Onondaga Lake, a body of water considered sacred to the Haudenosaunee, has long been considered the most polluted lake in all 50 United States. What created these diverse identities — sacred yet sullied — and how can they co-exist?
On Jan. 15, in Utica, attorney Alma Lowry, general counsel to the Onondaga Nation, tried to explain some of the complexities involved in her talk entitled “Onondaga Lake: The Sacred, the Sullied and the Superfund,” delivered at The Other Side coffeehouse. As well as being a lawyer, Lowry is a lecturer in environmental studies at Hamilton College.
Onondaga Lake is viewed in many ways: as a seriously polluted lake, a Superfund success story, a closed industrial waste landfill, and, to the Haudenosaunee, a sacred space.
For the past decade, Lowry has studied the ongoing Onondaga Lake cleanup project. In 2016, she told reporters that some of the capping of contaminated sediments at the bottom of the lake failed, exposing pollution in two areas. The capping soil designed to anchor pollutants, she said, shifted uncovering PCBs, mercury and other toxins. Lowry called the containment strategy dangerous.
“Just over the hill there is a lovely new amphitheater inviting people to use it,” she said. “That site is also a contaminated site and people who use that site are being protected, again, by a cap.”
Containment there will have to be monitored for hundreds of years, she said.
Onondaga Chief Tadodaho Sid Hill claims the public is being misled about the lake cleanup.
“We’re concerned about the propaganda that’s put out there,” Hill told Chris Bolt of WAER-FM news. “They come out there and they had a swimming exhibition, and they said the lake is clean. Even Governor Cuomo was talking about the clean lake, and it’s just not true.”
For more on the Haudenosaunee’s disappointment in the lake cleanup, visit onondaganation.org/land-rights/onondaga-lake/.
Reptiles recolonizing
There’s no question that the lake has been sullied over the years, but its wildlife — from bald eagles to chirping frogs — show signs of rejuvenation.
Dr. Peter Ducey, who studies the environmental biology of amphibians and reptiles, will discuss the lake’s reptiles and amphibians at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, at the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology. 500 S. Franklin St., down city. Suggested donations are $5 per person or $15 per family; save your spot by emailing [email protected] with the subject line “Onondaga Lake,” or calling 315-365-3588 by Jan, 24. Space is limited and registration is required; MOST.org.
After studying the animals of Onondaga Lake for many years, Dr. Ducey has assisted in the design of new habitats to enhance the recolonization of amphibians and reptiles — including frogs, newts, salamanders and snapping turtles — associated with the restoration of the lake and its surrounding environments.
Saturday’s talk is co-hosted by Audubon New York and the Onondaga Lake Conservation Corps.
Mayor meets with McMahon
Liverpool Mayor Gary White and Deputy Mayor Christina Fadden met with County Executive Ryan McMahon earlier this month to discuss their concern over plans for Morgan Road and Onondaga Lake Parkway.
The state Department of Transportation has developed a plan for the parkway that calls for medians to be installed and four lanes reduced to two lanes. White wants the state to consider how the parkway proposal would affect the village in light of a planned mega-warehouse being developed on Morgan Road.
The mayor thinks the combined effect of those two projects — the parkway just south of the village and the warehouse just north — could adversely affect Liverpool. White specifically pointed to the warehouse developer’s intention to widen one of the village’s main intersections to provide for two dedicated left-turn lanes from Tulip onto Oswego streets.
Both White and Fadden were encouraged by their lengthy meeting with McMahon, who, they said, seemed receptive to their concerns.
Meanwhile, the DOT has scheduled six “community open house” meetings at Liverpool Public Library regarding its parkway plans, on various dates and times Jan. 22 through Feb. 24. For specifics, see news item on page 1.
Last word
“Common sense tells you that going from four to two lanes on Onondaga Lake Parkway will negatively affect traffic in the village.”
–Liverpool Mayor Gary White.
