Onondaga Lake
View from Onondaga Lake Park with the Syracuse skyline in the background
Location	Syracuse,New York
Basin countries	United States
Max length	5 mi (8 km)
Max width	1 mi (1.5 km)
Surface area	4.6 sq mi (11.9 km²)
Max depth	73 ft (22 m)

Onondaga Lake is northwest of the city of Syracuse, New York and south of Lake Ontario. Water outflows from the lake to Lake Ontario through the Oswego River. The lake is five miles (8 kilometers) long and a mile (1.5 kilometers) wide. It has an area of 4.6 square miles (11.9 square kilometers) and has a maximum depth of 73 feet (22 meters). Although it is near the Finger Lakes region, it is not traditionally counted as one of the Finger Lakes. Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... A drainage basin is the area within the drainage basin divide (blue outline), and drains the surface runoff and river discharge (green lines) of a contiguous area. ... Nickname: Location of Syracuse within the state of New York Coordinates: , City Government  - Mayor Matthew Driscoll (D) Area  - City 66. ... Lake Ontario, bounded on the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south by Ontarios Niagara Peninsula and by New York State, USA, is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. ... For other uses, see Lake (disambiguation). ... The Oswego River is a river in upstate New York in the United States of America. ... The Finger Lakes, a major tourist destination in the west-central section of Upstate New York, are actually eleven in number, but only seven of the largest are commonly identified as such. ...

Around 1450 or possibly earlier, Onondaga Lake was the site of the founding of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy. According to legend, at this spot the warlike Onondaga chief Tadodaho was persuaded by Hiawatha and Deganawidah (the Peacemaker) to accept the Great Law of Peace. Historically, the lake and the surrounding area was a site of salt springs and later salt mining. The salt was distributed throughout the north-east via the Erie Canal; Irish immigrants working in this industry created the local dish of salt potatoes. // March - French troops under Guy de Richemont besiege the English commander in France, Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, in Caen. ... The Haudenosaunee is the traditional leadership of the Iroquois Confederacy, comprised of the six Native American nations of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk and Tuscarora. ... For other uses of the name Hiawatha, see Hiawatha (disambiguation). ... Deganawidah, means “Two River Currents Flowing Together. ... Gayanashagowa or the Great Law of Peace of the Iroquois (or Haudenosaunee) Six Nations is the oral constitution that created the Iroquois Confederacy. ... A salt mine is an operation involved in the extraction of salt. ... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ...

Today, Onondaga Lake is a severely polluted lake, one of the most polluted bodies of water in the world,^[1] primarily due to industrial dumping. It's advised not to fish or swim in the lake. The lake has high levels of mercury, salt, phosphorus, and ammonia. The EPA has declared it a hazardous waste site. Recently, an effort has been made to clean up the water in the lake. The lake is also the subject of a land rights action filed in 2005 by the Onondaga Nation. Air pollution Pollution is the introduction of pollutants (whether chemical substances, or energy such as noise, heat, or light) into the environment to such a point that its effects become harmful to human health, other living organisms, or the environment. ... General Name, Symbol, Number mercury, Hg, 80 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 12, 6, d Appearance silvery Standard atomic weight 200. ... R-phrases 36 S-phrases none Flash point Non-flammable Related Compounds Other anions NaF, NaBr, NaI Other cations LiCl, KCl, RbCl, CsCl, MgCl2, CaCl2 Related salts Sodium acetate Supplementary data page Structure and properties n, εr, etc. ... General Name, symbol, number phosphorus, P, 15 Chemical series nonmetals Group, period, block 15, 3, p Appearance waxy white/ red/ black/ colorless Standard atomic weight 30. ... For other uses, see Ammonia (disambiguation). ... EPA redirects here. ... The Onondaga (Onundagaono or the People of the Hills) are one of the original five constituent tribes of the League of the Iroquois (Hodenosaunee). ...

