ONONDAGALAKE CITIZEN PARTICIPATION PLAN
Community Participation Working Group
www.onondagalake.info
Meeting Notes
October 9, 2013, 4:00PM, Honeywell Onondaga Lake Visitor Center, Geddes, NY
Next Meeting: To Be Determined
Attendance: Nancy Bronstein, Jeff Freedman, Steve Germano, Hugh Kimball, Frank Moses, Roger Pisarek, Jack Ramsden, Allen Silverstone
Staff: (OLWC) Aimee Clinkhammer, and(Honeywell) Craig Milburn
Guests: (Upland Freshwater Institute (UFI)) Steve Effler and Dave Matthews, (Anchor QEA) Betsy Henry, and Tess Freedman
Absent: Mark Boorady, Becky Corbin, Bill Davern, Jim McMahon, Kathy MacRae, and Les Monostory
Jeff called the meeting to order at 4:00PM.
1. A brief discussion about voting electronically on the meeting notes took place with the result being that members should feel free to vote on the notes even if they were not in attendance. It takes a quorum (8) to approve the notes. Jack reported we received 8 votes to approve the September meeting notes after edits were made.
2. Onondaga Lake Water Quality Issues: Jeff welcomed our guests and commented that most of our previous conversation had been about volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and today we would hear about water quality. See internet links at end of meeting notes.
Betsy Henry, Anchor QEA, and Dave Matthews, UFI, gave a very informative presentation on the nitrate addition process that is proving effective in minimizing methylmercury concentrations in the lake water. The presentation was fairly technical. However, the use of graphs and patient response to many questions helped the Group understand what has been happening in this phase of cleaning up Onondaga Lake.
Betsy started the presentation with a brief history of the study of the Lake going back to 1992. In 2005, the combination of Monitored Natural Recovery (MNR) and nitrate addition was included as part of the remedy. Nitrate addition is now being pilot tested as a way to minimize the concentrations of methylmercury in the lake. Methylmercury is created by micro-organisms in the lake bottom sediment and gets introduced into the food chain after being released from the sediment into the lake water. Methylmercury is the contaminant that gets stored in the muscles of fish and birds and causes all the concern for human exposure and consumption.
Dave educated us on the work of UFI which was easier to understand than the chemistry of the process he explained to us. Basically, ionic mercury is the chemical of concern but it is the methylmercury that gets into the food chain. Ionic mercury will be buried by layers of sediment or engineered capping and will not be available to be processed by sulfate reducing bacteria in the sediment to become methylmercury. All the required conditions for this process of methylmercury production are present in Onondaga Lake where the bulk of the mercury was discharged.
Dave and Betsy discussed the improvements to Metro which have been a big factor in the reduction of phosphorus and ammonia. The release of nitrates by Metro was a key factor in the consideration of the nitrate addition program now underway. If nitrate is present in lake water, methylmercury is not released from the lake bottom sediment to the lake water. From 2005 to 2011, lab and field studies were conducted leading to a three year pilot test program starting in 2011. Reductions in methylmercury have been dramatic and no adverse impacts have been noted to date. Since 2008, methylmercury is declining in smallmouth bass and Onondaga Lake compares favorably to other water bodies in several states in the US and Canada (Nova Scotia).
There was question and answer throughout the presentation as well as after the slides were completed. There was a desire by the Group to get the “good word” out to the public and interest by all involved in exploring ways to make this happen. It was also suggested that this topic be in the Onondaga Lake Annual Report being prepared by the DEC. Asked about the possibility of long term need for the nitrate addition program, the reply was that there was on-going study and a lot of inter-annual variations as far as doses and term of application. Currently, the applications occur from June to early fall to coincide with the circulation of the deeper and upper water.
3. Meeting Date: Jeff asked Aimee to create a doodle poll to see what the preference for the next meeting was. He felt the presence of a DEC representative was a critical consideration to when we meet.
4. Dredging and Capping Operation: Craig reported that the dredging has benefited from the good weather and is almost 45% complete (the 2013 goal was 50% completion). That figure equals approximately 890,000 cubic yards dredged.
5. Watershed Coordinator Update (Aimee): Due to time, Aimee will present her summary of programs via email before the November meeting. We will discuss them further at the November meeting. Part of that discussion will also involve the DEC Annual Report on Onondaga Lake which Aimee is also working on. A couple of high schools are already proceeding with curriculums that involve the future of the Lake.
6. Jack circulated an information sheet produced by Lockheed-Martin regarding the proposed Bloody Brook voluntary site cleanup. There was a public meeting October 8th.
Meeting was adjourned at 6:05PM.
http://www.upstatefreshwater.org/html/onondaga_lake.html
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001393511300073X (most of the graphs are here; abstract was handed out at the meeting)
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2013/10/onondaga_lake_cleanup_mercury_honeywell_success_95_percent.html#incart_river