herkimer county : an environmental diagnosis
DESCRIPTION
Herkimer County : An Environmental Diagnosis. By Lily Fitzgerald, 7 th Grade, Tamarac Secondary School Mentored by Alexandra Evans. http://www.topix.com/album/detail/little-falls-ny/T13B1MO72R429D1M. Location. Located in Central New York Longest County - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Herkimer County : An Environmental Diagnosis
By Lily Fitzgerald, 7th Grade, Tamarac Secondary School
Mentored by Alexandra Evans
http://www.topix.com/album/detail/little-falls-ny/T13B1MO72R429D1M
LocationLocation Located in Located in
Central New Central New YorkYork
Longest Longest CountyCounty
Mohawk River Mohawk River flows through flows through southern southern portionportion
http://www.herkimernytrafficlawyer.com/
BackgroundBackground
Population – Population – 64, 519 people 64, 519 people
44.25 people 44.25 people per square mile per square mile
Mostly farm Mostly farm land – farms land – farms have increased have increased in sizein size
Part of Herkimer County was included in the Macomb’s Purchase, 4/23/1791
Onondaga was split off of Herkimer County, 1794Parts of Herkimer County were taken to help form St. Lawrence County, 1802
Erie Canal was created, 10/26/1825
Adirondack Scenic Railroad was created, 6/14/1905
Frankfort- Highland Airport was created, 1947
Herkimer County was created, 2/16/1791
Study on the Middleville Tannery Dump Site, 1989NYS Department of Health found inorganic contaminates at high levels at Crumb Trailer Park, 1996
Hiteman Leather was deemed a superfund site, 1999
Additional visit to Middleville Tannery Dump Site, 2004 EPA asked NYS Department of Health and the CDC to get
involved in the Middleville Tannery Dump Site, 2005Remediation plan was developed to clean up Hiteman Leather Site, 2006
Cleanup of Hiteman Leather Site completed, 2008
ATSDR released a statement concerning the 2005 EPA study, 2010
Residents sue over wind turbines, 11/27/2012
There were reports of four diagnosis of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in children, 11/25/2013
Unusual cancer clusters publicized, 4/8/2014
Timeline of Herkimer County
WatershedsWatersheds Mohawk River Mohawk River
and Black and Black River River WatershedWatershed
Most in Black Most in Black River River Watershed – 1 Watershed – 1 % lakes good % lakes good water quality, water quality,
61 % overall 61 % overall poor water poor water qualityquality
http://www.hrbrrd.com/pdf/blackriverwatershed.pdf
WATERSHED HEALTH
Watershed name: Black River Watershed
What percentage of rivers have
poor water quality?
What percentage of lakes
have poor water quality?
Overall percentage with poor
water quality?
6 %
55 % 61 %
What percentage of rivers have
good water quality?
What percentage of lakes
has good water quality?
Overall percentage with good
water quality?
45 % 1 % 23 %
WATERSHED HEALTH
Watershed name: Mohawk River Watershed
What percentage of rivers have
poor water quality?
What percentage of lakes
have poor water quality?
Overall percentage with poor
water quality?
11 %
31 % 20 %
What percentage of rivers have
good water quality?
What percentage of lakes
has good water quality?
Overall percentage with good
water quality?
31 % 9 % 21 %
LeadLead
1.8 % blood 1.8 % blood lead levellead level
Average for Average for New York New York
Neighboring Neighboring counties have counties have highest levelshighest levels
http://www.oldhouseweb.com/how-to-advice/lead-poisoning-and-children-risks-in-old-house.shtml
Superfund SitesSuperfund Sites A superfund site is any land that has been A superfund site is any land that has been
contaminated by toxic waste and identified by the EPAcontaminated by toxic waste and identified by the EPA
Herkimer County has two superfund sitesHerkimer County has two superfund sites
Hiteman Leather – Hiteman Leather – chromium contamination in the soil and water, used to operate tannery
Crumb Trailer Park – collected the waste materials from the Hiteman tannery
http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/removal/crumbtrailerpark/
http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/hiteman/index.html
Cancer Clusters Cancer Clusters
Middleville Tannery Dump Site
Four recent diagnoses of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in children
Cancer clusters – geographic regions with higher than normal occurrence of cancer
Air QualityAir Quality The air quality is The air quality is
generally very generally very goodgood
In 2012, there In 2012, there were 0 unhealthy were 0 unhealthy air daysair days
Since 2003, the Since 2003, the air quality has air quality has improvedimproved
AIR QUALITY
Unhealthy air days for
general population in 2012.
