Summer brings about many different challenges for area health officials, and sometimes it involves having to use chemicals in open water to curtail invasive species.
An example of this could be found in a 12-acre portion of the Seneca River, running from the town of Clay to the town of Lysander, where the Onondaga County Health Department is again monitoring the growth of Eleocharis dulcis, better known as water chestnut.
In a letter sent out to municipalities on June 1, OCHD announced that, in partnership with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the state’s Canal Corporation, it would apply the aquatic herbicide Clearcast within the Seneca River.
This would take place in an area of the river roughly spanning Buoy 266 and Buoy 260, which includes portions adjacent to properties on Doyle Road in Lysander and the county’s wastewater treatment plant on Wetzel Road.
Residents on Doyle Road are being notified of this application because their properties are within a radius of half a mile from where it will take place.
Onondaga County Legislator Majority Leader Brian May said that the application has been done by the county on an annual basis because the plant’s growth can affect navigation on the waterway.
“They (the water chestnuts) really do choke off the river in the course of a summer,” said May.
In the past, said May, county residents concerned about this growth would sometimes pull up the plants themselves, and that having the county apply Clearcast relieves them of having to do so.
Once a NYSDEC permit is attained by the county, the plan is to apply the chemical treatment between July 1 and Sept. 7 and will take place if enough vegetation warrants the treatment.
May said that weather conditions also can affect this application process, as well as water level on the river.
The use of Clearcast would prevent property owners from irrigating greenhouses or nurseries until the water reached non-toxic levels again.
However, this does not affect the county’s supply of drinking water since the Seneca River is not used for such purposes. Also, fishing and swimming and domestic use would be allowed.
Property owners on Doyle Road have until June 22 to air any objections to this treatment to NYSDEC or OCHD’s Division of Environmental Health.
May said that residents’ concerns about the application are legitimate, but that utility companies such as National Grid also use Clearcast during some of their projects without harmful effects.
“This is a very safe process for our residents,” said May.
