Plans Move Foward To Install Sprinkler To Help Clean Hoyt Lake

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Representatives from the Olmsted Parks Conservancy, State Senator Mark Grisanti's office, Assemblyman Sam Hoyt's office and the Army Corps of Engineers met Friday afternoon to discuss their plan to clean up Hoyt Lake.

They agreed to install a fountain system to help supply oxygen to the water. Senator Grisanti already secured $100,000 in Albany to pay for the project.

Because a previous fountain was installed in the lake decades ago, some environmental studies can be bypassed.

"I'm excited, because now you're not wasting money on a study," Grisanti said. "I'll get the money released. They're going to go through specifications, bid out the job for the fountain, and let's just get it done."

Just last month, 2 On Your Side reported on 4.6 tons of dead fish and debris removed from the lake.

"It smells bad," Thomas Herrera-Mishler, CEO. of the Conservancy, said. "It's full of trash. It's just the worst environmental disasters that one could think of."

Herrera-Mishler said the fountain is only a short-term fix, because you still have the polluted waters of Scajaquada Creek that come right up to the lake's edge.

The problems start upstream, where the creek is polluted by de-icing fluid at the airport and runoff from the parking lots at the Walden Galleria, Herrera-Mishler said. That all flows down the Scajaquada, sometimes overflowing into Hoyt Lake.

"Our master plan for the park calls for restoring the original lake edge and creating wetlands," Herrera-Mishler said. "And wetlands naturally clean contaminated water."

Still, the fountain and the aeration system should help to clean up the lake waters and improve the smell.

Senator Grisanti said he expects the project could be completed by late summer if the funds can be released quickly from Albany. He started making calls to initiate that process immediately after his interview with 2 On Your Side.

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