What We Are Demanding

We, the residents, families, and allies of Solvay, Geddes, and Lakeland, New York, call on local, state, and federal agencies to:

Launch a full-scale environmental and epidemiological investigation into unlisted, undocumented industrial waste sites with documented historical hazards (soil, air, groundwater).
Commission an independent cancer cluster study for Solvay ZIP codes with full public transparency.
Publish comprehensive cancer incidence data and historical medical records for the affected neighborhoods.
Conduct soil, air, and groundwater testing in identified zones.
Hold public hearings to ensure community voices shape the response.
Assess these sites for Superfund or Class 2 hazardous site designation, with cleanup obligations enforced.

Background & Evidence

 

1943 Waste dike break and flood.

Uninvestigated Industrial Waste Sites

Hazard Street “The Bowl” – Lab glassware, chemical dumping, underground smoldering fires near a former school field.

Reported Cancer Cluster (1982)

17 cancer cases were identified in a two-block area around Wycliffe Rd & Scarborough Dr. Onondaga County Health reported no follow-up �citations citing local archives�.

Community Testimonies

Multiple former residence of Solvay and Lakeland report cancer, infertility, COPD, and premature death; descriptions of soot, chemical plumes, and contaminated soil plague memories.
Facebook groups recount generational disease and environmental scars, yet no formal studies were conducted.

 Join the Movement

Sign this petition to stand with generations of residents whose voices have been ignored — for environmental justice, accountability, and the right to know what’s in our soil, air, and water. Our back yards and our homes. 

Please share with friends, families, local media, environmental advocacy groups, and elected officials.

Here’s the full explanation of how industrial fill from Solvay Process Company and Honeywell ended up as landscaping and construction material, where it went, when this happened, and why it’s still a serious concern today:

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🏭 How Industrial Fill Was Created and Spread

📜 What was in the fill?

The Solvay Process Company (later Allied Chemical and then Honeywell) produced soda ash (used in glass, detergents, and chemicals) at their plant on Onondaga Lake from the late 1800s to the 1980s. This process created millions of tons of industrial waste, including:
 • Lime sludge (calcium carbonate, mixed with salts and water).
 • Salt brines (containing chlorides, magnesium, sodium, and trace heavy metals).
 • Chemical byproducts like mercury, PCBs, benzene, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

These wastes were dumped into “wastebeds”—huge artificial holding ponds around the lake. Over time, the wastebeds dried out, and their material became a cheap and abundant source of fill for roads, landscaping, and construction.

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🕰 When was it reused as fill?

✅ 1920s–1980s:
 • Contractors and homeowners began using dried Solvay Process waste because it was cheap, easy to move, and looked like clean soil when dry.
 • Companies gave it away or sold it for pennies to be used as:
 • Yard leveling and landscaping.
 • Road base and sidewalk construction.
 • Filling in swampy or low-lying areas for housing developments.

✅ 1940s–1970s boom:
 • The Geddes, Solvay, Lakeland, and west Syracuse areas saw significant housing and road development, and industrial fill was commonly used to prepare land.

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📍 Where was it used?

✅ Geddes/Solvay – Residential properties on formerly marshy land were often built up with fill.
✅ Lakeland – Areas near Wastebeds 1–8 and Ninemile Creek used Solvay waste to create lawns and driveways.
✅ City of Syracuse (Westside) – Roads and sidewalks reportedly built with aggregate containing Solvay Process material.
✅ Private yards – Homeowners unknowingly trucked in this material to level and landscape their properties.

In some cases, municipal dump trucks delivered Solvay Process waste for free or at minimal cost to residents requesting fill.

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⚠️ Why This Is a Problem Now

🧪 What’s in that fill?

The material may still contain:
 • Heavy metals (mercury, lead, arsenic).
 • Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) like benzene and toluene.
 • PAHs (cancer-causing compounds).
 • High salinity that can corrode pipes and foundations.

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🏡 Health and Safety Concerns Today
 1. Vapor Intrusion
 • VOCs and methane gases can migrate from buried waste into basements and crawl spaces, contaminating indoor air.
 2. Soil Contamination
 • Children and pets playing in yards can be exposed to toxins in surface soil.
 3. Groundwater Contamination
 • Old fill leaches chemicals and salts into wells or municipal systems.
 4. Structural Damage
 • Salt-laden fill corrodes foundations, sump pumps, and buried utilities.
 5. Undetected Risk
 • Many residents are unaware their homes sit on contaminated fill because it was never officially recorded or remediated.

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🗓 Today’s Relevance

This isn’t just a historical issue—it’s still affecting homes and health in Solvay, Geddes, Lakeland, and parts of Syracuse.