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The board voted Tuesday to send a letter to Hochul asking her to order the state Department of Health to finish its review of the draft rules and regulations.Ìý

Eileen O'Connor, the Cayuga County Health Department's director of environmental health, summarized the timeline. The process began after toxins from harmful algal blooms were found in drinking water in 2016. Over a three-year period, local officials developed changes to the watershed's rules and regulations, which haven't been updated since 1984.Ìý

The city of Auburn and town of Owasco adopted the new rules and regulations and forwarded them to the state Department of Health, which must approve any changes, in December 2020. It wasn't until earlier this year that the department issued a formal response.Ìý

There was some progress in the review. The state Department of Health formed a working group with other state agencies and local representatives and planned to hold meetings. Any proposed changes to the rules and regulations would be published in November, followed by a 90-day public comment period. The process would conclude in late spring 2023.Ìý

But the timeline keeps changing. According to Keith Batman, president of the Cayuga County Board of Health, the initial plan was for the review to be completed this month — exactly two years after local officials submitted its proposal to the state Department of Health. It was pushed to next spring.Ìý

And now? It's up in the air.Ìý

O'Connor said there was a meeting in November that featured a discussion about nutrient issues affecting the watershed. At the end of the meeting, she continued, the state Department of Health informed the group that they needed to meet with its legal department to "see what legally could and could not be in the rules and regulations." 

The state Department of Health then sent an email to the local health department explaining that the process was stalled for another reason: The resignation of state Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett. O'Connor said they were told that the review would not continue until there is a new commissioner.

Hochul has yet to name Bassett's successor and the state Senate must confirm the nominee.Ìý

The health board explained to Hochul the importance of having updated rules and regulations. Toxins from harmful algal blooms have continued to increase over the last five years. This year, the levels of toxins in raw water were the highest recorded.Ìý

"We are worried that if the microcystin levels in the raw water continue to increase, at some point the city of Auburn's treatment plant will be unable to remove all the toxins from the water before it reaches the consumer," the board wrote. "Short-term exposure to cyanotoxins in drinking water has been reported to result in gastroenteritis, which may include diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain, and liver and kidney damage in humans." 

Health officials are also concerned about the presence of disinfection byproducts in the lake. Seven public water systems that get their water from Owasco Lake are violating the state's sanitary code because the disinfection byproducts, or trihalomethanes, exceed 80 parts per million. Six systems, including Auburn's recorded their highest trihalomethane levels in the third quarter of this year.Ìý

"The Cayuga County Board of Health is alarmed and outraged that, in spite of the ongoing water quality deterioration, the (state Department of Health) has failed to act to protect the public health of our residents," the board told Hochul. "The watershed working group has diligently met its own timelines and obligations and requests the state does so as well." 

A spokesperson for the state Department of Health responded to the letter in a statement to Ë®¹ûÅÉAV.Ìý

"The New York State Department of Health has shown its commitment to working with state and local partners and to bringing together the subject matter experts to address Owasco Lake's climate-driven challenges, and we will continue to do so," they said.Ìý