Honeywell Access Road to Provide Safe and Scenic Trails for Club Members
Honeywell joined with the Camillus Snowmobile Club for a ceremonial ride Thursday along its settling basins and Nine Mile Creek in the towns of Geddes and Camillus. The ride previewed yet another example of the recreation potential of Honeywell’s properties in the area.
Honeywell and the Camillus Snowmobile Club announced a license agreement that will allow club members to use a recreational, scenic trail traveling around the settling basins. The 1.6 mile trail follows primarily along Nine Mile Creek and connects to gated entrances for Pumphouse and Armstrong Roads. The trail will officially open to club members next snowmobile season.
Joining Honeywell and members of the Camillus Snowmobile Club for the event were: New York State Assemblyman Will Barclay, New York State Assemblyman Jeff Brown, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Region 7 Director Ken Lynch, and Onondaga County Legislator James Corbett.
“The Camillus Snowmobile Club greatly appreciates Honeywell’s cooperation and partnership and the investment the company is making to equip the trails with security gates and safety fencing,” said club Safety Director Kevin Bamerick. “Our trail system currently contains only about 7.5 miles of corridor trails. With a system that small, it takes creativity to expand our trails in a harmonious manner with the community. Honeywell is helping to make that possible.”
Beginning next snowmobile season, club members will be given a security coded key card that will allow access to the Honeywell-owned trail segment. Honeywell and the club are continuing discussions about future access agreements that would allow the club to expand its trails even further creating new recreational opportunities and the potential for local tourism and economic development.
“Honeywell is pleased to make this section of our access roads available for the enjoyment of club members,” said Dave Wickersham, Honeywell’s point-person for the environmental remediation of its properties in Syracuse. “Riding the trails today gives a glimpse of the potential of the settling basins. Honeywell sees a bright future for these properties, one that can include new recreational uses and other developments that can be beneficial to the community.”
“All of this is linked to our efforts with Honeywell to clean up Onondaga Lake,” said the DEC’s Lynch. “Once you clean up Onondaga Lake, you create all kinds of new recreational and economic development opportunities. This is one step in that process.”
Honeywell is working closely with the DEC on the cleanup of other former Allied Chemical operations near Onondaga Lake that are referred to as the upland sites. The company has already invested more than $20 million on the first phase work. Construction is expected to begin in April on a new groundwater treatment facility on the former Willis Avenue Plant property that will provide a safe and effective means of treating contaminated groundwater before it reaches Onondaga Lake. And as soon as the weather allows, workers will begin “soil washing” again at the old LCP plant property to remove mercury from soil on the site.