good news!

Federal judge approves Onondaga County using green technology to reduce Onondaga Lake pollution
By Tim Knauss / The Post-Standard (Syracuse)
November 16, 2009, 7:32PM

Onondaga County's plan to use trees, vegetated roofs, rain gardens, permeable pavement and rain barrels - instead of three new sewage treatment plants - to reduce sewer overflows polluting tributaries of Onondaga Lake was approved Monday by U.S. District Judge Frederick Scullin. In this file photo from August 2009, the sun rises over the lake. Syracuse, NY - Onondaga County got the final go-ahead Monday to scrap plans for three new sewage plants — including one in Armory Square — and instead reduce sewer overflows with trees, vegetated roofs, rain gardens, permeable pavement and rain barrels.

U.S. District Judge Frederick Scullin on Monday signed a new consent order between U.S. District Judge Frederick Scullin the county, the state Department of Environmental Conservation and Atlantic States Legal Foundation, a nonprofit group that sued the county in 1988 to stop its pollution of Onondaga Lake.

The new agreement replaces a court order that required the county to build a series of sewage plants along tributaries of the lake. The parties to the lawsuit — along with environmentalists and neighborhood activists who opposed building sewage plants — hailed the new consent order as a breakthrough that could change the face of Syracuse.

“Just imagine half a million more trees in our city,” said Joseph Heath, an attorney representing the Onondaga Nation, who helped hammer out the agreement.

DEC officials have said Onondaga County will likely set an example for other New York communities in how to use “green infrastructure” to handle urban runoff.

County Executive Joanie Mahoney laid the groundwork in 2008 when, just three weeks after taking office, she halted plans for a controversial $128 million sewage plant in Armory Square, where site work had already begun. Mahoney, the DEC and Atlantic States then sought permission from Scullin to hammer out a deal that would emphasize green measures.

Mahoney said she hopes the new plan will revitalize the community by cleaning its waterways in environmentally friendly ways.

“This is truly changing the prospects for Syracuse and Central New York,’’ Mahoney said. “And it’s probably going to be among the biggest accomplishments that I’ll have in this job, to get the federal court to change the direction we’re in.’’

Instead of a sewage plant along Onondaga Creek in Armory Square, the county will build a 3.7 million-gallon underground storage tank there to hold sewer overflows until they can be processed at the county’s Metro sewage treatment plant. The Armory Square tank will be installed by December 2013. Two additional storage tanks will be built along Harbor Brook, also by 2013.

Through a combination of storage tanks, new sewers and green infrastructure, the county is expected to prevent at least 95 percent of storm runoff from reaching waterways by 2018. The sewage system now captures about 85 percent each year, or 400 million gallons less.

The new court order gives the county until 2011 — roughly three extra years — to demonstrate its ability to restrict phosphorous emissions into Onondaga Lake. The order also calls for new scientific studies examining phosphorous in the lake.

Tim Knauss can be reached at tknauss@syracuse.com or 470-3023.

© 2009 syracuse.com. All rights reserved.

8th Annual Onondaga Creek Clean Up

Saturday, September 12th & 19th
and this year it will be COMPLETELY COMMUNITY RUN!
That mean it’s up to us to get the job done!

We need volunteers to:
- clear trash/debris on the Creek banks and in the water.
- bring canoes to haul our "treasures"

We'll get dirty, we'll get wet, and we'll make our city a better place to live!

SIGN UP TODAY!

Bob Graham 396-2944 or bob153g@msn.com
Steve Seleway 345-2727 or selent@msn.com

Readers' Page for August 19, 2009

Trees, rain gardens key to controlling sewage overflow

Posted by Readers' Page August 19, 2009, Categories: Letters
Angela Madonia/The Post-Standard

CORNELL COOPERATIVE Extension workers and volunteers work on a rain garden in Skaneateles last summer.

To the Editor:

The Partnership for Onondaga Creek fully supports the county's efforts to use green infrastructure, sewer separation and storage to avoid having to build any more swirler plants. In response to Peter E. Moffa's Aug. 12 letter, Mr. Moffa is missing the point.

First, it is important that everyone understand that green infrastructure is not going to solve the combined sewer overflow problems single-handedly, nor has that been proposed. Green infrastructure will, however, delay and reduce the volume of "peak flow" -- the point that overwhelms our current system. It makes it possible to design further "gray" capacity -- such as underground storage -- to capture the increased volume of water in our sewers and send it to the Metro treatment plant after the peak has passed.

We taxpayers have invested a lot of money in Metro's upgrades over the past decade. The reduction in ammonia and phosphorous that was formerly getting into Onondaga Lake and mucking up the ecosystem is applauded. It is important to understand that Mr. Moffa's swirler only treats for bacteria, and poorly at that. All of the phosphorous and ammonia pollution continues to go into Onondaga Creek.

Thankfully, the Midland sewage plant is at "50 percent capacity" as Mr. Moffa says, so it doesn't overflow very often, and most of the sewage goes on to Metro for full treatment.

The 12-foot-in-diameter pipe -- big enough to drive a bus through -- that he wanted to put alongside Onondaga Creek to "complete" the project, resulting in the disruption of 60 more homes, is currently on hold, in favor of green infrastructure.

Rain gardens, street trees, green roofs and other green infrastructure designs not only reduce runoff and pollution, they help beautify our community. Their simple presence helps educate people about how we can care for the watersheds we live in. As shown by Sustainable South Bronx's projects, installing green infrastructure can provide good jobs and pride in our community, both of which are badly needed in Syracuse.

Swirlers cost more than $120 million apiece. There are three more planned, according to the Amended Consent Judgment: one in Armory Square and two on Harbor Brook in Environmental Justice communities. Let's invest that money in ways that are of benefit to a community, instead of a stigma.

So, we must say, Mr. Moffa, that your design and the placement of the Midland plant in a residential community stink. We should know; you built it in our neighborhood.

Lindsay Speer, Richard Vallejo, Vernell Bentley, Elmore Davis, Tarki Heath, Louise Poindexter, Joanne Stevens and Aggie Lane

hydrofracturing drilling for natural gas in Central NY

This is an important water issue that a lot of people don't know about. You can listen to a radio piece about it on WRVO:
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wrvo/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1535101

green jobs for Syracuse

On May 20 at the Spa at 500, with help from Hanah Ehrenreich of CNY Works, the Partnership for Onondaga Creek held a city-wide meeting on green jobs and green job training. Thirty-seven people, representing educators, agencies, organizations, and contractors attended the meeting.

Check out the updates at the website for the Partnership here:
http://onondagacreek.org/