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Harmful algal bloom warning signs may come to Owasco Lake next year
An algae bloom off the Emerson Park pier in Owasco Lake Saturday afternoon.
Gwendolyn Craig - The Citizen
Julie Lockhart volunteers with the Owasco Watershed Lake Association, scouting the shoreline of Owasco Lake for harmful algal blooms. On Sept. 18, one of the worst blooms so far this year hugged the shore of Emerson Park, and Lockhart said it floated out into the water as far as her eyes could see.
The lime-green goo didn't keep a little boy from wading into the water, tracking his remote control boat, she said. It didn't keep a pair of kayakers from skimming atop the surface, and it didn't keep a couple of young women and their children from preparing to wade into Owasco Lake.
"They didn't see it," Lockhart said at a Save Owasco Now! meeting Monday night. "They didn't know what it was. There's no signage. There's no warnings."
President of Toxics Targeting Walter Hang slammed health department officials Monday night, calling it a "travesty of justice," that signs have not been posted.
But state and local health agencies said it's not as easy as it sounds to post signs.
For one thing, blooms are temporary and the season is relatively short. In a joint statement to The Citizen Tuesday, the state Department of Health and the state Department of Environmental Conservation said shutting down a lake based on one bloom in one area would impugn the whole lake.
Currently, the DEC updates its harmful algal bloom notifications web page if there is a bloom, and then works with beach operators or county health departments on signs if necessary.
Cayuga County Health Department Director Kathleen Cuddy said the department is considering signs for its messaging strategy next year, but would not be posting any this year. She said it's important to identify the right wording.
"We have to be careful about the language we use," Cuddy said in a phone interview Tuesday. "I think people are sometimes not aware because they're looking for one method of information, and they're not aware of the other methods we utilize. We will do the best we can from a public entity point of view. We are open, and we certainly have heard people's concerns, but we do look to our community advocates to share information."
The health department has taken multiple steps to educate the public about blooms through pamphlets, press releases, updates on social media, updates to its website and mailed postcards. DOH and DEC added that its general response is for people to stay out of the lake if they see green.
"Harmful algal bloom education and notification is an ongoing collaboration between the New York State Department of Health, NYS Office of Parks and Historic Preservation and NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and includes notification through DEC's online HABs notification page and archive, messaging for public water systems, and signage templates for beaches and recreational areas upon request," the statement to The Citizen read. "This joint effort is part of the state's overall HABs response program and messaging and materials are updated continuously to address current impacted areas."
Ithaca Falls Overlook Clean-Up Complete-Critics Speak Out
Ithaca, NY (WENY) -- The DEC says toxin levels at the Ithaca falls overlook clean-up site meet the requirements for Restricted Residential Use -- including recreation.
As we've reported, the property was part of the former Ithaca Gun Factory, which manufactured guns in the city for 100 years.
It closed in 1986, but the area was left with remnants of lead and other contaminants.The D-E-C now says with the latest cleanup finished that levels within the area satisfy the requirements for Recreation on site.
But after 14 months of onsite clean-up, at least one local critic still believes that the Overlook is still polluted as well as the surrounding areas of the site.
Although the DEC has declared the site clean, the designated area will still remain under observation.
WENY News spoke with Gary Priscott of the DEC who was the Project and Property Manager of the site. He said that "there still will be periodic reviews of the site and monitoring of the site to make sure that conditions there don't change over time."
The DEC says that this clean-up did not include areas like the Ithaca Falls Gorge, and the Ithaca Gun Factory property--which still contain toxins.
He also says that he thinks "when people talk about the possibility of contamination remaining they are really talking about areas around the environmental restoration site, not on the environmental restoration site itself."
Local environmental researcher Walter Hang of Toxics Targeting, believes all three areas-including the overlook, is still highly polluted.
Hang has been researching this particular case for approximately 17 years.
He says that "you can see shotgun shell remnants you can see extensive contamination that was never removed and the problem is it is moving down from that overlook area into gorge trail are where people walk."
