Outrage Over Onondaga Lake “Cleanup” in Rep. Maffei’s District

Outrage Over Onondaga Lake “Cleanup” in Rep. Maffei’s District
NY Freshman Voted For “Stimulus” Funds That Go Towards Printing Pamphlets, Not Cleanup
Washington – Onondaga Lake cleanup is clearly a priority for thousands of Central New Yorkers. Unfortunately, Rep. Dan Maffei (D-NY) doesn’t seem to share those same concerns.  The Democrat-passed “stimulus” plan included $120,000 that was supposedly earmarked for cleanup of one of Central New York’s most precious resources. Instead, it seems that these funds will be used to create pamphlets detailing the current dismal state of the lake. If this wasn’t outrageous enough, senior Democrat officials from New York went so far as to claim that these funds would indeed be used for cleanup and other job-creation projects.

Here is what New York’s two Democrat Senators had to say about the project:

“The $120,000 in economic stimulus money set aside for Onondaga Lake will ‘improve the quality of life for residents in the area,’ U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said last month. At the same time, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., predicted the lake project ‘will create jobs across the region and promote long-term economic growth.’”  (Syracuse Post-Standard, “$120,000 in federal stimulus money for OnondagaLake cleanup to be used to print pamphlet”, 05/31/09)

Meanwhile, the Syracuse Post-Standard reports that:

“The $120,000 will not rebuild infrastructure. It will not build anything. It won’t even clean up a single drop of the polluted lake. The money — included in the $4.6 billion in federal stimulus funds headed to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — will pay to print a pamphlet about the lake cleanup, Army Corps officials say. Even then, the ‘State of the Lake’ report won’t be completely new, according to Lynn Greer, the OnondagaLake outreach coordinator for the Buffalo District of the Army Corps of Engineers. The federal money will pay to update and reprint a 16-page color pamphlet from 2001, which updated the original version published in 1992.” (Syracuse Post-Standard, “$120,000 in federal stimulus money for OnondagaLake cleanup to be used to print pamphlet”, 05/31/09)

“Perhaps if Dan Maffei had applied a basic level of scrutiny to the ‘so-called’ stimulus bill, funding for projects like Onondaga Lake would be used for the right reasons,” said Ken Spain, NRCC Communications Director.  “Instead, money that was intended to clean up this site is being wasted because Democrats like Maffei failed to hold his party leaders accountable and rubber-stamped a reckless spending bill that has yet to produce the jobs that it promised.”

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