Marcellus Shale Press Coverage

State Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton and Toxics Targeting President Walter Hang announced Tuesday their opposition to under-lake salt mining under any circumstances.


New York State Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton held a press conference Tuesday to announce she and Assemblyman Steve Englebright have sent a new letter to New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos urging a moratorium on all permitting of salt mining beneath Lake Cayuga, and requested the DEC require Cargill to move its mining operations under dry land. Lifton said she is categorically opposed to continued mining under the lake.

Assemblywoman Barbara LIfton wrote a second letter to the NYSDEC Commissioner pushing against Cargill, Inc.'s salt mining under Cayuga Lake. Sarah Mearhoff


With Cargill, Inc.’s current mining permit expiring Wednesday, New York Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton (D-District 125) and Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-District 4) wrote a second letter to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation urging the department to deny the Lansing mine’s permit renewal.

ITHACA, N.Y. (WENY) -- A local Assemblywoman and database firm are calling for an end to salt mining under Cayuga Lake.

Leaders in Tompkins County are looking to preserve one of the area's best resources.

ITHACA– State Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton will hold a press conference locally today to release the contents of a letter written to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

The mining company Cargill wants to expand their salt mine in Lansing, but environmentalists are raising a number of concerns. Listen to correspondent Amanda Chin’s story, and read the transcript below:

Ithaca, NY (WENY) -- The DEC says toxin levels at the Ithaca falls overlook clean-up site meet the requirements for Restricted Residential Use -- including recreation.

An algae bloom off the Emerson Park pier in Owasco Lake Saturday afternoon.
Gwendolyn Craig - The Citizen


Julie Lockhart volunteers with the Owasco Watershed Lake Association, scouting the shoreline of Owasco Lake for harmful algal blooms. On Sept. 18, one of the worst blooms so far this year hugged the shore of Emerson Park, and Lockhart said it floated out into the water as far as her eyes could see.

President of Toxics Targeting Walter Hang speaks at a Save Owasco Now! meeting Monday night.
Gwendolyn Craig - The Citizen


AURELIUS — Owasco Lake's harmful algal blooms — which may be a thick lime-green one day, or a wispy sheen of feathers another — have sounded the alarm for an increasingly prevalent menace across the Finger Lakes and New York state. Local and state officials disagree on how best to tackle the problem, but all are united in that something must be done.

The former Ithaca Gun factory site, to the right of Ithaca Falls. The concrete platform on the island feature and the raceway are to the right of the falls and to the left of the chimney connected to the main site by a bridge as seen in May of 2014 prior to the work over the winter of 2014-15 to clean up the island feature.
(Photo: SIMON WHEELER / Staff Photo)

The state Department of Environmental Conservation announced Wednesday that no further action will take place at the Ithaca Falls Overlook, where soil tested positive for lead in 2015 and water tested positive for trichloroethylene (TCE) in 2013.