Lake Source Cooling Monitoring Is Debated

We wrote earlier that the debate over Lake Source Cooling (LSC), the process by which Cornell uses cold water from the bottom of Cayuga Lake for air conditioning, was heating up. The state Department of Environmental Conservation sent Cornell a letter in May, claiming that it was "possible/probable" that LSC is responsible for the recent decline in water quality in Cayuga Lake.

Now, local leaders are debating the next step. Cornell has one ally in a high place:

The Chairman of the Tompkins County Water Resources Council said he's not convinced that increased Lake Source Cooling monitoring would be useful or even realistic.

"There are a lot of people who are trying to blame Lake Source Cooling for the sun rising in the west, and it just isn't true," said Chairman and County Legislator Frank Proto, R-Caroline and Danby.

On the other side sits Jose Lozano, "the Ph.D. director of the environmental laboratory at the Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Plant." Lozano notes that the system is set up so that a negative impact on water quality can only be proven if levels of phosphorous or other indicators change by 30 percent or more. Lozano is calling for more testing to conclusively determine what, if any, the effect of LSC has been.

In the comments, MIC57 mocks Proto's statement:

Cornell should commit to additional monitoring, at least for a few more years, simply to prove to the local local no-nothings that no matter how many PhDs they may have hanging on their wall, the sun still does not rise in the west.

The comments also note that the photo the Ithaca Journal chose to accompany the article is of the sprawling Cargill salt mine, and not the significantly less obtrusive single building which handles the LSC pumping.

LSC will be discussed by the Tompkins County Water Resources Council at 4:15 pm Monday at the Ithaca Tompkins Transit Center, 737 Willow Ave.