He also believes that the site boundaries designated do not account for the entirety of the overlook, saying "its very tricky because of the delineation of the site boundaries but the bottom line is Ithaca Falls, Ithaca Falls Overlook and Ithaca Gun Factory remain massively contaminated."
Local officials continue to disagree on best pollution solution for Owasco Lake
President of Toxics Targeting Walter Hang speaks at a Save Owasco Now! meeting Monday night.
Gwendolyn Craig - The Citizen
AURELIUS — Owasco Lake's harmful algal blooms — which may be a thick lime-green one day, or a wispy sheen of feathers another — have sounded the alarm for an increasingly prevalent menace across the Finger Lakes and New York state. Local and state officials disagree on how best to tackle the problem, but all are united in that something must be done.
One group, Save Owasco Now!, met Monday night for an emergency meeting at Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES to continue its call for a special pollution diet called a Total Maximum Daily Load. But another diet is already in the works — a Nine Element Watershed Plan, often called a 9E Plan. Many Cayuga County and state officials believe that plan is better suited for the watershed.
"They're (Save Owasco Now!) doing what they want to do, and I applaud them," said Owasco Town Supervisor Ed Wagner, who chairs the Owasco Lake Watershed Management Council, in a phone interview. The council is one of the entities overseeing the 9E Plan.
"Everybody's got the best interest of the lake at heart, and there's different approaches to get there," he added. "I'm siding with the county and the state Department of Environmental Conservation."
Though both plans aim to reduce pollution in a water body, officials will argue over the benefits and pitfalls of both. Those wanting a TMDL argue that because it's overseen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, requires a public hearing, and puts enforceable regulations on polluters, the plan is more powerful. Those in support of the county's current 9E Plan believe there is more public participation built into the process, is better suited for pollution that does not have an obvious source (such as runoff), and is created by local officials more in tune with what's happening in the watershed with final approval by the DEC.
Auburn City Councilor Terry Cuddy and President of Toxics Targeting Walter Hang, believe that the 9E Plan isn't enough, and Owasco Lake must be transferred from a waiting list to the state's list of impaired water bodies due to the prevalence of harmful algae. That way, Hang told audience members Monday night, the lake will be required to have a TMDL.
"They're (state officials) just putting you into the deep freeze because they're not doing any investigation of your lake," Hang told the audience. He later referred to the 9E Plan as "death, in my view."
"There's no programs to solve these problems," he added. "It's a political problem and political solution."
Cuddy said while he was grateful for the state's assistance in putting a stop-gap measure in place with the algal toxin treatment systems for the city of Auburn and town of Owasco, now the issue of the lake has to be tackled. Cuddy added that since the algal toxins have affected the water in Skaneateles Lake, people are realizing this is not an isolated issue.
Auburn City Councilor Debby McCormick, who is also on the Owasco Lake Watershed Management Council, said prior to the meeting that she's witnessed all the research going on around Owasco Lake for the 9E Plan. She alluded to the same thing Hang mentioned during the meeting, how it has taken Cayuga Lake more than a decade to get a TMDL.
"We're going to be done probably in four or five years," she said of the 9E Plan. "It just seems to make sense, and we've got all these partnerships with all the people. It's just working out really well."
But Hang is calling on state officials to quicken Owasco Lake's TMDL to two years, through a petition letter on his website. He's also requesting more enforcement of the law, and an overhaul of how the state handles these processes. With more than 200 state water bodies on the impaired water bodies list waiting for pollution reductions, more needs to be done, he said.
"What you need and what we need is to figure out where all the pollution in the watershed originates so it can be cleaned up," Hang said. "It's as simple as that."
In the meantime, toxins were detected for the first time this season in the lake water entering the town of Owasco's treatment plant. The Cayuga County Health Department reported samples collected Friday showed toxin levels at 0.17 micrograms per liter, and no toxins detected in the drinking water. Auburn's water showed no toxins in the raw or drinking water.
The Owasco Lake Watershed Inspection Program, too, had toxin results from a bloom sample taken just south of Lindenwood Cove on Sept. 25. Toxins levels were about 317 micrograms per liter, nearly 16 times the DEC's threshold for a toxic bloom.
