Fishing in a Superfund Site: Onondaga Lake’s Road to Recovery

View from the shore of Onondaga Lake
View from the shore of Onondaga Lake

Bee Kavanaugh

Related Topics:
Public Health, Storyfest 2025, Water

Solvay Processes, now known as Honeywell, spent decades polluting Onondaga Lake in Syracuse, New York in the production of Soda Ash – integral for many industries in the area – as well as mercury. In 1970, a fishing ban was put into place; the US Attorney General estimated 25 pounds of mercury were being dumped in the lake everyday. As a result, Onondaga Lake was designated as a federal Superfund site in 1994. The Superfund site includes the lake bottom and subsites around the lake and along tributaries. In 2005, Honeywell agreed with New York State to begin partial cleanup of the lake 

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Fishing in a Superfund Site: Onondaga Lake's Road to Recovery
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