The lake is surrounded by the city of Syracuse and the suburban area of Solvay, a center of industry in the Syracuse area. Many of the companies in the areas of Solvay and Syracuse are held to blame for the lake's high concentrations of hazardous chemicals. The now defunct Allied Corp., currently owned by Honeywell International is being held responsible for the clean up of the lake for their mass depositing of mercury and salt over the years. From a large municipal discharge the lake in the summer is generally covered in many areas with algae that creates a vile odor that can be smelled for miles. The highest concentration of mercury is believed to be in the tributary of Onondaga Lake known as Nine Mile Creek, which was a major dumping ground for Allied Chemical. Solvay is a village located in Onondaga County, New York. ... Allied Corporation was a major American company with operations in the aerospace, automotive, oil and gas industries. ... Honeywell (NYSE: HON) is a major American multinational corporation that produces electronic control systems and automation equipment. ... General Name, Symbol, Number mercury, Hg, 80 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 12, 6, d Appearance silvery Standard atomic weight 200. ... Algae have conventionally been regarded as simple plants within the study of botany. ... Look up tributary in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Onondaga is the name of some places in North America: Onondaga, Michigan Onondaga, New York Onondaga, Ontario Onondaga County, New York Onondaga Lake Onondaga Reservation, New York Onondaga Township, Michigan Other meanings: Onondaga Native American Iroquois First Nations group Onandaga Cave State Park in Leasburg, Missouri Onondaga Camp Minden,Ontario...

Onondaga County is spending $500 million on a 15-year project to stop polluting the lake with sewage by 2012. The county is under a federal court order to make the lake safe for swimming and fishing and comply with the federal Clean Water Act. Onondaga County is a county located in the state of New York. ... The Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. Â§ 1251, et seq. ...

Timeline 1881 — The Solvay Process Company was incorporated. The main product was soda ash, a substance used to make glass, chemicals (sodium silicates and sodium phosphates), detergents, and paper. 1883 — The Solvay Process Company obtained permission to drill at the shore of Onondaga Lake. 1884 — Soda ash production commenced at about 20 tons per day. Much of the Solvay waste material was discharged directly into Onondaga Lake. Over the years, wastebeds were built in wetlands along the southeast perimeter of the lake 1888 — A caustic soda operation was added (possibly the first mercury cell began discharging mercury into Onondaga Lake). Over the next 10 years, production reaches 500 tons/day. 1907 — The New York State Attorney General threatened the Solvay Process Company with legal action over the direct discharge of Solvay waste material into Onondaga Lake. 1918 — Solvay Process Company begins producing organic chemicals. Waste products were stored in lagoons on site. 1920 — Five chemical companies (including Solvay Process Company) consolidated and formed Allied Chemical and Dye Corporation. 1950 — Chlorine production by mercury cell began. Mercury was discharged directly to Onondaga Lake. 1958 —Allied Chemical and Dye Corporation changed its name to the Allied Chemical Corporation. 1970 —A fishing ban was imposed on Onondaga Lake due to mercury contamination. The US Attorney General sued Allied Chemical in order to halt the dumping of an estimated 25lb of mercury per day. 1981 — The parent company changed its name to the Allied Corporation. The local facility was called the Syracuse works. 1985 — The Allied Corporation merges with the Signal companies and becomes Allied-Signal. The company announces plans to close the Syracuse Works. 1986 — The Syracuse Works ceased production. Allied Corporation began to dismantle the facility. 1989 — New York State filed a lawsuit against Allied-Signal Inc. for past and continuing contamination of Onondaga Lake. 1990 — An undisclosed source of mercury was discovered discharging into Nine Mile Creek (an Onondaga Lake tributary). 1992 — New York State and Allied-Signal Inc. signed an interim Consent Decree detailing the elements of a Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study of the lake to be conducted by Allied-Signal. 1994 — Onondaga Lake-bottom and subsites (such as the waste beds) were added to the Superfund National Priorities List. 1999 — AlliedSignal and Honeywell Inc. merged and became Honeywell Inc.

References

1. ^ "State proposes clean up contamination that creates one of world's most polluted lakes." U.S. Water News Online (August 2000)

http://www.onondaganation.org/etimeline.pdf

External links

• Onondaga Lake Improvement Project
• Onondaga Lake Partnership
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Onondaga Lake
• Our Lake: Central NY Near-Real-Time Surface Water Quality Network
• USA Today: Honeywell agrees to spend $451 million to clean up NY lake
• U.S. Water News Online: State proposes clean up contamination that creates one of world's most polluted lakes
• [1] 1988: David Yarrow halts construction of a new shopping mall on the Onondaga Lake shore, warning of hazardous wastes and gasoline under the site, and of the existence of Kaneenda, an ancient Onondaga Indian fishing village.