Honeywell spokeswoman Victoria Streitfeld said the reseeding was carried out Tuesday morning as a follow-up to a mixture of fertilizer and native grass, flower and shrub seed applied at in March.
Syracuse, NY -- Honeywell International has applied rye grass seed to the series of low mounds it has built between Onondaga Lake and Interstate 690 near the Syracuse-Geddes border.
Honeywell spokeswoman Victoria Streitfeld said the reseeding was carried out Tuesday morning as a follow-up to a mixture of fertilizer and native grass and flower seed applied in March.
Little of that seed sprouted, and more than two months later, the mounds remain barren in appearance for the most part.
“On Tuesday, based on the recommendation of a seed specialist, rye grass was added to help the native seeds grow by holding moisture in the soil and providing shade during the summer,” she said. “Both the native seed and the rye grass have begun to sprout and will continue to be monitored and watered as needed throughout the summer.”
The mounds were built of material excavated from Wastebed B along the lake shore. The material was excavated as part of project to build a wall to keep contaminated groundwater from reaching the lake.
The wall is part of the larger project to clean up the lake. Honeywell is responsible for the cleanup cost, now estimated at $451 million.
Honeywell is testing the excavated wastebed material to determine what chemical compounds or contaminants it contains.
Department of Environmental Conservation spokeswoman Stephanie Harrington said the test results should be available by the end of June.
John Stith can be reached at jstith@syracuse.com or at 251-5718.