Onondaga Lake

Concerns about Onondaga Lake cleanup remain as a key phase nears completion
By JP Hadley
April 4, 2017 - 11:45am
The dredging phase of the lake wrapped up in 2014, but as the process of capping the lake bottom nears completion, Onondaga Nation still has concerns about the cleanup.

The Onondaga Lake cleanup has moved on to the next phase in the project.

The dredging process – where tons of contaminated sediment from the lake bottom are moved to another location in the lake to ease coastal erosion, was completed in 2014. The work on capping the lake, which involves covering 579 acres of the lake's bottom with a layer of sand to keep the underlying mercury and other toxins in place, is still underway. However, not all parties are satisfied with the cleanup process.

From classroom to lakefront: the story of Onondaga Lake
By Gwendolyn Craig
May 10, 2013 - 2:28pm
Students at Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF recount the history of Onondaga Lake through puppets, poetry, music and art.

Geoffrey Navias tends to have a deadpan expression most of the time. But when he dons a mask or works with a puppet, his movements bring the character to life.

“Creative art is a lie,” the artistic director of Open Hand Theater told a room full of Syracuse University and State University of New York Environmental Science and Forestry students on a recent Saturday morning in The Warehouse downtown.  “It’s a lie. It’s not really here. 

Onondaga Lake cleanup project begins after 15 years of planning
By Gwendolyn Craig
October 16, 2012 - 5:44am
Syracuse companies begin four year process of dredging toxic waste from Onondaga Lake.

Before the dredging on Onondaga Lake began this past summer, Monday nights were bocce nights at the lake’s park. There was gossip, laughter and the clicks of metal hitting metal.  As soon as the wind blew, however, the air became pungent, giving the lake away. 

The stench made the bocce players’ noses wrinkle, but they kept playing. 

Far across on the west and southwest shores, the waters began to stir.

Environmentalist brings community attention to hydrofracking
By Gwendolyn Craig
September 26, 2012 - 10:00pm
Jack Ramsden's life dedication is to spread the news about hydrofracking and other environmental issues in Central New York.

If you Google “hydrofracking lease maps in Onondaga County,” the first link will bring you to a map that looks as if it’s stained with dried blood. The drips and drabs congregate mostly in Skaneateles, Marcellus, Onondaga, Spafford, Otisco and Tully, but slowly creep higher into other parts of Central New York.

Summer in Syracuse? There's no excuse not to be outside
By Jared Diamond
June 12, 2010 - 6:05pm
If you have to spend the summer in Syracuse, you may as well enjoy it. We suggest several great local parks for when the weather heats up.

It seems hard to believe sometimes, but Syracuse is hot during the summer months! When the snow finally melts for good and the temperature rises, Central New York becomes a lovely place to be.

To Syracuse's new mayor
By Amy Su
January 6, 2010 - 1:19am
As Stephanie Miner takes office, community leaders expect her to do more to address the environment and development.

For a better and greener Syracuse, people expect the new mayor Stephanie Miner to make important decisions in projects related to sustainability and the environment during her term.

“I think the character of her leadership will be very different than the past few mayors,” said Deb Warner, vice president for public policy and government relations in Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce.