November 17, 2009
Ms. Joanne L. March
NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
615 Erie Blvd. West
Syracuse, NY 13204-2400
RE: Public Comments on Draft
SPDES Permit # NY-002 7081
Dear Ms March,
We are writing today on behalf of the Partnership for Onondaga Creek in response to the Draft SPDES Permit # NY-002 7081 and the accompanying “Response to comments Renewal/Modification to the Syracuse-Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant’s SPDES Permit” in 2005.
Overall, we are very pleased to see a permit that attempts to address many of the concerns expressed regarding the 2005 permit. We realize the plan looks very different, in great part, due to the revisions of the LTCP as approved through the amended ACJ. We are heartened by this change. We look forward to seeing a Water Quality Monitoring Plan that addresses the major CSO outfalls, a Best Management Practices schedule that will maximize the use of the system and a Wet Weather Operating Plan to address concerns over disinfection procedures at the RTF sites.
We also greatly appreciate your detailed and respectful responses to the comments we made in 2005. Although we were pleased to have our specific questions addressed in your responses here, this is a very different approach from the past. We would like to put this into perspective with both our appreciation for the change and a clarification and recognition of the long struggle to be effectively and honestly included in the decision-making process.
We thank you for this opportunity to provide comments and look forward your consistent cooperation with an aware public, dedicated to seeing Onondaga Creek re-vitalized from a sewage conveyance to a healthy water body for our communities to enjoy.
Sincerely,
Aggie Lane and Tarki Heath
for The Partnership for Onondaga Creek
Cc: Joanne Mahoney, County Executive
Samuel Sage, Atlantic States Legal Foundation, President
Joe Heath, General Counsel for the Onondaga Nation
