Urgent Ithaca Falls Gorge Trail Lead Contamination Alert
See previously withheld high-level lead test results, videos, news clips, photos and maps at: lthaca Falls/Ithaca Falls Overlook/Ithaca Gun Clean Up Campaign
Please call Governor Cuomo at 518 474 8390 to request that he require Ithaca Falls/Ithaca Falls Overlook/Ithaca Gun to be cleaned up once and for all by asking the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to include all three sites in the National Priority List (NPL) for Federal Superfund Clean up.
Read what I wrote to the Governor nearly a year ago: Walter Hang's 7/17/17 Request that Governor Cuomo Reject the Proposed "No Further Action" Remedy for the Ithaca Falls Overlook, DEC Site #: E755018, 125 Lake Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
The critical NPL request is underscored in my very important 4/5/18 communication with EPA regarding their swift response to the Ithaca Falls lead contamination disclosure: Thank you for the Ithaca Falls Gorge Trail site visit and discussion of recent high-level lead concerns
Greetings,
As you will see below, Toxics Targeting just received front-page media coverage for releasing previously withheld New York State test data which document extremely high levels of lead up to 69,800 parts per million (PPM) at Ithaca Falls in Ithaca, NY. This reported lead contamination exceeds the 400 PPM lead clean up requirement by more than 150-fold.
High lead levels were reportedly identified along the Gorge Trail that visitors follow to and from Ithaca Falls. As a result, thousands of visitors exposed themselves to lead by walking and sitting on or otherwise coming in contact with lead-contaminated dirt in this area. This is a very serious hazard for young children.
Watch a video of my news conference courtesy of Matthew Steecker of The Ithaca Journal. Many thanks to all the diligent reporters who covered this rainy event: Walter Hang Releases Previously Withheld Toxic Lead Monitoring Results for Ithaca Falls
In response to the lead testing findings, EPA quickly came to Ithaca and laid down a temporary layer of stones to prevent the public from coming in direct contact with lead contamination along the Gorge Trail.
These photos reveal where that lead pollution is located: EPA temporarily covers highly lead contaminated Ithaca Falls Gorge Trail with stones
Avoid coming in contact with mud, dirt or dust in this area. Wash your hands and shoe bottoms. Do not track contamination into your car or home. Similarly protect children and pets from contacting lead pollution. Lead is highly toxic and can impair the mental development of young children.
Local, State and Federal Government's Seemingly Endless Failure to Clean Up Ithaca Falls/Ithaca Falls Overlook/Ithaca Gun
It has now been nearly 18 years since Toxics Targeting reported massive lead dumping hazard at the interconnected Ithaca Falls/Ithaca Falls Overlook/Ithaca Gun sites. At least four botched clean ups have failed to remove all of the toxic pollution that I reported circa 2000.
This is due to inadequate funding and the City of Ithaca's failure to remove toxic contamination on the north cliff face of the Ithaca Falls Overlook. The pollution is obvious to the naked eye and has been confirmed by lead hazardous waste testing. Lead in that area falls down into the Gorge Trail area where visitors walk.
Watch a new video of this problem: Ithaca Falls Toxic Lead Contamination - April 2018 - Ithaca, NY
Comprehensive National Priority List Federal Superfund Clean up Required
A top-to-bottom clean up of Ithaca Falls/Ithaca Falls Overlook/Ithaca Gun must be undertaken without further seemingly endless delay. All three sites must be comprehensively remediated in order to safeguard public health, the environment and Cayuga Lake, the source of drinking water for more than 30,000 residents.
That is precisely what I requested nearly a year ago when I implored Governor Cuomo to deny an ill-considered No Further Action determination for an obviously inadequate Ithaca Falls Overlook clean up. He adopted it any way. That is why the Governor bears personal responsibility for this latest lead contamination fiasco.
I respectfully wrote Governor Cuomo:
"Adopting a No Further Action proposal would be irresponsible. Tens of thousands of Ithaca residents as well as visitors from all over the world, including very young children, frequent the Ithaca Falls Gorge that is polluted each and every day by contamination raining down from the inadequately remediated Falls Overlook site."
"First, the northern portion of the Falls Overlook site delineated in Figure 1 below remains strewn with coal clinker, shotgun shell remnants, lead pellets and other unmistakable evidence of waste dumping that has not been removed from the "Island" where I first documented massive toxic lead waste nearly 17 years ago.
In particular, the northwestern portion of the Falls Overlook site clearly has large amounts of toxic contaminated debris that should have been removed because the material falls directly into the Ithaca Falls Gorge immediately below. This toxic debris extends down the Ithaca Gorge cliff face that is part of the Falls Overlook site. Adjoining areas of the eastern portion cliff face very likely remain contaminated, but are not easily inspected due to the sheer drop-off."
See: Walter Hang's 7/17/17 Request that Governor Cuomo Reject the Proposed "No Further Action" Remedy for the Ithaca Falls Overlook, DEC Site #: E755018, 125 Lake Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
Also see my: Request that EPA Include Ithaca Falls/Ithaca Gun in the National Priority List for Federal Superfund Clean pursuant to New Subsurface Soil Gas Vapor Intrusion Rule
Conclusion
Governor Cuomo ignored my well-documented, respectful warnings about toxic contamination at the incomparable Ithaca Falls/Ithaca Fall Overlook/Ithaca Gun sites. That is why lead pollution persists in this beloved natural area.
Please call Governor Cuomo at 518 474 8390 to request that he require Ithaca Falls/Ithaca Falls Overlook/Ithaca Gun be cleaned up once and for all by asking the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency to include all three sites in the National Priority List for Federal Superfund Clean up.
I invite you to review all the information that Toxics Targeting has compiled so far: lthaca Falls/Ithaca Falls Overlook/Ithaca Gun Clean Up Campaign
Thank you for helping to clean up this gorgeous gem of a scenic wonder without further delay.
I appreciate all of your knowledgeable and relentless advocacy efforts. I am always deeply moved by each and every activist who tells me that they did precisely what I spelled out in my alerts.
Combined with the super focused media coverage that Toxics Targeting generates on a sustained basis, we are able to win landmark environmental victories time after time.
Smile and dial. Do not stop until you drop. Keep slugging.
More very shortly.
Onward and upward.
Cheers,
Walter