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Brenda
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Lake advocates take DEC to task

By Kristina Martino / The Citizen
Thursday, June 28, 2007 9:42 AM EDT

FLEMING - Thunder and lightning rolled into the Owasco Lake area Tuesday afternoon as well as $60,000 in funding secured by state Sen. Michael Nozzolio to pay for the first year for an Owasco Lake watershed inspector.

But the overall scene was deja vu from a similar gathering last year, when community leaders and members criticized the efforts of the state Department of Environmental Conservation to control the output of phosphorous from the village of Groton's wastewater treatment plant into the inlet feeding the lake.

Tuesday, community leaders and members came back to Emerson Park urging the DEC to force the village adhere to a two-pound phosphorous discharge limit as the plant prepares to expand in size.

Last year, the DEC placed the village under a consent order forcing it to test chemicals that would reduce the amount of phosphorous it released.

Experimentation brought successful results which Dr. John Halfman, of the Finger Lakes Institute, described during the community meeting.

After city, town and county leaders signed an agreement to create a water steward position to monitor the conditions of the lake, Halfman said the next step is to get this person working so that problems can be identified as quickly as possible.

But while data shows that lake quality has improved during the past year, Nozzolio said that the DEC is now hampering the possibility for the lake's quality to move forward. “The DEC is suggesting a policy that is a step backward in our efforts to protect the lake,” he said. “I'm not a scientist but this just doesn't make sense to me.”

Once the Groton plant expands, DEC officials have considered allowing the plant to discharge about four pounds of phosphorous a day, roughly double what the plant is discharging now on an average day. Groton officials have previously said they are now operating below a four-pound phosphorous limit established by the DEC in a recent consent order. Although the proposed level is equal to the plant's 2006 discharge number, a DEC official said that the amount of discharge still remains extremely low in comparison to discharge levels years prior to 2006.

“There was no limit in 1991 as there is no limit now,” said Mary Jane Peachey, of the DEC.

Peachey noted that scientific data needs to be used to determine discharge levels.

“My grandkids can't swim in front of my property because of the zebra mussels,” said Dennis Donnovan, who owns property on West Lake Road. “I hope my grandchildren can appreciate what I had in the '40s and '50s.”

Cayuga County Legislature Chairman George Fearon expressed his concern that the Groton plant should at least match the low phosphorous discharge levels the treatment plant in Moravia uses.

Peachey strongly expressed that the plant's phosphorous discharge limit isn't increasing because there has never been a permanent limit set. She confirmed that DEC officials are creating a draft permit that may be completed in the next two weeks. Once the draft is written, the DEC will allow public comment for 30 days.
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Matt
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Oh I see people are blaming phosphorus nowadays.

Hate to break it to them but it's the non-point pollution causing their problems. Cut down on cottages and the fertalizers, detergents and pet feces that come with them, and you've protected the lake.

It's sad that the 60k for an inspector probably means a $22k salaried position for one year.
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Matt
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I think that if the people in that area would switch to Phospho-free detergents, that would really help the problem. Wegmans brand detergents are really effective and I believe Phospho free and biodegradable.

I just can't stant people that cry for more capacity... more treatment options and within a few years they then exceed the new capacity... they need to learn they are the problem, not the treartment capacity, and reduce their input to the problem.
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http://www.theithacajournal.com/article ... /812090319
The Finger Lakes Land Trust announced Monday it has acquired a 15-acre parcel with 2,000 feet of frontage on Owasco Inlet in Moravia and plans to restore it for wildlife habitat and to reduce sediment runoff into Owasco Lake.

The Land Trust purchased the cropland and brushy property from the estate of Jeremy Green. In addition to restoring much of the land for fish and wildlife habitat and to filter runoff entering the inlet and then to the lake, a portion will continue to be leased for agriculture. Once habitat restoration is done, the Land Trust plans a small parking area and foot path providing access for fishing and wildlife observation, the Ithaca-based organization said in the announcement.

The Land Trust is seeking to raise $100,000 for the project costs. It is the third land protection project within the Owasco Flats. Two years ago, it helped the Owasco Flats Nature Reserve to acquire a parcel and last year board member and Moravia resident Howard Hartnett purchased a parcel at tax auction with the intent to protect it, according to the Land Trust.
What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us. ~Henry David Thoreau
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