Environmental Newsletter February, 2025 (Use scroll bar on right of presentation…)
JULY, 2024: OONA ENVIRONMENTAL NEWSLETTER
Fellow OONA members: This is our first shot at an environmentally-focused short newsletter. We hope to publish future editions as a newsletter. In this inaugural edition, we take on only three topics: 1) the Genesee County STAMP industrial site; 2) info on a nasty invasive weed in our area; and 3) some good news from Rochester about Lake Ontario. Our plan is for future editions covering a wide variety of environmental issues relevant to OONA. Comments, suggestions, questions, and constructive criticism are always welcome.
Dave Giacherio, Frank Panczyszyn, Environment and Preservation Committee
STAMP UPDATE
Below is a link to a LONG and extraordinarily detailed article on the STAMP project by W. Dale Shoemaker in the Investigative Post, a Buffalo-based “watchdog” publication. It clearly has a point of view – with which you are free to disagree – but it is factually very rich, and it provides a great overview of the STAMP issue (and related political machinations). We are sharing this with OONA membership because STAMP has been a topic of interest to many of us concerned with the long-term health of the Oak Orchard River.
Below is a link to a second article from the Investigative Post that looks at the issue from the perspective of the residents of the Tonawanda-Seneca Nation.
INVASIVE SPECIES: JAPANESE KNOTWEED
Below are two links that address a particularly nasty invasive weed in our area. It’s called Japanese Knotweed, and it was introduced in the US as an ornamental plant. It spreads quickly and it is very difficult to eradicate. LO shore residents: It is particularly important to remove this weed from any rocks protecting your shoreline. Its amazing root/rhizome system can change the inter-rock spacing and lessen your overall level of protection. On our near-daily walk to Point Breeze, Cheryl and I pass a couple of “forests” of knotweed, which seem to be spreading quickly. The NYIS-INFO post below mentions glyphosate (tradename Roundup) as an effective herbicide for knotweed. If you choose to go this route, please use great care to minimize your contact with the chemical solution. While Roundup is certainly not an acute poison to humans, there is some data that show a correlation between exposure to Roundup and longer-term health effects. So be careful. The second link addresses some non-chemical means to eradicate the weed. None are easy.
https://nyis.info/wp-content/uploads/files/Japanese%20knotweed%20factsheet_NYIS-INFO.pdf
https://www.housedigest.com/1605076/how-to-kill-japanese-knotweed-yard/
GOOD NEWS: ROCHESTER EMBAYMENT IS SET FOR “DELISTING”
This is great news for our neighbors to the east. The Rochester Embayment – the area of Lake Ontario around Rochester – for decades has been listed as an “Area of Concern” (i.e., a badly polluted area) by the EPA. After literally decades of hard work by the US EPA, the NYS DEC, and the Monroe County Dept of Public Health, the area is ready to be delisted, or removed from the list of problem areas. It took a long time, and the problem was complex and multifaceted, but people and the government working together ultimately accomplished something quite significant. See the link below.
Mar 9, 2021: LOSP ALTERNATIVES FEASIBILITY STUDY
A project advisory committee was formed 3-4 years ago to study options for repurposing the Lake Ontario State Parkway (LOSP) to optimize maintenance costs over a stretch of the LOSP with less traffic. The most active stretch of the parkway for vehicle traffic is from Lake Avenue in Rochester to Rte 272, Monroe-Orleans County Line Road. The stretch from Rte 272 to Rte 98 has had 35% less traffic as determined by studies over the period 2000-2009. Needless to say, some of that decline in traffic could be related to the previously poor conditions of the parkway from Hamlin Beach State Park to Rte 98. We are not sure of whether there have been studies of traffic activity since the Parkway was repaired 2 years ago.
The committee was made up of representatives of Orleans County, Genesee Transportation Council, NYSDOT, NYS Office of Parks, and the towns of Carlton and Kendall. A few public reviews of this committee had been conducted over the years and attended by several OONA members.
They have developed and studied 4 options:
- Retain Existing LOSP: This would require a modification to shoulder width, but otherwise no change to the LOSP from Lake Avenue to Lakeside State Park, west of Rte 98. The 30-year cost estimate of construction, annual maintenance, etc. ranges from $44.2M-$65.1M. NYSDOT rates these options re cost implications as Highway=High; and Structures=High.
- Alternative NYS Rte 18 Access to Lakeside Beach State Park: Decommission all LOSP lanes west of Rte 98, west and eastbound. Remove LOSP bridges over Oak Orchard River and Lakeside State Park. And, retain LOSP as is from Lake Avenue to Rte 98. This project would require access to Lakeside Beach State Park via
Rte 18, and the replacement of the Rte 18 bridge over the Oak Orchard River. The 30-year cost estimate of construction, annual maintenance, etc. ranges from $37.2M-$56.1M. NYSDOT rates this option re: cost implications as Highway=Low to Medium; and Structures=Low. - Modify LOSP: Decommission westbound 2 lanes of LOSP between Rte 98 and Lakeside Park. Designate eastbound lanes as a 2-lane, 2-way entrance to Lakeside Beach State Park, with a “gateway” starting at
Rte 98, which would have an overall cost of $16.4M. Retain LOSP as is from Lake Avenue to Rte 98. The
30-year cost estimate of construction, annual maintenance, etc. ranges from $39.4M-$59.3M. NYSDOT rates this option re: cost implications as Highway=Low to Medium; and Structures=Medium. - Conversion of LOSP to Two-Lane Parkway: Decommission westbound 2 lanes of LOSP between W Kendall Rd and Lakeside Beach State Park. Convert eastbound 2 lanes to 2-way traffic. Remove both bridges over Oak Orchard River, Peter Smith bridge, and West Kendall bridge. Both bridges over Lakeside Beach State Park. The 30-year cost estimate of construction, annual maintenance, etc. ranges from $32.0M-$41.0M. NYSDOT rates this option re cost implications as Highway=Low to Medium; and Structures=Medium.
There are other amenities that have been proposed that are not included in the estimated costs of each of the LOSP concepts: incorporating public access and scenic overlooks at appropriate places along LOSP; and incorporating natural habitat areas along LOSP.
For detailed information about the development of the concepts, refer to the Draft Report in the Document section at this link: https://publicinput.com/Customer/File/Full/707508fd-f9be-4560-abd6-79d875551397 On Monday, March 15th at 6 PM there will be a Virtual Public Meeting seeking input on the four conceptual recommendations. Go to https://publicinput.com/LOSPFeasibilityStudy if you would like to watch and listen, or, dial 855-925-2801 Meeting Code: 8917 to listen and speak live.
Oak Orchard Neighborhood Association with Friends of the Orleans County Marine Park 