Onondaga County has had high hopes in becoming one of the nation’s leaders in the advancement of green technology and being more environmentally friendly.
Now those hopes are even more realistic. New York State has awarded the county with $20 million in stimulus funding to help renovate the aging sewage system in the county, Governor David A. Paterson and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced on Friday.
County Executive Joanne Mahoney told how she and Onondaga County Government convinced the state that with the stimulus money, they could effectively slow down the movement of dirty rain water into Onondaga Lake, one of the most polluted bodies of water in the country.
“If we asked each individual to move their drain spout from the concrete to their landscape, there would be 17% less rain water in the sewage system,” Mahoney said.
This is a major victory for local activist groups in favor of cleaning up the lake water, which has been a trying effort over time as the lake has gathered excessive levels of phosphorus, ammonia, nitrate and mercury, and thus reducing oxygen availability in the water.
The $20 million awarded is meant for multiple sewer renovation projects in Onondaga County. How much money will be allocated for each project was expected to be sorted out by yesterday, but Physical Services Administrator Jean Smiley was unavailable for comment today.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment