By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
OLEAN — Defend Ohi:Yo’, the environmental group dedicated to cleaning up the Allegheny River, brought their campaign to Lincoln Park and the Olean Common Council chamber earlier this week.
Members of the Seneca Nation made up a large number of those demonstrating with signs along East State and South Union streets at the park.
More than 40 people waved signs that included “Stop polluting the River,” “Save Ohi:Yo’,” “Honk for a Clean River,” and one that read “Mayor Aiello Stop polluting our River.”
The city has come under criticism over the past year for not having corrected problems with portions of its sanitary sewer system that sometimes result in sewage overflows in heavy rains.
Members of the Seneca Nation Tribal Council and Defend Ohi:Yo’ have been among those speaking out at common council meetings on the sewage overflows.
Last week, Seneca Nation President J. Conrad Seneca and Olean Mayor Bill Aiello announced the creation of a task force to identify and address the problem.
The Senecas have addressed the issue with state officials and have offered to aid in grant writing to seek state and federal funds to address the overflow of untreated sewage into the river.
The demonstrators got plenty of support from passing motorists who honked their horns.
After the demonstration, which began at 5 p.m., the Defend Ohi:yo’ group crossed the street to attend the common council meeting.
Among those addressing Aiello and the city aldermen during a public comment portion of the meeting was Clint Nephew, a member of the Seneca Tribal Council from the Allegany Territory.
Nephew said he was pleased to see young people involved in the Defend Ohi:Yo’ demonstration and their passion for cleaning up the river.
He became emotional when he spoke of his ancestors buried at the bottom of the Allegheny Reservoir and the Seneca ancestral lands along the Allegheny River. He said he took exception to the city’s discharge of untreated sewage that makes its way through Seneca territory to the reservoir.
Nephew urged the aldermen to look up on the Internet and watch “Lake of Betrayal,” the story of the removal of the Seneca people to make way for the Kinzua Dam and reservoir.
“It hurts deep,” he said. “More than you will ever know.”
One of the Seneca young people Nephew was referring to was Madison Brown, 20, who described the impact of sewage overflows into the river from Olean as she was growing up. “I grew up fishing and exploring the Allegheny. I’m proud to be connected and to know my ancestral land as many do not have the privilege.”
Another young Seneca, Caleb Abrams, who now lives in Ontario, Canada, said that when the City of Olean was first cited for dumping sewage in the river he was in elementary school. “I’m a father now. I’m grateful the task force has been formed. He can’t go in that river like our ancestors did. It;’s not safe. This is more to us than just a discharge.”
Other speakers criticized the city for spending millions of dollars on city recreation projects, while failing to invest in ways that would prevent the sewage overflows.
Dr. Donielle Lovell of Salamanca, Seneca Nation director of Community planning and development, said there were four grant writers in her department ready to help the city apply for grants to end the sewage overflows. “I welcome the opportunity to work with the City of Olean and allow us to use our expertise and resources to solve this issue.”
She recalled her grandfather, the late George Heron, who was a former Seneca Nation president during the Kinzua era, speaking of wading into the Allegheny River to let its healing water wash over him. “I don’t feel safe going into that river to heal as my grandfather did,” Lovell said.
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