BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

CANTON -- Residents along the Deer River in the towns of Lawrence and Brasher are calling on county legislators to step in and stop the contamination of the river before it's too late.

James Gurrola, a North Lawrence resident who owns property on the Deer River, said he has lived in his home for 33 years and has never seen the pollution this bad.

"There has always been a stench the whole time I've lived there, 33 years, but nothing like today," he said.

Gurrola described the stench as "if you were opening a jar of rotting chicken that's been fermenting with maggots."

That smell and the murky gunk in the water, as it was described, has raised concerns among many residents who question if the contamination is seeping into their wells and the environment surrounding the river.

Gurrola suggested that one possible site of the contamination is North Country Dairy, a dairy processing plant just one mile up river from his property.

According to Gurrola, he and a friend who is an environmentalist, recently walked along the railroad tracks roughly one and a half miles to reach the third lagoon of Upstate Dairy.

"The stench was horrible, my eyes were watering and we were choking," he said.

Gurrola said his environmentalist friend could not believe what he saw.

"The lagoons are overflowing. It's never been like this before," he said.

He implored everyone in attendance to go to the dairy processing plant to see the lagoons for themselves.

But Gurrola said it may not just be the plant's byproduct in the river.

He said numerous tractor trailers enter the site from Canada, all of which are milk tankers.

"I don't know what they're bringing but I do know they are crossing the border and I know they are milk tankers," he said.

Gurrola implored legislators to step in now before it's too late.

"We need to find some resolution to this and stop the pollution of the Deer River," he said.

"I'm mad, the town's mad, nobody wants to see anyone lose their jobs. But these people have a responsibility to not pollute our rivers, our wells and our people," he said.

Stewart Legacy, a Brasher resident who lives along the river, said the smell is not nearly as bad where he lives on the Deer River, however that doesn't mean the contamination hasn't reached his home.

Legacy detailed his interactions with DEC officials, beginning in February of this year.

According to Legacy, he and his family could see "blobs of gel" in the river, thinking they were possibly feathers.

"The DEC officer told me flat out, this is coming from the dairy plant," Legacy said.

Legacy said he was given a number to call environmental officials in Washington D.C., however he has yet to receive a call back.

"There's no justification for what they're (DEC) doing," he said.

Legacy doubled down, saying DEC officers are not testing the water coming from the plant, along with the water around the plant.

"Why not test the water if you can visibly see what's in it," he asked.

Legacy said anything in the river is "coated with crap," which has led him and his family to utilize other waterways for recreation like kayaking.

"There's no way you would put your body or kayak in the river," he said.

Legacy told legislators he felt the DEC was covering up the situation.

In response to the initiation of an investigation, Legislator John Gennett submitted FOIL requests to the DEC for all records pertaining to the testing and licensing of the facility.

That request was met with a response from the DEC who claimed they needed more time, Legacy said.

"I don't understand why we're not getting to the bottom of this. Let's get this solved. We don't want anyone to lose their jobs but this can't go on. We can't have our resources ruined like this," he said.

While Gurrola and Legacy pointed fingers at the dairy plant, Brasher Town Supervisor Mark Peets suggested it could be runoff from a local farm of the town of Lawrence sewer facility.

Peets spoke of a board meeting in April that had numerous residents in attendance, all voicing concerns about the river. One resident also brought in samples from the river to show the board just what was happening.

Following that meeting, Peets said he spoke with DEC officers who immediately mentioned the dairy plant's permits as being in need of updating.

"It hadn't been updated in 20 years," he said.

Residents had previously said in various meetings that the permits are essentially "rubber stamped" every four years, with no real review process required before they are issued.

Peets said he and residents do not want to see a review completed and a new permit issued with a higher output threshold to make the plant compliant. He said a proper review and data collection needs to be completed to gauge just how severe of an impact the waste has on the river.

Peets said he will not allow his grandchildren to even go in the river because of the pollution.

In conversation with fishing promoter Don Meissner, Peets said he and Meissner agreed that fishing is a hidden gem in the region, something that is being lost in the deer river due to the pollution.

"The DEC has assured me that they are working on getting this permit done," Peets said.

Taking things a step further, Peets said he and other board members met with representatives from the dairy plant "not about jurisdiction" since the plant is in Lawrence, but rather to raise concerns about the three municipalities and numerous residents affected by the situation.

Peets also suggested that an area farm along the river could also be part of the problem, with manure runoff getting in the river.

He said nutrients are getting in the water somewhere, which is allowing the white sludge to grow at an exponentially faster rate.

Another possibility is the town of Lawrence sewer facility, which is a raised bed leach field system that is over 35 years old, he said.

"I'm 11 miles from the dairy plant, I can see it in the river behind my house," he said.

Whatever is happening, Peets said it is happening in a concentrated area upstream "where a lot of things are happening."

"I do not want to see the Deer River turn into the Black River," he said.

Peets said fisheries are being compromised right now, with the St. Regis and St. Lawrence Rivers at risk if something isn't done now.

"We need to get to the bottom of what's going on. We don't want finger pointing, we just want a solution," he said.

Several legislators also voiced support for a deeper investigation, saying they too are concerned about the contamination.

Some suggested that county officials need to use all resources available to assist with the matter, including the Environmental Management Council, which is part of the county Planning Office.

No formal action was taken.