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