Deer River pollution stirs up concerns about origin, impact
Jun. 1—BRASHER — Pollution in the Deer River has stirred up a number of concerns about what's causing it, how it could best be remedied, and what has been the impact on local wildlife.
Donald R. Meissner, the town of Massena's sports-fishing promotion director, shared his concerns with the Massena Town Board.
"Recently we were in Burlington and I got a call from one of our (St. Lawrence County) legislators, John Gennett. He said that he heard rumors of something that was happening to one of our incredible rivers as part of our whole fishing project," Meissner said.
Meissner said he immediately called the state Department of Environmental Conservation's Watertown office and spoke to individuals at several departments so the research could begin on the problem.
"It's extraordinarily alarming because there's all these white globules floating down the river. The reports are that not only the fish, but the (other) animals and reptiles are dying because of this," Meissner said. "It illustrates the fragility that our whole natural resource here is based on something that can just go in a second."
He recalled that a similar situation occurred in the Black River decades ago "and wiped out millions of fish and took decades to come back."
The issue brought some community members together Wednesday night at the Brasher Municipal Building. Brasher Town Supervisor Mark A. Peets said the meeting drew about 34 attendees, including Gennett, who shared their concerns about the issue.
"It's floating down the river and eventually if it gets to a spot, it's settling on the bottom. It's just an awful smell," Peets said.
He said one of the questions they're trying to answer is the origin of the globules — a local plant or a local farm.
"We just want to know where this is coming from. I think we need to get this stuff tested to find out where it's originating from. Then, we can kind of go from there. Right now everybody's just pointing fingers," Peet said.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation said they are actively investigating the growth in the Deer River in and downstream of the hamlet of North Lawrence.
Their investigation includes recent sampling of the material, and an analysis of these samples determined the growth to be primarily Leptomitus lacteus, a filamentous microorganism similar to a fungus.
They said dense growth like what was found in the river is typically an indicator of high nutrients and organic material in the water.
Additional factors such as changes in temperature and other water quality parameters may also affect its growth. They are performing additional targeted water quality samplings to determine next steps and said they will continue to keep the community informed as the investigation continues.
Peets said they're waiting to hear testing results from the DEC.
"They're taking samples. They're just not telling us. I think they're stonewalling us in a way that we're going to keep allowing what's going on in the river," he said. "We want to get to the bottom of it. It's something that needs to be fixed. It's to the point where if it's within the (discharge) limits, something else needs to be done. Something needs to be done to capture what's floating down the river."
Among the other attendees at Wednesday's meeting was Gina Marlowe, who shared her concern about "the horrible smell and condition of the water" in a Facebook post.
"I'm not sure who pulled the meeting together, but I think people need to really come together, to make sure that our rivers and our groundwater don't get ruined forever," she said. "It was an interesting meeting last night in Brasher Falls, but it was also discouraging to hear that it's going to be hard to get help to stop the pollution of our rivers, streams, and groundwater."
Malinda Gonyea-Legacy had also noted her concerns in a Facebook post earlier this week.
"It is almost hard to believe that this is truly happening. This is the DEER RIVER in St. LAWRENCE COUNTY. The community has been complaining of the contaminants since early spring, yet nothing has been done to stop it from being polluted. It is a continuous flow 24/7. Every week the contaminants continues to thicken at the bottom of the river. It is only a matter of time that it works its way into the Saint Regis River, then the St. Lawrence River," she wrote.
