NY State Residents Please Contact the DEC About Onondaga Lake

 Friends,

I got the following from Friends of The Onondaga Nation requesting NYS residents contact the DEC asking that Onondaga Lake not be removed from the list of polluted lakes.

Onondaga Lake is sacred to the Haudenosaunee (Iroqois) and where the Tree of Peace was planted and the Great Law was given to the people--American Democracy is modeled after the Great Lake.

Thanks,

madis

If you are a New York State resident, 

we need you to contact the NYS Department of 

Environmental Conservation!

The deadline is February 11th:

NYS DEC has released their 2020-2022 List of Impaired Waters (water bodies damaged by human activity). The details of the changes are complicated and throw out analysis using fish tissue sampling, with no further data to support the decision to remove nearly twenty percent (20%) of polluted water bodies from this list. This includes Onondaga Lake- a closed industrial landfill- which should continue to be listed for dangerous levels of mercury, PC’S, and dioxins present in the Onondaga Lake ecosystem.

In your email or letter, request a public comment period extension to March 1st, 2022. 

Include your reasons, which might be:

-Not enough notice for informed public input.

-DEC has given no explanation for the “flaws in the analysis” that are being used as the reason for removing these damaged water bodies from their 2020-2022 List of Impaired Waters.

-Covid complications and the precautions necessary regarding the omicron variant increase the time necessary for collaboration with diverse communities to provide helpful comments.

-Onondaga Lake is sacred to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the Onondaga.

-DEC did not consult with the Onondaga Nation: DEC has an obligation to consult with the Nation regarding Onondaga Lake, among other water bodies on their traditional territory.

At the end of your message, please request that DEC avoid confusing the public and keep these water bodies on their 2020-2022 List until they have further data to support their safe removal.

Contact information: 

By email- Bureau of Water Assessment and Management: 4pwlinfo@dec.ny.gov 

Or by mail- ATTN: Water Assessment and Implementation Section NYSDEC, Bureau of Water Assessment and Management, 625 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12233-3502

            Please note- Use the subject line “Public Comment on the Draft 

2020-2022 List”.

You can also contact:

Onondaga County Health Department- ongovhealth@ongov.net

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 2 Administrator Lisa Garcia- garcia.lisa@epa.gov

City of Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh- Mayor@SyrGov.net

City of Syracuse Common Council President Helen Hudson- hhudson@syrgov.net

           *Share your concerns regarding the timely for mercury, PCB’S, and dioxins and the potential negative impact on human health.*