The NY State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) recently issued a fact sheet with updates on remediation activities at the Onondaga Lake Bottom subsite. Construction work continues on the Water Treatment Plant Building, Sediment Consolidation Area (SCA), and Sediment Slurry Pipeline. Air quality is being monitored at stations around the SCA; that data is publicly available on Honeywell’s website.
This month marks the beginning of a three-year study to address the concentration of mercury in the bodies of organisms in the lake. (Some of the pollutants in the lake sediments build up in the tissues of organisms, including fish. There are strict limits on the amount of fish that people can eat because of high levels of contamination.) The study will investigate whether adding liquid calcium nitrate to the deep waters of the lake will help prevent mercury from entering the food chain. The injection of liquid calcium nitrate into the lake will take place at regular intervals over the next few years.
For more information, download the NYSDEC’s fact sheet.