Unhealthy air days for
people with asthma in 2012
Since 2003, has air quality
for asthmatics improved or
gotten worse?
RENNSSELAER COUNTY
0 0 IMPROVED
ESSEX COUNTY
0
4 IMPROVED
NEW YORK COUNTY
0
2 IMPROVED
HERKIMER COUNTY
0 0 IMPROVED
SoilSoil
Two types of soil – Two types of soil – Sandy granite rock Sandy granite rock (N), Bedrock (S)(N), Bedrock (S)
Two main soil Two main soil concerns – Erosion concerns – Erosion and Compactionand Compaction
http://geology.com/state-map/maps/new-york-state-map.gif
Sociological AspectsSociological Aspects Population – generally Population – generally
steady of past 100 yearssteady of past 100 years
Industries and farms Industries and farms employed citizens – not employed citizens – not many small farmsmany small farms
Provides citizens with Provides citizens with opportunities, health care opportunities, health care facilitiesfacilities
Census Bureau – Census of Population and Housing
EnergyEnergyTypes of Fuel Mix's
NPCC Upstate NY
National
Non-Hydro Renewables
4.3 % 4 %
Hydro 28.2 % 6.2%
Nuclear 28.9 % 19.6 %
Oil 0.8 % 1 %
Gas 22.2 % 24 %
Coal 15.3 %44.8 %
http://oaspub.epa.gov/powpro/ept_pack.charts
http://www.greenoptimistic.com/2010/08/31/200-million-wind-project-construction-york/#.U1BDE_PD-70
The non-hydro renewables are mainly the wind farms. There has been lots of public resistance towards them. http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/11/herkimer_county_residents_sue.html
Education about the EnvironmentEducation about the Environment
Herkimer County Herkimer County Environmental Environmental Conservation – Conservation – Conservation Conservation Field Day, Farm Field Day, Farm and Home Safety and Home Safety DayDay
Envirothon – Envirothon – West Canada West Canada Valley High Valley High School School
http://www.herkimercountyswcd.com/
http://news.keuka.edu/featured-story/candor-retains-grip-on-envirothon-title
RecommendationsRecommendations
Continue to monitor the erosion and Continue to monitor the erosion and compaction in soilscompaction in soils
Try to reduce the pollutants entering the Try to reduce the pollutants entering the watershedswatersheds
Consider becoming a climate smart Consider becoming a climate smart communitycommunity
Bibliography U.S. Census Bureau. 2014. “United States Census Bureau : State and County QuickFacts : Herkimer County, New York.” January 6.http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/36/36043.html.
“10 Reasons Why Coal Is a Good Energy Source:”http://www.coaleducation.org/q&a/10_reasons_why_coal.htm.
Alexander, Lamar, Sen. “Top 10 Reasons Nuclear Power Will Be They Key to America’s Energy Future.”http://thehill.com/special-reports/energy-a-environment-september-2010/120419-top-10-reasons-nuclear-power-will-be-the-key-to-americas-energy-future .
“County Health Rankings.”http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/new-york/2013/herkimer/county/outcomes/overall/snapshot/by-rank .
DeNoon, Daniel J. “Lead Poisoning: What It Is, How to Test, What to Do.” WebMD.http://www.webmd.com/children/news/20070815/lead-poisoning-and-kids.
“Dioxin .” United States Environmental Protection Agency. http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/CFM/nceaQFind.cfm?keyword=Dioxin.
“Dioxins and Their Effects on Human Health.” 2010.World Health Organization - Media Centre. May.http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs225/en/.
Eisenstadt, Marnie. 2013. “Flooding: Twice- Flooded Residents in Herkimer Are Bracing for More Rain”, July 2.http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2013/07/flooding_twice-flooded_residen.html .
Lallanilla, Marc. 2013. “What Are Greenhouse Gases?”, June 27. http://www.livescience.com/37821-greenhouse-gases.html.
“National Association of Counties : Find A County .”http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx.
“OUR VIEW: Herkimer County Deserves Answers .”http://www.uticaod.com/x2132760595/OUR-VIEW-Herkimer-County-deserves-answers/?tag=2.
“Scorecard.” Scorecard.http://scorecard.goodguide.com/env-releases/county.tcl?fips_county_code=36043#major_chemical_releases .
Tim , Knauss. “Herkimer County Residents Sue Iberdrola over Wind Farm.”