Giannettino: Auburn/Owasco Water Safe but Future Remains Unclear

One day after it was announced that low levels of toxins from harmful algal blooms (HABs) were found in the City of Auburn and the Town of Owasco’s drinking water, additional testing has detected no toxins.

According to the Cayuga County Health Department, water samples taken Wednesday found no toxins in the city or town’s treated drinking water.

On Tuesday, it was reported that Auburn’s treated water contained 0.23 micrograms of toxins per liter of water and that Owasco’s contained 0.26mcg/L. While below the US EPA’s 10-day health advisory level of 0.3mcg/L, the water was declared safe to drink.

Both Auburn and Owasco will continue to monitor their public water supplies with Auburn testing twice weekly through mid-November.

Despite this seemingly good news, Auburn Mayor Jimmy Giannettino expressed concern at a press conference held Wednesday at City Hall.

“[This] adds to the ambiguity of the situation we face and it shows how we are on edge here in the City of Auburn and the Town of Owasco every October as we sit here on pins and needles waiting to see what the test results are.”

This is the first time toxins have been detected in the city’s finished drinking water since the installation of the powder-activated carbon filtration system.

The mayor cited this as the result of the failure of Governor Kathy Hochul and her administration to protect Owasco Lake, the source of drinking water for 45,000 people.

“We here in Auburn and the Town of Owasco have done everything we can to work with the state of New York to ensure that we can provide clean drinking water… the state has not responded accordingly. They have not been good partners in this; the public needs to know that.”

Once again, Mayor Jimmy Giannettino called on the governor to adopt a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) – a maximum number of pollutants allowed to enter the lake – as well as come to Auburn to meet with officials directly. The Department of Environmental Conservation has excluded Owasco Lake from the 303(d) list of impaired waterbodies that are to receive a TMDL clean-up plan.

Additionally, he said that he shares the frustrations of his constituents who regularly approach him to express their concerns over the quality of their drinking water. When asked about the possibility that the city’s filtration system might not be able to keep up with the increase in toxins found in the raw water supply due to blooms, the mayor said it’s a real and concerning possibility.

“As a city councilor, now as mayor, It’s one of the things that keeps me up at night.”

Auburn not only provides drinking water to its own residents and businesses but also to those in the Towns of Aurelius, Brutus, Fleming (Water District 6) Mentz, Montezuma, Sennett (Water District 2), Throop, and the VIllages of Cayuga, Port Byron, and Weedsport. Additionally, Owasco also supplies water to the Fleming Consolidated Water District.

Walter Hang also spoke at the press conference. He is the president of Toxics Targeting, an environmental database firm that tracks HABs across the state. While he commended the work of Mayor Giannettino and City Councilor Terry Cuddy for their work in advocating for the lake, he said the issue of HABs goes far beyond Owasco Lake.

According to Hang, 1,951 blooms have been reported in the state so far this year.

At the time of reporting, Canadice Lake remains the only lake of the 11 Finger Lakes not to have experienced a HAB in 2024, according to the DEC’s HAB map.

Like Mayor Giannettino, Hang also places the blame for the blooms on the governor’s shoulders.

“Governor Hochul has to be held responsible for this regulatory crisis that has resulted in so many HABs… If the governor of New York cannot safeguard public health, if she refuses to enforce the law, I don’t think she should be governor.”

This represents the latest battle in the metaphorical war between Auburn and Owasco and the state over the health of Owasco Lake. In July, the state Department of Health (DOH) decided that it would not amend the Owasco Watershed Rules & Regulations for the city and town, despite the increase in HABs.

In January, Auburn, Owasco, and the Owasco Watershed Lake Association initiated a lawsuit against the state, alleging the DOH has violated residents’ rights to clean water under the state constitution.

Despite these setbacks, the city, town, and environmental advocates, including Hang, have vowed to continue the fight to preserve Owasco Lake for those who rely on it as a source of clean and safe drinking water.