136 Conservation Department 



The wastes from paper mills however do considerable harm to 

 fresh water life and along Keuka outlet and Skaneateles outlet 

 they have very decidedly harmed fish life. These wastes encourage 

 a rich growth of blue-green algae (Oscillatoria and Phormidium) 

 and the development of sewage fungus and sludge worms all of 

 which are indicators of polluted waters. 



Skaneateles outlet has been badly polluted for many years and 

 received an extensive biological and chemical investigation in 1921. * 

 Consequently but a brief survey was made on this occasion. 

 Biologically the condition of the stream had not improved but 

 apparently has steadily grown worse in that time. Referring in 

 part to the above mentioned report: The stream may be divided 

 into 3 zones. First the "zone of initial pollution," caused by the 

 sewage from the town of Skaneateles. Second the "zone of oxygen 

 sag." where the presence of 2 paper mills and 2 woolen mills con- 

 tribute a great deal of waste material. The stream in this section 

 is brown and turbid with its great accumulation of debris. Third 

 the ' ' lower section ' ' — the zone of recovery. 



Together with other types of pollution the paper mills and 

 woolen mills pollute approximately 33 miles. 



Oil Pollution. — Oil undoubtedly has a very deleterious influence 

 on fish life. By reference to the chemical data for the oil pollution 

 in Great brook it will be seen that oil causes a certain drop in the 

 amount of dissolved oxygen. Fresh water food organisms such as 

 caddisfly, stonefly and mayfly nymphs are suffocated by the heavy 

 coating of oil that settles to the bottom and covers the stones, etc. 

 The eventual result is to cause desirable fish species to migrate to 

 a more favorable environment. 



Industrial plants of various kinds, such as gas plants, machine- 

 shops, automobile garages, etc., are guilty of this form of stream 

 contamination. Witness the black oily drains from garages along 

 SixmiJe creek through Ithaca or along Owasco outlet through the 

 city of Auburn. One further aggravating feature of this type of 

 pollution is that the waste is usually "dumped" at one time, thus 

 bringing about an extremely high concentration of impurities. 



Oil in combination with other wastes pollutes about 12 miles of 

 stream. 



Cannery Wastes. — Cannery wastes, being high in organic con- 

 tents, constitute a very serious menace to fish life when allowed to 

 enter fresh water streams in large quantities. Although there are 

 many canneries in this watershed there were but two cases of seri- 

 ous stream pollution. This is in part due to the slack canning 

 season. The cannery at Rushville pollutes West river and that at 

 Victor pollutes Great brook. Both of these plants have screening 

 devices, but as pointed out by Mr. Wagner in his chemical report, 

 these are never, in themselves, sufficiently adequate. 



* State of New York, Conservation Department, Stream Pollution Studies 

 No. 2, Pollution of Skaneateles Outlet by Sewage and Industrial Wastes. 

 Unpublished report by Emmeline Moore. 



