1884: The Solvay Process Company (later to become Allied-Signal Corp.) begins production of soda ash.
1918: The Solvay Process Company begins production of organic chemicals.
1940: Swimming is banned.
1946: Allied begins chlorine production and discharges mercury into the lake.
1960: Construction of the Onondaga County Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant (Metro) is completed. 1970: Fishing is banned. Due to the discovery of mercury in the lake's fishery, the US Attorney General sues Allied-Signal to stop mercury dumping. The amount of mercury discharged to the lake is calculated to be 22 lb/day.
1977: Allied closes chlorinated benzene plant and Willis Avenue chlor-alkali plant. 1979: Metro is upgraded to secondary and tertiary treatment. 1986: Allied closes soda ash manufacturing operations.
Calcium carbonate
Mercury
Clay
Silt
Phosphorus
Ammonia
Nitrite
Pathogenic bacteria and viruses
PCBs
chlorinated benzenes
chloride, sodium, and calcium (salts)
Phosphorus leads to algae growth which impacts the lake's water clarity and when the algae die, oxygen is consumed which leads to depletion of oxygen in the lake.
The Allied chlor-alkali facility discharged an estimated 165,000 pounds of mercury to Onondaga Lake from 1946 until 1970. Scientists estimate that 7 million cubic yards of the lake sediments remain contaminated.
Methyl mercury, formed in aquatic systems through the activity of certain bacteria, is among the most poisonous chemicals known. If all the mercury in the average fever thermometer were converted to methyl mercury, it would be enough to render more than 10,000 one pound largemouth bass unfit for human consumption.
To do:
Sunday: Search for information for label - everyone
Make label - Blair
Monday: Buy water bottles and poster board - Blair
Buy water bottles - Pierson
Make water bottles - everyone
Wednesday: Bring camera: Blair, Pierson
Do project: everyone
Introduction: Alyssa
Before we talk about our project, I want to quickly go over some of the history of Onondaga Lake:... Now that we’re all on the same page, we’ll talk a little about our proposed project.
Project: Pierson
We don’t think enough has been done to clean up Onondaga Lake, so we are planning to perform, after class today, a piece of public art. We bought these bottles of water and changed the labels so that they say Onondaga Lake Water. Additionally, we created a Nutrition chart on the back listing some of the toxins in Onondaga Lake, which include:…
Outcome: Blair
As we pass these out, we plan to give the subjects some startling facts about the toxins in Onondaga Lake, like:… We plan to document their reactions. We’re not expecting a certain reaction, but instead we’re kind of carrying out an experiment to see what happens and how people react, kind oh like the Panhandling for Reparations or the Couple in the Cage. That’s about it, and you guys can stop on by if you want to check out what we’re doing. We’re going to be on the quad or in the general area.
