FRANKLINVILLE, N.Y. (WKBW) — The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has confirmed that a chemical discharge from the Great Lakes Cheese facility in Franklinville was responsible for a fish kill in Ischua Creek last month.
In a statement released Saturday, the DEC said water testing revealed elevated levels of nitrate, low dissolved oxygen conditions and ammonia considered toxic to fish and aquatic life.
On Friday, dozens of neighbors protested outside the Great Lakes Cheese facility. Ken Kellner, one resident, said they were demanding answers and accountability.
"We wanted to get it out there," Kellner said. "There are a lot of people, even local people, that don't have any idea what's going on. We talk to people every day, and it's like they have no idea that it happened."
Senator George Borrello also weighed in on the situation, "The Dec is on sight there with other state agencies, they're trying to figure out what happened exactly. This is a brand new state-of-the-art plant, and certainly there are many facilities there and many operations, lots of moving parts," Borrello said. "So I imagine the due diligence is lengthy in order to ensure no stone is overturned and that they are checking every component of the operation."
According to the DEC, dissolved oxygen levels in the creek have improved since their initial response and are now within acceptable state standards. The agency also noted there is no indication that the incident impacted drinking water.
Borrello said based on data collected by officials, it's believed this incident was a one-time occurrence.
"The evidence is mounting that this is a one-time occurrence based on conditions improving as dramatically," Borrello said. "So, I think I want to ensure residents on what information I have been given is that this was not ongoing necessarily, but this may have been a one-time incident."
WATCH: 'We don't want any more dumping in that creek': Ischua Creek fish kill investigation continues
Great Lakes Cheese released a statement saying it's working closely with the DEC in daily collaboration. The facility has voluntarily paused operations, and no wastewater is being discharged into the creek until the facility proves it's in compliance with environmental laws.
Great Lakes Cheese continues to work diligently in close, daily collaboration with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to address to the unfortunate environmental event in Ischua Creek. Our immediate priority continues to be understanding the health of the creek and implementing improvements to our wastewater treatment facility utilized for cheese making operations. We are encouraged by the significant improvements, in a short time, to the creek reported by the DEC and thank them for their ongoing assistance. We remain committed to fulfilling our responsibility to run environmentally responsible operations and support more than 500 local employee-owners, dozens of New York family dairies, and the broader Farmersville and Franklinville communities.
The DEC said crews are monitoring water quality and are investigating the discharge and its long-term impacts.
"They need to clean their act up," Kellner said. "We're worried about our future; we don't want any more dumping in that creek."