Owasco Lake group will hold meeting on harmful algal blooms
A harmful algal bloom inundates the water in the Owasco Lake outlet behind the Express Mart in Fleming on Sept. 19.
The Citizen file
Save Owasco Now!, a lake advocacy group started in the fall last year, will hold another meeting to discuss harmful algal blooms at 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 2 in Conference Room 2 of Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES, 1879 W. Genesee St. Road, Aurelius.
Guest speaker Walter Hang, president of the environmental firm Toxics Targeting, will speak about a new initiative requiring the state to address and eliminate harmful algal blooms in the state's impaired water bodies, according to a release.
The organization continues to advocate for a Total Maximum Daily Load on Owasco Lake, a kind of pollution diet the state may implement for an impaired water body. That's despite Cayuga County's already advanced undertaking of a Nine Elements Plan, which is similar to a TMDL. The state Department of Environmental Conservation has said a Nine Elements Plan is a better fit for the water body.
Save Owasco Now! continues to collect signatures on a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, requesting a TMDL adoption within two years of each impaired water body that has experienced harmful algal blooms and threats to drinking water.
"The pace of your administration's clean up efforts is woefully inadequate," the letter reads. As of Thursday morning, 406 people had signed the letter online.
Those with questions may contact member Patty Beer at saveowasconow@gmail.com.
Ithaca Falls lead contamination cleanup declared finished by NY DEC
Ithaca City School District David Brown, chief administration officer, talks about lead in the water during a meeting at Caroline Elementary School on Feb. 10. SIMON WHEELER / Staff Video
The former Ithaca Gun factory site, to the right of Ithaca Falls. The concrete platform on the island feature and the raceway are to the right of the falls and to the left of the chimney connected to the main site by a bridge as seen in May of 2014 prior to the work over the winter of 2014-15 to clean up the island feature.
(Photo: SIMON WHEELER / Staff Photo)
The state Department of Environmental Conservation announced Wednesday that no further action will take place at the Ithaca Falls Overlook, where soil tested positive for lead in 2015 and water tested positive for trichloroethylene (TCE) in 2013.
According to the release, the contaminated area was excavated multiple times over the years, removing over 2,000 tons of contaminated soil and more than 300 tons of concrete from the site. A cover was also constructed over northern portion of the Western Accessway and the Former Walkway to replace the excavated soil.
The contaminated area was previously home to Ithaca Gun Factory. Millions of dollars have been gone into cleaning up the area, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declared an "imminent and substantial endangerment to public health and welfare" in 2015.
Despite these massive cleanup efforts, community activist and President of Toxics Targeting, Inc. Walter Hang said the site is not entirely rid of its pollutants.
Hang said that with each cleanup effort, the entire polluted area was not excavated. He said the overlook in particular had not been excavated, and when water from the overlook flowed down, Hang said the previously cleaned areas below became contaminated once again.
Hang called the DEC's "no further action" decision "tragic," saying that when he has visited the overlook, he can see evidence of lead contamination with his naked eye. Hang's photos of the site can be viewed on Toxics Targeting's website.
"How can you stand by knowing that people and little kids are running through contaminated water," Hang said of local and state government. "We are supposed to care about these issues. This is not trivial."
Assistant Commissioner of Public Affairs for the DEC Sean Mahar, though, called Hang's comments "ridiculous."
"The insinuation by Mr. Hang that all of this contamination remains and won’t be cleaned up is ridiculous," Mahar said.
He continued, "At the end of the day, we take our responsibility very seriously to clean up contaminated sites. When we make an action today, it’s after significant work. If any contamination is discovered in the future, people will go in and clean it up. Period."
Jill Montag, public information officer with the New York State Department of Health, said via email that the DEC and DOH selected 'no further action' as the final remedy for the site after having taken measures "to remediate the contamination."
"Institutional and engineering controls have been put in place to limit the potential for people to come into contact with remaining residual contamination," Montag said.