The Citizen

AUBURN — The Auburn City Council unanimously passed a resolution Thursday asking Gov. Andrew Cuomo to extend New York's fracking ban to a new "loophole" method already permitted for use in Tioga County.

It seemed like an informed and reasonable change when the state Department of Environmental Conservation, under court order, recently issued revised proposed rules for the Clean Water Act Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation permit.

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.

A harmful algal bloom inundates the water in the Owasco Lake outlet behind the Express Mart in Fleming on Sept. 19.
The Citizen file


Save Owasco Now!, a lake advocacy group started in the fall last year, will hold another meeting to discuss harmful algal blooms at 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 2 in Conference Room 2 of Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES, 1879 W. Genesee St. Road, Aurelius.

A harmful algae bloom inundates the water in the Owasco Lake outlet behind the Express Mart in Fleming on Tuesday.
Kevin Rivoli, The Citizen


Low levels of harmful algae toxins were detected in some drinking water distributed from Skaneateles Lake, according to a statement from the state Department of Health, Onondaga County Health Department and the city of Syracuse Department of Water on Wednesday. Meanwhile, toxin and chlorophyll levels in Owasco Lake's blooms are high, though the city of Auburn and town of Owasco's treatment systems appear to be keeping the drinking water clear.

Walter Hang, from Toxics Targeting in Ithaca, speaks during the Save Owasco Now community forum on Monday on Owasco Lake and safe drinking water. (Photo: Kevin Rivoli, The Citizen)


AURELIUS — Founding members of the Cayuga Anti-Fracking Alliance have come together again, but this time under a new name with a new cause. Called Save Owasco Now, the group spearheaded by Auburn City Councilor Terry Cuddy, gathered for its first public meeting Monday night to discuss action items for combating blue-green algae toxins in Owasco Lake, the drinking source for more than 45,000 Cayuga County residents.

AUBURN | For the second time in four years, Auburn officials have banned the city's waste water treatment plant from accepting water produced as a byproduct of natural gas drilling.

Members of the Auburn City Council re-instituted the ban during Thursday night's meeting by a 4-1 vote. The results were met with a round of applause from a handful of spectators at Auburn City Hall.