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Onondaga Lake

Site Description

The Onondaga Lake site includes the Lake itself, seven major and other minor tributaries, and upland sources of contamination to the Lake (sub-sites). The Lake has an areal extent of about 4.5 square miles, with a drainage basin of approximately 233 square miles. Effluent from the Metropolitan Syracuse Sewage Treatment Plant discharges into the southeastern end of the Lake. The Lake flows to the northwest into the Seneca River. Historically, industrial processing plants and municipal wastewater treatment plants routinely discharged their wastes into the Lake. The availability of salt and limestone led to the location of the Solvay Process Company, the predecessor to AlliedSignal, Inc.(Honeywell International, Inc. is a successor corporation of the former AlliedSignal, Inc.), on the west shore of the Lake for the production of soda ash. Today, vast areas on the western shoreline are occupied by the "Solvay waste beds," which contain by-products of the company's soda ash production. In 1946, AlliedSignal initiated a mercury cell process which produced chlorine, sodium hydroxide, and potassium hydroxide at its facility on Willis Avenue, and later expanded to include a facility on Bridge Street. Waste streams containing mercury and other heavy metals were discharged by these facilities. Honeywell's Semet Residue Ponds, which contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from facilities associated with the production of benzene and chlorinated benzene, are another source of contamination to the Lake. Other industrial and manufacturing facilities are also located along the shore or tributaries to the Lake and may be sources of contamination to the Lake. Onondaga Lake adjoins park lands owned by Onondaga County. Public fishing was banned from the Lake in 1970, but the Lake was opened to allow catchandrelease fishing in 1986.

Site Responsibility:

The site is being addressed through federal, state, and potentially responsible parties' actions.

NPL LISTING HISTORY

Proposed Date: 05/10/93
Final Date: 12/16/94

Threats and Contaminants  

Surface water is contaminated with mercury. Sediments are contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); pesticides; creosotes; heavy metals, including lead, cobalt, and mercury; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; and VOCs. The ground water at the Willis Avenue Plant is also contaminated. Several species of fish native to the Lake have high concentrations of mercury. Contact with or ingestion of contaminated ground water, surface water, or sediments could pose a health threat.

Cleanup Approach

This site is being addressed in two stages: interim remedial measures (IRMs) and a longterm remedial action focusing on the clean up of the sub-sites.

Response Action Status

Interim Remedial Measures: Chlorobenzene is presently being removed from wells at the Willis Avenue sub-site as an IRM. In March 2000, an IRM at the LCP-Bridge Street sub-site to remove portions of the on-site sewers, which were releasing mercury-contaminated water into the West Flume and East Ditch, and to plug the downgradient ends of these sewers was completed. Also, at the LCP-Bridge Street sub-site, IRMs entailing the demolition of most of the on-site structures and the Diaphragm and Mercury Cell Building are currently underway. The Diaphragm and Mercury Cell Building Demolition IRM will, in part, consist of removing and recycling elemental mercury from cells inside the Mercury Cell Building, followed by the decontamination and demolition of the buildings.

Entire Site: Much of the investigative and remedial work at the various sub-sites is being performed by the potentially responsible parties (PRPs), pursuant to enforcement agreements between the individual PRPs and the State. EPA has provided approximately $12.5 million to the State, through a cooperative agreement, for the performance of remedial investigation and feasibility study (RI/FS) activities, coordination and management of the independent sub-site studies, oversight of PRP-conducted activities, implementation of a site-wide citizen participation program, creation and maintenance of a site-wide data base, and establishment of a comprehensive enforcement program.

In 1998, EPA concurred with the remedy selected in a Record of Decision (ROD) issued by New York State for the Ley Creek PCB Dredgings sub-site. The remedy (excavation of PCB-contaminated soils, on-site disposal under a cap, and off-site treatment/disposal), which commenced in December 1999, was completed in November 2000.

In September 2000, EPA concurred with the remedy selected in a ROD issued by New York State for the LCP Bridge Street sub-site. The selected remedy includes a combination of excavation and on- and off-site treatment/disposal of contaminated soils and sediments, and the construction of a cap, slurry wall, and groundwater extraction and treatment system. New York State is presently negotiating a Consent Order with the responsible party for the performance of the design and construction of the selected remedy.

An RI/FS was recently completed by the PRP at the Semet Residue Ponds sub-site. It is anticipated that a remedy for this sub-site will be selected in late 2001.

RI/FSs are presently being performed by the PRPs at eight sub-sites-Geddes Brook/Ninemile Creek, General Motors: Inland Fisher Guide, Niagara Mohawk (Erie Boulevard), Niagara Mohawk (Hiawatha Boulevard), Onondaga Lake Bottoms, Salina Town Landfill, Maestri 2, and Willis Avenue. It is anticipated that the RI/FSs will be completed at all of these sub-sites by 2003.

RI/FS negotiations with the respective PRPs are currently underway at the American Bag and Metal and Lockheed Martin - Electronics Park (Bloody Brook) sub-sites.

Assessments are currently being performed at a number of potential sub-sites to determine whether they contributed contamination to or threaten to contribute contamination to Onondaga Lake.

Site Facts: In early 1992, AlliedSignal, Inc. entered into a Consent Decree with New York State, requiring the company to perform an RI/FS to investigate the nature, extent, and effect of the contaminants it contributed to the Lake and to evaluate remedial alternatives. The State has entered into a number of consent orders with AlliedSignal, Inc. and other PRPs for the performance of investigations at various sub-sites. A comprehensive enforcement program has been initiated to identify other PRPs who may have played a role in the contamination of the Lake.

Cleanup Progress
(Studies Underway; Initial Remedial Measures Completed; Initial Remedial Measures Underway; and Remediation Underway)

EPA and New York State have determined that the site poses no immediate threat to human health or the environment while studies are being performed. To date, approximately 20,027 gallons of chlorobenzene has been removed from wells at the Willis Avenue sub-site.

Site Repositories

Onondaga County Public Library, Syracuse Branch at the Galleries, 447 South Salina Street, Syracuse, NY

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Region 7 Office, 615 Erie Blvd., West, Syracuse, NY 13204

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, 50 Wolf Road, Room 224, Albany, NY 12233

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