By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
It’s been seven months since pollutants from Great Lakes Cheese Company’s Franklinville plant contaminated Ischua Creek, killing tens of thousands of fish and other aquatic life.
The state departments of Environmental Conservation and Health lifted a recreation ban on the creek in November and fined the company $475,000 and ordered correction action to prevent a recurrence.
Last week the DEC Fisheries Division stocked 4,020 brook trout measuring 9-10 inches and 490 12-15 inch rainbows from the Randolph Fish Hatchery in the creek. The DEC has said it will limit fish stocking to the lower section of Ischua Creek this year — below Five Mile Road — to give the waterway more time to recover.
It’s unclear to what extent Ischua Creek has recovered from the release from the Great Lakes Cheese treatment plant that consumed oxygen from the water, killing fish and other organisms. Melting ice and snow and heavy spring rains have flushed the creek waters and oxygen levels are normal. Time will tell how long it will take minnows and other organisms fish eat to repopulate the creek at a sustainable level.
In response to questions about Ischua Creek from the Olean Star Tuesday, DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton said, “DEC continues to act in the best interest of the public and the resource regarding Ischua Creek.”
She said, “The plan for stocking and habitat enhancement represents a measured approach to satisfy the recreational desires of anglers while also providing the time and resources needed to rehabilitate this fishery.”
While water quality data has shown significant improvements since the state’s initial response on Aug. 26, and aquatic life is recovering, condition of the aquatic resources, such as minnows and invertebrates that provide food for trout, is unknown at this time.
“The 2026 trout stocking plan for Ischua Creek reflects a conservative approach by DEC given the reduction in food sources within the impacted area, while still providing opportunities for anglers seeking stocked trout,” Lefton said.
“To address the uncertainty regarding food availability, trout stocking will pause within the impacted portions of the stream (Farmersville/Franklinville town line downstream to Five Mile Road) this year to promote the natural recovery of the fish and macroinvertebrate community and ensure that adequate food resources are available to support trout for the long term,” Lefton said.
DEC is also developing a habitat enhancement plan for the Stocked-Extended portion of the impacted area to repopulate this stream reach with wild trout to obtain Wild-Quality management and provide enhanced habitat for the native fish community.
Details of this plan are in development and will be released in a New York Trout Stream Habitat Plan later this year.
Trout stocking will occur in a section of the stream outside of the impacted area in late March. Sites being stocked include Baxter Hill Road, Mill Street (Ischua), Dutch Hill Road, Farwell Road, Kent Road, and Mill Street (Maplehurst), providing approximately 6.25 miles of available stream for trout anglers.
Projected stocked trout numbers for Ischua in 2026 are 3,867 9-inch trout and 430 12-inch trout.
Testing of area water wells last year did not find any traces of the contamination from Great Lakes Cheese.
