Tompkins County, New York

Environmental Health Diagnosis

By: Aurora Trainor Mentored By: Lisa McDevitt

About EcoEd! EcoEd is a program for students grades 7-12

(now expanded to elementary students!) that was created to help students learn more about the environment than just what is taught in school.

By working with students at RPI, we learned valuable skills for research, writing, and presenting information.

This year’s focus was on a New York county, it’s general health, and how it compares with other counties in the state.

Where is Tompkins County?

Methods

What is a county, and why is it important to the state? Counties help to organize the state Counties focus on an area too small for the state to

control, and too large for local governments.

I used a variety of sources to research Tompkins County including: Official county sites County plans Data provided by the county, state, and federal

government.

Background Tompkins was established in 1817

The county was originally native American land Tompkins was first settled by Europeans, then later given to

Revolutionary War veterans It was named for vice president and fourth governor of New

York Daniel D. Tompkins

County government: Divided into the County Council of Governments, which is a

group of representatives from local governments that discuss issues that affect the entire county. In 2014, a resolution was established in support of a group to address

sustainability issues in the county. Many departments, including public health and emergency

services Human and Public Services are provided, including jails and

courts

http://www.cnyhiking.com/IthacaFallsPanorama10152013.jpg

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LEFT: The Taughannock gorge runs through Tompkins County. It was created by the retreat of glacial deposits about 20,000 years ago. The same ice sheets formed the abundant waterfalls also located in Tompkins County (BELOW).

Wetlands (ABOVE) are also a unique part of Tompkins County!

Indicators

Using data such as watershed health and air quality can help indicate the health of an area

There was no data from Tompkins County on the number of unhealthy air days for the general population according to the EPA

5% of rivers and 12% of lakes have poor water quality. However, many rivers (about 57%) do not have available data according to the NY DEC

WATERSHED HEALTH   

Watershed name: Oswego/Finger Lakes Watershed   

What percentage of rivers have poor water quality? What percentage of lakes have

poor water quality?

 

5% 12% 

What percentage of rivers have good water quality? What percentage of lakes has

good water quality?

 

12% 2% 

Poor water quality in the Oswego/Finger Lakes Watershed can in

part be blamed on industrialization, and the urban runoff and

municipal discharge that is caused by it. However, 57% of rivers

in the Oswego/Finger Lakes Watershed have not yet been

assessed, which means that the current data is not very reliable.

If the Tompkins County government, or other county governments

in the region, had more rivers assessed, it would establish better

data that could help to review the overall health of the rivers

within the watershed.

   

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

 

CHEMUNG COUNTY 0 0Improved  

Due to the lack of available information for

Tompkins County, Chemung County was used

for this comparison of air quality. Chemung is

located to the south west of Tompkins. Since

2003 it can be observed that the overall air

quality has improved because of the

comparison of data from four counties from

diverse areas of New York State.

       

         

Lead Case

http://www.termiteterry.com/dev/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/lead-paint.jpghttp://images-of-elements.com/lead-cut.jpg

Lead Case

Popular use until 1970s in the U.S Banned 1978

Lead was often found in paints, because it created colored tints and allowed for less paint required to cover a larger area. Lead paint is still found in many countries such as

Thailand and Mexico. Lead can also be found in lead soldered pipes and

children’s toys. Many detrimental health effects, including difficulty

learning, behavioral problems, and in the most severe cases, seizures and death.

Companies can benefit by making a profit off of lead paint, which can be cheaper to produce.

Soil/Water Case Soil is a very important part of any county

Soil needs to be treated well. This can be done by rotating crop fields, not using fertilizers, and watering fields properly.

Mistreated soil can lead to a decrease in topsoil, which holds nutrients vital to the growth of plants.

Erosion can be very dangerous to soil Erosion can decrease topsoil, and also carry chemicals into water supplies

There are many uses of water in a county Water is needed for bathing, growing crops, feeding animals, and more. It

is also a source of energy. Where does Tompkins gets its water?

Several water treatment plants are located nearby: Bolton Point, using Cayuga Lake, Cornell Water Filtration Plant, using Fall Creek, and The City of Ithaca Water Treatment Plant, using Six Mile Creek

What impacts water quality? Urban runoff—pavement is impermeable, and water carrying chemicals and

other waste moves into nearby water supplies. Incorrect disposal of chemicals, fertilizers, paints and other dangerous

substances.

