central.aspx?id=13392
http://onondagalake.org/Sitedescription/OnondagaLakeBottomSediments/docs/Onondagalake_asFS1Aand%201B_ver%203.pdf
http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/regions_pdf/oltimeline.pdf
http://upstatefreshwater.org/html/involvement.htmlhttp://
www.camilluscleanair.org/?q=blog/2013/04/09/new-report-out-onondaga-lake-dredging