Onondaga Lake Cleanup As a child, I grew up in a small neighborhood surrounded by a large forest that backed up to a section of the Erie Canal. The area was any child’s dream playground with plenty of places to hide, and explore. It is because of this that I spent most of my childhood outdoors playing with friends. In fact, it was not a rare occasion that our parents would have to drag us in for dinner, and again when it was time for bed. Many of my fondest memories up to this point come from that portion of my life, and it is because of this that I still enjoy spending time outside. In fact, one of my favorite places to go is Onondaga Lake park. There is plenty to do on the lake including walking, biking, rollerblading, and just
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This is why fishing in the lake was banned along with swimming. Growing up everyone always joked that if you were to go into the lake you would become radioactive and grow an extra body part, it was that polluted. So, as a swimmer, I always found it quite disappointing that the lake was so polluted, especially in comparison to Skaneateles Lake which is one of the cleanest lakes in America as well as a popular swimming destination (“Onondaga Lake Cleanup” …show more content…
The industrial pollution came from a company known today as Honeywell. At the peak of pollution, industries like Honeywell were dumping nearly 20 pounds of mercury into the lake every day (“Onondaga Lake- The most polluted lake in America” 1). It is because of those industries that swimming had to be banned beginning in 1940. It wasn’t until 1972 that people began to realize that the fish in the lake were dying as a result of the toxic chemicals, and fishing began to be forbidden as well. It was also at this time that the fish began to be replaced by harmful microorganism like disease causing bacteria and algae that remained in the lake up until a few years ago. Until the restoration of the lake began the surface of the water was still contaminated by mercury, and the sediments were and still are contaminated by pesticides, heavy metals like lead, and organic compounds like chlorobenzene. All of this damage still remains even though industries have stopped polluting the lake for over 40 years (“Onondaga Lake Cleanup”
This is why fishing in the lake was banned along with swimming. Growing up everyone always joked that if you were to go into the lake you would become radioactive and grow an extra body part, it was that polluted. So, as a swimmer, I always found it quite disappointing that the lake was so polluted, especially in comparison to Skaneateles Lake which is one of the cleanest lakes in America as well as a popular swimming destination (“Onondaga Lake Cleanup” …show more content…
The industrial pollution came from a company known today as Honeywell. At the peak of pollution, industries like Honeywell were dumping nearly 20 pounds of mercury into the lake every day (“Onondaga Lake- The most polluted lake in America” 1). It is because of those industries that swimming had to be banned beginning in 1940. It wasn’t until 1972 that people began to realize that the fish in the lake were dying as a result of the toxic chemicals, and fishing began to be forbidden as well. It was also at this time that the fish began to be replaced by harmful microorganism like disease causing bacteria and algae that remained in the lake up until a few years ago. Until the restoration of the lake began the surface of the water was still contaminated by mercury, and the sediments were and still are contaminated by pesticides, heavy metals like lead, and organic compounds like chlorobenzene. All of this damage still remains even though industries have stopped polluting the lake for over 40 years (“Onondaga Lake Cleanup”