A Better Future for Onondaga Lake!

Dear friends,

We need your help! The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) is inviting public comments on their proposed “clean up” of Murphy’s Island, land on the shore of Onondaga Lake. Murphy’s Island is a roosting site for bald eagles, whose numbers can increase to nearly 100 individuals in the winter.  

Murphy’s Island, like Onondaga Lake and other shoreline areas, harbors toxins at levels that pose threats to public and ecological health. Murphy’s Island was for a long time the dumping ground for contaminated soils, industrial wastes, and sediments dredged from polluted waterbodies. As a result, toxins are widespread and randomly distributed across the site.

Alarmingly, the NYSDEC’s plan leaves >50% of the contaminated site untouched and allows a public trail through the un-remediated area. DEC has NO mandated signs that warn visitors of the risks. DEC plans to remediate only the non-forested parts of the site by installing a two-foot-thick soil cover. These areas weren’t chosen because they pose the greatest risk. They were only chosen because remediation wouldn’t damage trees. 

Onondaga Lake is a sacred place to the Onondaga Nation. The toxic pollution in and around the lake and the absence of full remediation interferes with the Nation’s caretaking responsibilities to their waters and lands.   

NYSDEC will accept your comment until February 18th, 2023. See below for contact information and suggested talking points. 

Mail or email your comment

Tracy Alan Smith-Project Manager

NYSDEC

625 Broadway, 12th Floor

Albany, NY 12233-7013

Tracy.smith@dec.ny.gov

Include:

your name, affiliation

mailing and email addresses, phone number

Talking points to use in your comment

This is at most a partial remedy and NOT fully protective of public or ecological health. 

• NYSDEC and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data show PAHs, pesticides, PCBs, and metals (including mercury) distributions are random with multiple, wide-spread exceedances of soil standards that regulate risks for “passive use” (ie. walkers, bikers) and birds, insects, and other animals. Risks to insectivorous birds and small mammals are at unacceptable levels.

• The site also includes “emerging” chemicals, such as PXE and PTE. Since there are no EPA or DEC standards for these emerging chemicals, the DEC will not include these in monitoring. 

NYSDEC should consider additional alternatives: DEC could mandate either staged remediation and replanting of the forested areas to avoid disrupting the roosting eagles or remediation which relies on scattered or less intrusive methods. Polluting companies should not be able to use habitat emergence to avoid their remediation responsibility. 

NYSDEC should recalculate and publicize the risks remaining in the un-remediated areas. 

• Much of the un-remediated, forested area lies along the Murphy’s Island Spur Trail or between the trail and Onondaga Lake, where site visitors may be most likely to stray off-trail. The risks posed by accessing these areas should be re-evaluated to ensure public safety. The calculated cancer risk for child recreators is 0.6 additional cancers for every 10,000 exposed children. Although this is below EPA’s “acceptable risk” level of 1 additional cancer per 10,000 people exposed, site users might not want to expose children to this risk for the sake of a short walk.  

NYSDEC must ensure adequate and appropriate signage: Current Onondaga County signs stating “Stay on the Trail: Environmentally Sensitive Area” is a highly ineffective control. 

• Clear and complete information about the health risks posed by this site to potential users must be available on-site. People have been walking off-trail at Murphy’s Island since the trail was built in 2022. 

NYSDEC’s proposed plan impedes the Onondaga Nation’s responsibility to take care of their lands, waters, people, and other beings by allowing toxic pollution to remain and pose a potential health risk to visitors. Murphy’s Island is within unceded Onondaga territory. 

The proposed plan, without modification, allows for public misperception of the level of clean-up that has occurred and the risks associated with recreating in and around Onondaga Lake. 

Links to NYSDEC information

Fact sheet for site SYW-12:

https://www.dec.ny.gov/data/der/factsheet/734075acuprop.pdf

Proposed Plan:

https://www.dec.ny.gov/data/DecDocs/734075A/PRAP.HW.734075A.2023-01-19.SYW-12%20Proposed%20Plan.pdf

For questions or concerns about Onondaga Lake issues, contact A Better Future for Onondaga Lake (BFOL): onondagalakefuture@gmail.com 

For information regarding the bald eagles, contact Friends of the Onondaga Lake Bald Eagles (FOLBE): friends.ol.baldeagles@gmail.com 

For learning resources related to the Onondaga Nation, contact Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation (NOON): noon@peacecouncil.net