Phase 1B Underwater Archaeological Report for the Onondaga ...

FINAL
Phase IB Underwater Archaeological Resources Report for Onondaga Lake Superfund Site
In 1884, the Solvay Process Company (SPC) came to Onondaga Lake to manufacture soda ash, a product
with numerous applications including manufacturing glass and detergents (Figure 12). The area
provided the ideal environment and resources needed for the Solvay process of creating soda ash: there
was salt water from the nearby springs; calcium carbonate from the surrounding limestone bedrock; and
easy disposal of waste product into and around Onondaga Lake. Millions of pounds of chloride, sodium,
and calcium, were discharged into Onondaga Lake. 80
SPC added a new plant in 1918 to produce chlorine and a variety of organic chemicals resulting in
hundreds of thousands of pounds of mercury, among other various chemicals, being released into the
lake. Between 1900 and 1940, a number of other industries were established in the region, including
steel, pottery, pharmaceutical, air conditioning, appliance, and electrical manufacturing facilities, many
of which contributed other solvents and organic chemicals such as benzene and polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs). Allied-Signal (a successor to Solvay Process Company) closed the soda ash production
facility in 1986, and the company now exists under Honeywell.
Figure 12. Postcard of the Solvay Process Works (from www.vintageviews.org, n.d.).
As the industrial revolution took hold and populations around the lake grew, the disposal of domestic
and municipal waste became common. During the turn of the twentieth century sewage waste was
being discharged directly into Onondaga Lake, as well as into Onondaga Creek and Harbor Brook. 81 This
issue escalated in the 1920s when the city installed a 1700 foot (518m) outfall sewer in to the lake. The
excessive raw sewage in the lake led to increased nitrate and phosphorous concentrations in the water,
which in turn led to algae blooms and fish die-offs. 82
The environmental impact of the pollution was detrimental to other smaller commercial enterprises. In
the 1800s a viable commercial cold-water fishery was sustained by the various fish from the lake;
whitefish, Atlantic salmon and sturgeon were particularly popular. However, by 1890 the fishery had
closed and by 1898 the whitefish population in the lake had disappeared. Ice-harvesting, another
20