DEC and Honeywell present controversial Onondaga Lake plan
Posted: 02.11.2010 at 11:22 PM

CAMILLUS -- A plan to clean up Onondaga Lake has some neighbors upset. The Department of Environmental Conservation wants to dredge the lake and dump the toxic sediment in an area of Camillus called wastebed 13. The problem is, housing developments have sprung up there since the plan was made.

Thursday night, representatives from the DEC and Honeywell presented their sides to the public. People at the meeting say they're worried about what toxic sediment could do if it's placed near their homes.

Colleen Feshinger lives in Camillus. she says, "It just seems like there are promises and they're always broken promises. Why not put it in a licensed facility where we don't have to monitor our air quality for 30 years."

A representative from the DEC says there are safeguards in place. Ken Lynch says, "We don't think it's going to leak. We think it is designed efficiently. However we have containment in place. We'll be monitoring groundwater, we'll be monitoring the air, so if there are any emissions or any leaking contaminants they will be caught immediately

Honeywell says it's still working on a final design for the containment unit to keep sediment in wastebed 13. However, the company says it is moving forward with the plan.