June 21, 2024 | By Rick Miller | Republished From The Olean Star
Photo above: (Rick Miller/Olean Star) Degaweno:da’s, a Seneca activist, paddles near the discharge of treated sewage at the Olean wastewater treatment plant on Thursday.
OLEAN — For the Summer Solstice Thursday, Degaweno:da’s, a Seneca environmental activist, paddled his kayak on the Allegheny River from Olean to Allegany to recognize Olean City officials’ efforts to stop raw sewage overflows into the river.
He launched from the city boat launch off West Riverside Drive around 11:30 a.m., not knowing that heavy rains Wednesday overloaded three city lift stations, causing the release of 280,000 gallons of untreated sewage into the river.
At the South Fourth Street pump station, 200,000 gallons was discharged into the river, 30,000 was discharged from the Martha Avenue lift station into Pratt’s Brook and 50,000 gallons from the Adams Street lift station into Olean Creek.
Degaweno:da’s, who lives in Steamburg, learned about the release of the sewage into the river from his wife after he had completed the 4.7-mile paddle on the Allegheny River. The Olean Star paddled along.
During the paddle, which lasted just under two hours, Degaweno:da’s acknowledged the remarks of Alderman Vernon Robinson Jr., chairman of the Public Safety Committee on June 11, when he acknowledged the city’s responsibility to end the overflows of raw sewage.
He also thanked Mayor Bill Aiello and the other aldermen for agreeing to start taking steps to remove illegal roof drain hookups from sanitary sewers.
Degaweno:da’s was prepared to use his kayak ride on the river as an educational opportunity to encourage the city to act to end the overflows in times of heavy rain. Instead, he dedicated his Summer Solstice paddle to city officials who listened to him and Glenn Wahl of Salamanca about ways to end the overflows.
The release of 186,000 gallons of untreated sewage was the catalyst for the Common Council’s decision to hire a firm to look into the illegal residential and commercial roof hookups that carry rainwater into the sanitary sewers instead of storm sewers.
The city is also under a consent order to end the overflows in the Allegheny River.
Wednesday night’s release of untreated sewage into the river exceeds the total over the past five years. It is almost 100,000 gallons more than the 186,000 gallons of untreated sewage that entered the river in April.
When he learned of Wednesday’s discharge into the river, Degaweno:da’s was quiet but understanding. The options for ending sewage overflows have been embraced by the Olean Common Council, he said. That is what is important: they have started on the path to ending the sewage overflows.
Still, it is another assault on the river, Ohi:yo’. Last year he gathered a jar of water from the headwaters of the Ohi;yo’ and emptied it in Pittsburgh where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers join to create the Ohio River.
Degaweno:da’s was among those from Defend Ohi:yo’ who successfully protested a proposal in 2019 to treat Pennsylvania fracking waste and dispose of the treated waste into the Allegheny River in Coudersport.
He defends the river and acknowledges what it has provided to him and his ancestors. “It’s all one big ecosystem.”
His paddle was ceremonial, his way of honoring the river.
“I am trying to raise awareness,” he said. “I bring up the spiritual and emotional side.”
Sometimes, out of the corner of his eye, Degaweno:da’s can see his ancestors paddling canoes on the river at his side. He often thinks about the history of the river.
There are sections of the river away from roads where it is very quiet. “I really like the tranquility” of floating down the river,” he said. “I want to hear the birds and the sound of my paddle in the weather.”
Degaweno:da’s said Thursday’s paddle down the Allegheny River was “a continuation for me trying to encourage people to acknowledge the natural world.”
It was also “to acknowledge the Common Council for their action,” he said. It was unfortunate that heavy rain highlighted the overflow issue, Degaweno:da’s added.
