SYRACUSE, N.Y. — F.O.C.U.S. Greater Syracuse, Inc. will host a forum on July 18 to discuss the next step in restoring Onondaga Lake after the main cleanup is complete.
The organization announced that Kenneth Lynch, regional director for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation; Alma Lowery, attorney with the Law Office of Joseph Heath, general counsel to the Onondaga Nation; and Anne Secord, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist with the U.S. Department of Interior, will present “F.O.C.U.S. on Onondaga Lake’s Damage Assessment: The Role Of The Natural Resource Damage Assessment In The Restoration Of Onondaga Lake” at the City Hall Commons Atrium at 201 E. Washington St. in downtown Syracuse. The discussion will run from 7:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.
Over the past several years, Honeywell has made significant progress on its Onondaga Lake cleanup efforts, according to a F.O.C.U.S. news release. Although Honeywell estimates that the cleanup will be finished in 2016, that is “far from the final step in the process.” The Superfund law that ordered Honeywell to do the cleanup also contains a separate provision that requires Honeywell to pay for damages that occurred because of the pollution, called the “natural resources damages assessment” (NRDA). That assessment could take two to three years to complete and is overseen by the U.S. Department of Interior, the state Department of Environmental Conservation, and the Onondaga Nation. For nearly a decade, these three trustees have been working to assess the damage and look at ways the community can be paid back for its losses, according to the F.O.C.U.S. release.
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At the next F.O.C.U.S. Forum, the group will be discussing the role of the NRDA in the restoration of Onondaga Lake. F.O.C.U.S. said it invites anyone in the community interested in learning more about the process, including:
- What is a damage assessment plan?
- How are the damages quantified?
- How is the restoration plan determined?
- What is the role of the public in the NRDA process?
A question and answer discussion section will follow the presentation. The event is free to the public and all are welcome.
F.O.C.U.S. says its Forum Group meetings cover a variety of topics of interest to the citizens of Onondaga County and Central New York. They are open to the public, are free of charge, and are held from 7.30 a.m. to 8.45 a.m. on the third Friday of every month in the City Hall Commons.
F.O.C.U.S. says it is a nonprofit organization that “engages in citizen-centered research, public policy and public education, enabling citizens to work with governments, businesses, and other nonprofits to make sustainable, fact-based decisions that improve the quality of life and economic future” of Central New York.
