The company says work on the wastebed must begin this summer so it will be ready to receive sediment dredged from the bottom of Onondaga Lake.
View full sizeMichelle Scott, of Camillus, listens to Alec Baldwin speak during the April 17 Camillus Community Coalition press conference at Corso's Cookies in Geddes. Seated with her are her sons, Brandon (left) and Connor, both 6. Honeywell is asking the state to be exempted from the town permit process to allow the project to move forward.Camillus, NY -- Honeywell International has asked the state to allow it to go ahead with a plan to bury contaminated Onondaga Lake sediment without the permission of the town of Camillus.
Honeywell, in a letter to the state Department of Environmental Conservation dated June 24, said the company believes the local permit process will substantially delay the sediment project, which part of the overall Onondaga Lake cleanup. (Click here to read the letter.)
The company plans to pump sediment to Wastebed 13, an old AlliedSignal waste disposal area off Airport Road. The sediment will be piped to Wastebed 13, where the water will be drained, treated and eventually returned to the lake. The remaining solids will be buried in the wastebed.
The town board passed a resolution Feb. 1 opposing the sediment plan.
According to Honeywell’s letter to DEC Project Manager Timothy Larson, the resolution “is clear evidence that the board will seek to prevent Honeywell form obtaining the necessary local permits and approvals for (Wastebed 13).”
Honeywell spokeswoman Victoria Streitfeld said work on the wastebed must begin this summer so the area will be ready for the sediment. The company must comply with deadlines set in a court-approved consent order to clean up the lake. “Under federal and state law, local permits are not required when companies are doing Superfund projects under government supervision,” she said.
She said that even though Honeywell doesn’t need local permits, it “will comply with all substantive requirements under Camillus statutes.”
The sediment contains mercury, PCBs and other contaminants. State and federal environmental regulators have said the level of contamination in the sediment is relatively low and poses no health risk to the public.
Town officials and residents believe that burying the sediment only moves the contamination from the lake to the wastebed, which is near several residential developments, and jeopardizes groundwater and the overall environment of the area.
At a meeting last Thursday, residents urged the DEC to consider using new technology that could neutralize or greatly reduce the contamination levels of the sediment rather than just bury it as is.
Tom Gdula, who lives in one of the developments, said the Honeywell letter raises other concerns. “Who really runs the town?” he asked. “Is it Honeywell? Is it the DEC? Is it the town officials?”
John Stith can be reached at jstith@syracuse.com or at 251-5718.