By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
FRANKLINVILLE — Great Lakes Cheese issued a statement over the weekend that it is voluntarily pausing operations at its Franklinville cheese plant during the initial phase of the state investigation of a fish kill in Ischua Creek.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation identified organic material in the discharge from Great Lakes Cheese into Ischua Creek. The company has a DEC discharge permit for up to 900,000 gallons of treated water a day into Ischua Creek.
“Great Lakes Cheese is committed to being a responsible member of the Cattaraugus County community and good stewards of the local environment,” the company said in a statement.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we are voluntarily pausing operations at our Franklinville facility during the initial phase of New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s investigation. We will continue to work collaboratively with the DEC throughout this process.”
The DEC was alerted on Aug. 26 of dead fish floating in the creek and soon began a preliminary investigation that included a visit to the Village of Franklinville wastewater treatment plant, according to Mayor Ashley Schumaker.
“This was the first place they stopped,” Schumacher said of the sewage treatment plant, which also has a DEC discharge permit.
“Our drinking water is safe,” Schumacher told the Olean Star. “We run constant sampling.” The village’s water comes from wells, not surface water.
On Friday, DEC said the organic material believed to be responsible for tens of thousands of fish and aquatic animal deaths came from the Great Lakes Cheese outflow at Ischua Creek.
The DEC has ordered the company to immediately address environmental damage caused by the discharge of organic waste into Ischua Creek. The company has paused operations at its discharge outfall following reports of a large fish die-off.
DEC and New York State Department of Health officials have urged the public to stay out of the creek in terms of fishing, boating or swimming. Downstream water system operators have also been advised to closely monitor water conditions.
In a statement to the Olean Star on Tuesday, Great Lakes Cheese Co. spokesman Earl Wells III said, “We recognize that the health of our business is directly tied to the health of our environment. Identifying the root cause of last week’s incident is our immediate priority. We continue to work in close collaboration with the New York State DEC and other state agencies as part of this process to optimize the functionality of the facility.
“And we are continuing our voluntary pause of our discharge outfall into Ischua Creek for the time being. Above all, we want to ensure that a long-term effective solution is in place for our wastewater treatment operations.”
“Maintaining environmentally responsible operations is part of our commitment to our employee-owners, to the farmers and families who depend on our facility, and to our community,” Wells said.
Olean Mayor Bill Aiello said the city has been in contact with the NYS Department Environmental Conservation (DEC) in reference to the water quality issue with Ischua Creek.
“The DEC is monitoring upstream and we are also monitoring this at our water filtration plant, which draws water from the Olean Creek, for any changes in our water quality,” Aiello said.
“At this time the DEC does not believe there is an issue with the drinking water. We will continue to monitor the situation at our facility and the DEC will keep us informed as this issue progresses,” Aiello said.
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All Rights Reserved. Star News LLC. Eric M. Firkel.
