LEWIS COUNTY NEW YORK

An Environmental Health Diagnosis

By Isaac Joseph4th grade West Sand Lake

Lewis County: Environmental Challenges and Responses• The aim of my study is to find more information about strengths and

challenges facing a county in New York. My county is Lewis County NY. To conduct this study, I researched using multiple websites and newspaper articles. One website that I used was the Department of Environmental Conservation site. Throughout my research, I learned that:

• The aim of my study is to learn about a county and its environmental issues and the different systems in it.

• Throughout the study of Lewis County, I used various websites for the environment including local, state, and federal government websites.• In researching Lewis County one of the things I learned about habitats. One

of the habitats is Tug Hill Plateau, that is one the major habitats.• I also learned about major industries. One of the major industries is

manufacturing, another industry is Health care and social assistance.• Waste was another topic that I learned about in my research. I learned it can

pollute the earth and many other problems. A way to fix this is to make a waste to energy facility

Timeline

• 1600s The Mohawk Native American Tribe Lived in Lewis County• 1683 - Counties were established in New York State, the

present Lewis County was part of Albany County. • 1997 - Much of the county was socked in a world record-

breaking snow burst, with nearly 6.5 feet (2.0 m) of snow in just a 24-hour period.• 1805 - Once organized the county adopted five towns;

Leyden, Turin, Martinsburg, Lowville, and Harrisburg, today there are seventeen.

Background

Lewis was formed in 1805. Lewis County is located in northern New York. It has many lakes, forests, and, rivers. The Lewis Native Americans occupied this county and a few other counties in early 1600s. Today Loweville is the largest city and holds the county seat. The population of Lewis County is 75,081

Watershed HealthWatershed name: Black River Watershed

What percentage of rivers have poor water quality?

What percentage of lakes have poor water quality?

Overall percentage with poor water quality?

6% 55% 61%

What percentage of rivers have good water quality?

What percentage of lakes has good water quality?

Overall percentage with good water quality?

45% 2% 47%

This watershed has more poor water than good water quality. Possible reasons for poor water could be agriculture and nonpoint sources that contribute nutrients sediments to the water.

Maps and Watersheds

Habitats

• Majority of Lewis County area is forest. Most of the land has high density of trees. They are abundant with wildlife which includes deer, bear moose, beaver, and a variety of birdlife.• One of the biggest environmental challenges that

Lewis county faces is hunting and poaching.• Lewis County is composed of three primary

regions: The tug hill plateau, the Black River Valley and the Adirondack Foothills.

Industries • Lewis County has vast agricultural and forestry resources, from the

Tug Hill Plateau to the Black River Valley to the Adirondack Foothills. This is great for farming and forestry industries. Besides farming, forest and woods creates industries like veneer wood products. Adirondack Chairs and wafer-thin paper gaskets. Maple syrup industry in Lewis County tops the NY State’s production. North America’s last remaining bowling pin factory is in Lewis County. Timber industry is very significant in Lewis County.

• The farming community lacks young farmers interested in taking on the hard life associated with agriculture. Farmers often lack capital needed to purchase land and fund farming activities.

• The county also has a lacking number of programs and policies that strengthen agriculture and forestry activities to improve efficiency and productivity. There is little public awareness on the importance of agriculture and forestry to Lewis County’s economy.

YOUR COUNTY Unhealthy air days for general population in 2012.

Unhealthy air days for people with asthma in 2012

Since 2003, has air quality for asthmatics improved or gotten worse?

LEWIS

COUNTY

0 0

Improved

RENNSSELAER

COUNTY 0 0

Improved

ESSEX COUNTY 0 4

Improved

NEW YORK

COUNTY 0 2

Improved

Air Quality

Rationale and Methods: Why and how the environmental health of counties needs to be studied.

• It is important to study counties to help us know what problems are going on in counties. Also, it is important so that we can know how to fix these problems, like pollution (air), waste management, and many others. But it’s not all to find out what they are doing wrong, but also to find out what they are doing right.

• There are 62 counties in New York State, which are all pretty different. Some may have more watersheds than others or maybe they have more mountains. • Some questions that researchers can ask to understand the environmental health of a

county include:• Should more solar and wind energy plants be installed?• How many environmental inspections do inspection organizations do in a year?• How do inspectors feel about the environment?• How many watersheds are in the county?• What is the soil like in the county?

• There isn’t much data about counties. I know when I started this program, I didn’t know very much about counties. Many people don’t.

