UPDATED: Oct 2, 2018 at 5:50 p.m.

Jim Mollica and his 20-year-old son, Alex, wrapped up an afternoon at Onondaga Lake Sunday night as the sun set. Their biggest catch was about four and a half pounds.

Jim and Alex, bass fishermen, said this time of year at Onondaga Lake is the best lake to fish in the area because the fish are big and healthy. They’d rather fish here than Lake Ontario, Cazenovia Lake or Oneida Lake.

“We’re impressed by the fact that the lake is starting to clean up,” said Jim, a native of Syracuse. “It looks like it’s kinda getting there. I’m very hopeful, because this was a disaster for many, many years.”

Once considered the most polluted lake in the United States, Onondaga Lake has undergone a cleanup project over the past several decades. Honeywell, the company found to be responsible for much of the lake’s pollution, partnered with Onondaga County on the project. Together, they’ve have spent more than $1 billion on the project.

Honeywell announced in June that it had finished a state-mandated plan for monitoring the cleanup. Travis Glazier, director of the Onondaga County Office of the Environment, said there are no more harmful algae blooms on the lake. The phosphorous-to-nitrate balance of the lake is controlled, he said, and the county is managing sewage overflows.

But there are mounting tensions between county officials and environmentalists over how clean the lake actually is and about whether the cleanup is effective. Environmentalists, as well as the Onondaga Nation, have said there are still toxins in the lake.

“Almost all of the chemical pollutants and toxins are being left in place,” said Joe Heath, general counsel for the Onondaga Nation. “Our grandchildren will have to try to clean this up, all the pollution left in place.”

Heath is unimpressed with the cleanup, he said.

The county and Honeywell say the lake is at its cleanest level in more than 100 years. Dredging of the contaminated lake bottom was completed in 2014, according to Syracuse.com. A landfill was built for the dredged sediments, and 475 acres were capped with a sand mixture.

Glazier said the entire lake is swimmable — he boats and swims in the lake himself — and mercury amounts are decreasing. The county has invested more than $750 million to improve phosphorus and nitrate levels. He added there are monitoring stations throughout the lake.

Glazier sees the lake as an engine in the city’s turnaround. The Onondaga County Office of the Environment is conducting a study on the feasibility of a beach for swimming, he said. Swimming was banned at Onondaga Lake in 1940, though it is now legal.

While there once wasn’t enough oxygen for many fish to live in the lake, there are now 64 species of fish, Glazier said.

By 1928, industrial pollution and sewage turned Onondaga Lake into one of the most polluted lakes in the country. There were only 10 species of fish, according to a 1928 survey. Fishing was banned in 1972 because of mercury contamination.

“We always believed we lost a lot of young people to other areas (because of the pollution),” Glazier said. “When we had this opportunity to clean (the lake), it was thought this would draw people back to the area.”

Michael Greene, a Syracuse councilor-at-large who has experience in real estate, said the lake’s smell and pollution drove down property and economic values near the lake. The county wants the Inner Harbor’s restaurants and apartments, many of which are yet to be built, to connect the lake with downtown Syracuse.

“We’re essentially building a neighborhood,” Greene said.

It’s now common to see people bicycling, fishing and swimming in and around the lake.

“We love this lake,” Mollica said. “There’s been a real stigma to Onondaga Lake, and now people really love this lake, right in the middle of the city.”

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this post, the source of the lake cleanup funding was misstated. Honeywell and Onondaga County funded the project. The Daily Orange regrets this error. 

Published on September 25, 2018 at 10:22 pm

Contact Matthew: mguti100@syr.edu | @MatthewGut21