The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), as Natural Resource Trustees for the settlement with Honeywell International, Inc., today released the final addendum to the Onondaga Lake Natural Resource Damage Assessment Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment (RP/EA). This addendum provides updates and modifications to projects implemented since the 2018 agreement between the Trustees, Honeywell International Inc., and Onondaga County, New York.
As a result of historic industrial activities, mercury and other hazardous substances were released into Onondaga Lake, its tributaries, and nearby lands for decades. Natural resources including surface water, fish, birds, mammals, and other wildlife were exposed to and adversely affected by these contaminants. The 2018 agreement outlined 19 specific projects to be conducted by Honeywell and $5 million for additional projects as compensation for the impacts of the contamination to natural resources.
Residents and visitors to Onondaga County are already experiencing positive impacts from the projects. More than four miles of paved recreational trails and a universally accessible kayak launch, fishing jetty, and fishing pier now allow users of all abilities to take part in near-shore and deep-water fishing opportunities. Additionally, more than 1,200 acres were conserved, restored, and enhanced.
The Onondaga Nation’s ancestral lands stretch south past Binghamton and north past Watertown, New York. As part of this restoration plan addendum, more than 1,000 acres of ancestral homeland south of Onondaga Lake will be returned to the Onondaga Nation for protection, restoration, healing and caretaking. Another project, led by the Central New York Land Trust in partnership with the Nation, will create and implement educational programs for City of Syracuse and Onondaga Nation students at the 300-acre Pleasant Valley Preserve, located on ancestral lands west of the lake.
As part of the natural resource damage assessment and restoration process, USFWS and DEC completed a final restoration plan and environmental assessment in 2017 in accordance with 43 C.F.R. §§ 11.82 and 11.93 to inform the public as to the types and scale of restoration actions that were planned to compensate for contaminant-related injuries to natural resources. This addendum to the 2017 RP/EA informs the public about the status of restoration of injured natural resources. The RP/EA Addendum is available at Onondaga Lake Natural Resource Damage Assessment Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment Addendum and other documents are available at https://www.fws.gov/media/onondaga-lake-nrdar.
(FWS)
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