• A challenge to searching about counties on the Internet is that sometimes the counties will show up in Colorado or Nebraska when you are looking for that county name in New York. You can find your data pretty easily if you are detailed and really look into it.

Water and Soil• Lewis County Soil and Water Conservation District offers services like

annual programs and educational events.• Lewis County requires permits for anyone planning to excavate more

than 750 Cubic Yards of any mineral including topsoil, sand, and gravel.

• A challenge for Lewis County is to balance development needs with the preservation of productive soils for farming and healthy forests and rivers for logging. Unplanned or poor development can degrade resources resulting in loss of water quality, open spaces, rural character and wildlife habitats. People affect environment health when they pollute a watershed. Pollutants harm plants, animals, or humans. Acid rain and toxics spills, pesticides from farms, mercury and lead from industries get released into the water system. Building large buildings, parking lots etc. affect watershed because of the change occurring in the water flow.

Energy

• Hydro-electric power from Moose, Beaver & Deer River. • The winds that come across Tug Hill plateau are

some of the strongest in New York State and this enables Lewis County to take advantage of this source of energy. The Maple Ridge Wind Farm is in operation. • The county uses 22.2% gas, 15.3% coal and

28.9% nuclear. The county is still dependent on a large amount of nonrenewable energy.

Type of Energy Percent

Hydroelectric

28.2%

Nuclear 28.9%

Oil .8%

Gas 22.2%

Coal 15.3%

Energy Mixture

About EcoEd & Mentors Rensselaer's EcoEd Research Group involves faculty and students

in the development and delivery of creative, interdisciplinary environmental education to K-12 students. The goal is to extend the broad impact of humanities and social science research on environmental problems through translation into hands-on exercises through which young students develop capacity to deal effectively with environmental problems, and with complex problems in general - integrating many types of knowledge.

In EcoEd’s Upper Elementary School Research Program, young students are assigned an RPI student mentor, and with them move through a nine-week exploration of a research topic, culminating in a substantial written report and formal oral presentation.

Waste• Lewis County has free computer and electronic recycling

collection site in the town of Lewis.• There is a Landfill located in the town of Orleans.• Cornell Co-Operative extension supports recycling and

composting.• Lack of awareness in households regarding reuse and recycling

of materials is a challenge in the county.• Landfill Maintenance, monitoring and regulatory compliance.

Due the limited landfill space the must county must encourage recycling.

• The county should organize clean community programs, public education, and provide incentives to recycle.

Recommendations• Lewis County is a very small county in NY state and there is not

much that can be done to improve the energy mixture in this county. Taking advantage of existing hydro and wind factors will greatly assist this county with their energy needs.

• Over Development of buildings pose a big challenge to the natural resources. Lack of land use regulations, natural resource protections is a significant challenge to overcome

• The environmental health of Lewis County is fair. The water quality has been improving during the past few years. Climate smart communities in Lewis county help keep the environment clean in the county. I believe one of the biggest environmental challenges that Lewis county face are hunting and poaching. In order to reduce this problem I would make laws to prevent animals in my county from being extinct.

Sources• “Lewis County, New York.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, April 22, 2014.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lewis_County,_New_York&oldid=604274078.• Native Languages of the Americas. “Native American Tribes of New York,” 2014.

http://www.native-languages.org/york.htm.• New York State DEC. “Energy and Climate: The Energy/Climate Change Connection.” New York

State Department of Environmental Conservation, 2014. http://www.dec.ny.gov/60.html.• ———. “List of Compost Facilities in New York State.” New York State Department of

Environmental Conservation, 2014. http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/55447.html.• ———. “NYS Watersheds: Management, Monitoring, and Assessment.” New York State

Department of Environmental Conservation, 2014. http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/60135.html.• ———. “Registered Electronic Waste Recycling Facilities.” New York State Department of

Environmental Conservation, 2014. http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/73670.html.• North American Environthon. “About Us.” North American Environthon, 2013.

http://www.envirothon.org/about-us.html.• NRDC. “Renewable Energy for America: Renewable Energy Map.” Natural Resources Defense

Council, 2013. http://www.nrdc.org/energy/renewables/energymap.asp.• US EPA. “AirCompare: Are You Breathing Clean Air? How Does Your City Compare?” AirNow,

February 15, 2014. http://www.epa.gov/aircompare/index.htm.• ———. “How Clean Is the Electricity I Use? - Power Profiler | Clean Energy.” United States

Environmental Protection Agency, April 22, 2014. http://oaspub.epa.gov/powpro/ept_pack.charts.