First Blog Entry

Questions about Onondaga Creek:

- How does the removal of waste work with and within the creek? I don't understand why a sewage treatment center would be located next to a natural body of water.
- The Ms. Magazine article states that Onondaga Creek is "equally polluted" as Onondaga Lake. Is this true? Has this changed?
- How is it that the city is able to build a smaller, underground facility in the more affluent area, and can get away with building a larger, above ground facility in the poorer areas?
- The article says that the new facility will be built in the "south side." Is this the same location as Armory Square, which we discussed in class?
- If the health effects of having this above ground plant have been proven, then how is it allowed to be built?
- I wonder what reasoning the EPA gave for dismissing the racism case. It seems that the EPA would want to pursue this cause.


People to Interview:

- a representative from the EPA. They could talk about the Onondaga Lake in general but also about the Creek and the issue of environmental racism. Obviously since the case was dismissed, they might not be too good of a source, but it would be interesting to hear what they have to say about the issue as well as the environment of Syracuse and the Lake and Creek in general.
- Linda Carty. The interview might include much of what the article we read was about, but could also give much more insight. I'd also want Linda Carty to talk about the people she used as sources in her Ms. Magazine article, so that I would have even more people to talk to.
- A representative from the Department of Transportation. With all the controversy surrounding the creation of a new treatment facility, what purpose will their planned creek walk serve? Why do they want to make a creek walk if there's going to be a treatment facility right there? How will these two things interact? What does the Department of Transportation want to do with the Creek Walk? Is it actually intended for people to use, since there can't even be benches? What other things did they have in mind?
- People who live close to where the facility is going to be built. Not only focus the questions for them about the new facility but about what the creek means to them. What do they think of the creek walk? What do they think about the project I'm currently participating in? What ideas do they have for solutions to this major problem?