Tompkins Weekly    7-24-24

By Lauren Stavros

On July 16, 2024, Cayuga Lake Environmental Action Now (CLEAN) and the Cayuga Lake Watershed Network hosted the Cayuga Lake Summit.

There was an amazing turnout of environmental leaders and active community members alike who were able to learn from the presentation of the two sessions. The first session was a presentation by the keynote speaker, Phil Sexton. Sexton is a contractor who specializes in winter and landscape management.

Sexton is the founder of WIT, which is a business focused on supporting and educating businesses on sustainable solutions and environmental impact through a different approach to practice. His graduate thesis from Harvard University is titled “A Sustainability Analysis of the Commercial Winter Industry’s Use of Salt,” which is what his Cayuga Lake Summit presentation was focused on. To summarize Sexton’s insightful knowledge, salt is a force to be reckoned with. Because of non-point source runoff from rain, sodium chloride and other blended materials permanently pollute the lake and damage infrastructure. Salt in the Cayuga Lake causes a difference in weight problems so when the lake wants to mix in the fall, excess salt can change the ecosystem within the watershed, causing an imbalance of nature.

Dr. Murray McBride speaks to the audience at the Cayuga Lake Summit. Photo provided

The high amounts of phosphorus from the salt can also contribute to algal blooms, which have been an increasing problem for lakes all around the region. Sexton brought up key reasons as to why there is such an oversalting problem across the United States. There’s for sure an economic reason for it, with salt being such an accessible and simple material, companies find that that’s the most efficient choice for purchase during the winter months. Although the larger reason lies in company liability.

Salt is proven to aid in the sliding of vehicles and nasty falls during flurries and snowstorms. Companies tend to oversalt their parking lots and pavement in order to reduce the chance of someone falling at their place of business.

The issue of oversalting costs businesses more and is harmful to the environment. Sexton is dedicated to consulting with each business he meets with to find out what their needs are and provide them with a plan that is not only cost-beneficial but also a sign of sustainable management practices.

The second section of the Cayuga Lake Summit was a panel that focused on the tracing and treating of PFAS in the Finger Lakes. If you’re unfamiliar, PFAS are “forever chemicals,” meaning that they are a group of synthetic substances that are found in cookware, cleaning products, firefighting foam, and other types of manmade consumer products. These chemicals are linked to kidney problems, liver inflammation, and an increased risk of certain cancers. In more recent environmental policy news, as of April 2024, the EPA is enforcing maximum levels of certain PFAS chemicals in our drinking water.

The first panelists for the PFAS section were Brune Boukobza and Laura Akey, who are both current undergraduate research assistants at Cornell University. Their research consisted of sampling groundwater in the Finger Lakes to monitor PFAS chemicals that are present in our water. From their data, they created an interactive map that shows different points of PFAS sampling and provides context to the type of PFAS chemical and where they collected the sample. For instance, they found that the water near the airport contained a higher concentration of harmful PFAS than other samples they tested. Their research and interactive map can be found at https://helbling.research.engineering.cornell.edu/pfas-monitoring-in-the-finger-lakes-region/

The second panelists were Nicholas Ganzon, P.E., President of the Water and Carbon Group, and David Pannucci, P.E., Regional Engineer, Waste Connections. Their focus was on the presence of PFAS in landfills and how to mitigate this problem. Since PFAS are most predominantly present in man-made materials such as wrappers, cookware, fire foam, and weather-resistant clothing, these materials end up in landfills. Now, because most landfills aren’t typically sealed to the point of no leakage, this results in a type of runoff known as “leachate.”

This runoff, which can contain PFAS eventually finds its way into waterways, further accentuating the issue of harmful substances in our ecosystems. Nicholas Ganzon and David Pannucci dedicated their time to implementing PFAS treatment technologies in the forms of absorption, filtration, and separation in order to pursue a more sustainable environment.

The third panelist was Bill Mattingly who is currently the Chair of Sierra Club Finger Lakes. His presentation focused on the Sierra Club testing in the towns of Thurston, Bath, and Cameron. The testing of various private residential drinking wells resulted in findings of harmful PFAS.

The fourth and final panelist was Dr. Murray McBride, who was a Professor at Cornell’s School of Integrated Plant Science. His work was titled “Risks of Sewage Sludge Disposal on Farmland: The Case For Caution.” Dr. McBride dove into the history of environmental policy regarding PFAS while also explaining the risks of soil practices that produce harmful agricultural runoff.

Lauren Stavros is currently the Communications Intern for Sustainable Finger Lakes. Signs of Sustainability is organized by Sustainable Finger Lakes.