Air Quality Case The greenhouse gas emissions of Tompkins

AES Cayuga, a coal operated plant produces 1,711,295 tons of CO2 per year. However, the plant no longer runs full time

“Good” air quality 98.76% of the time, “moderate” 1.24%

1996-2006, greenhouse gas emissions increased 5%! Can be connected to the increase in energy use of

23% AQI is 41.7

Ranked 22nd in New York State

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This is a cartoon diagram of the fracking process

A typical fracking site requires about 400 large trucks

Hydraulic Fracturing Case What is “fracking”?

A process of forcefully pushing water mixed with chemicals in order to fracture Marcellus shale and release the natural gas stored within.

Large companies are looking for landowners to lease land to frack on They promise jobs, a boosted economy, and large

amounts of money. Affects on water, air, and soil

Residents nearby wells report cloudy water, filthy and smelly air, and animals on their farms dying.

Human health concerns Some of the chemicals used in fracking have been linked

to cancers, skin diseases, and other harmful sicknesses.

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Recommendations

More updated studies of the county including watershed, air quality, and soil data

Before fracking is ever considered in Tompkins, there should be more in depth studies on the harmful affects

It is important to always improve in order to maintain good county health This requires support, hard work, and

dedication to the environment from the government and citizens

Sources “A Dairy Farmer Shares Her Story About Fracking: ‘What Have We Done?’ | Public Herald.” Accessed April 17, 2014.

http://www.publicherald.org/archives/16845/investigative-reports/energy-investigations/.

“Air Compare | AIRNow | US EPA.” Accessed April 20, 2014. http://www.epa.gov/aircompare/index.htm.

“Bradford County Fracking Map | NPR StateImpact.” Accessed April 17, 2014. http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/drilling/counties/bradford-county/.

“Chesapeake Energy Corporation 2012 Annual Report.” Accessed April 17, 2014. http://www.chk.com/Annual-Report/Pages/index.html#/4-5/zoomed.

“Dangers of Fracking.” Accessed April 17, 2014. http://www.dangersoffracking.com/.

“Fracking Our Food Supply | The Nation.” Accessed April 20, 2014. http://www.thenation.com/article/171504/fracking-our-food-supply#.

“Health - Lead - Product Recalls | Www.tompkinscountyny.gov.” Accessed April 16, 2014. http://www.tompkinscountyny.gov/health/lead/recalls.

“Ithaca: History - Ithaca Before the Civil War, Cornell University Opens, City Prospers.” Accessed April 15, 2014. http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-Northeast/Ithaca-History.html.

“Lead in Drinking Water | Lead | US EPA.” Accessed March 23, 2014. http://water.epa.gov/drink/info/lead/.

“Lead Paint Background | Occupational Knowledge International.” Accessed April 16, 2014. http://www.okinternational.org/lead-paint/Background.

“Lead Poisoning Causes - Diseases and Conditions - Mayo Clinic.” Accessed March 22, 2014. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/lead-poisoning/basics/causes/con-20035487.

“Lead Poisoning Prevention Outreach in Ithaca, NY | Make A Difference Day.” Accessed March 23, 2014. http://www.makeadifferenceday.com/event/45498.

“Lead Poisoning: Your Child: University of Michigan Health System.” Accessed March 22, 2014. http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/leadpois.htm.

“Map 5: Incidence Rate of Blood Lead Levels ≥ 10 mcg/dL Among Children Under Age Six Years by County; Three-Year Average Rates, 2005 - 2007 Blood Lead Test Data, New York State Excluding New York City.” Accessed March 23, 2014. http://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/lead/exposure/childhood/surveillance_report/2006-2007/section_2/map_5.htm.

“Must See New York Waterfalls | Visit Ithaca, NY.” Accessed April 15, 2014. http://www.visitithaca.com/attractions/waterfalls.html.

“Oswego River/Finger Lakes Watershed - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation.” Accessed April 20, 2014. http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/48023.html.

“Restoring Wetlands Near Cayuga Inlet: Presentation December 1 | Www.tompkinscountyny.gov.” Accessed April 17, 2014. http://tompkinscountyny.gov/news/restoring-wetlands-near-cayuga-inlet-presentation-december-1.

“Section I: Testing and Results.” Accessed March 23, 2014. http://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/lead/exposure/report/section1.htm.

“Soil Erosion – Causes and Effects.” Accessed April 17, 2014. http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/engineer/facts/12-053.htm#3.

“New York State Geological Survey | NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM.” Accessed April 24, 2014. http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/nysgs/experience/sites/taughannockfalls/index.html.