New York AG starts $400K grant program for restoring acid-rain damaged Adirondack waterways

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced the creation of a $400,000 grant program to fund projects aimed at restoring hundreds of lakes and streams in the Adirondacks still damaged by acid-rain pollution.

He says the Adirondack Acid Rain Recovery Program will invest in “scientific solutions” to help identify the most efficient and effective approaches to reversing acid rain’s continuing negative effects on Adirondack bodies of water.

The Attorney General’s office obtained funding for the program in a multi-state settlement with Cinergy Corp., now Duke Energy Corp., over violations of the federal Clean Air Act.

“The Adirondacks are one of New York’s most treasured natural resources, providing tremendous recreational, ecological and economic benefits to our state,” Schneiderman said in a news release. “The Adirondack Acid Rain Recovery Program will speed the recovery of hundreds of lakes and streams by identifying the most effective tools available for reversing the damages of acid rain.

Even though acid rain has decreased significantly in recent years, more than 500 water bodies in the Adirondacks are estimated by scientists to still be damaged from its effects, according to the attorney general’s office.

The grant program, aimed at jumpstarting research projects for reducing the impacts of acid-rain pollution and advancing recovery in the Adirondack environment, will be administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

The authority will conduct an open, competitive project solicitation and grant-award process, according to the release. Some of the projects are expected to involve testing newly designed methods for neutralizing acidity in soils and waters. NYSERDA also expects to fund corresponding efforts to reverse the environmental damage of acid rain in the Adirondacks.

Acid rain results when air emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, generated primarily by coal-fired power plants, interact in the atmosphere to form acid compounds that fall to earth in the form of rain, the release explained. “When acid rain falls on the Adirondacks, it acidifies forest soils (thus reducing growth and survival of tree species) and acidifies lakes and other waterbodies (which harms the growth and survival of fish and other aquatic organisms.). These environmental damages in-turn reduce recreational and economic opportunities in the region.”

The 2010 multi-state settlement with Cinergy came after the company failed to install technology to control sulfur-dioxide emissions at its Midwestern coal-fired plants in violation of the New Source Review provisions of the federal Clean Air Act, according to the attorney general’s office.

In addition to providing funds to establish the Adirondack Acid Rain Recovery Program, the settlement also required Cinergy to modify its operations and control pollution at its facilities. These steps have reduced sulfur-dioxide emissions by 35,000 tons per year, according to a recent federal-government estimate cited in the release.

Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com