Edward M. Michalenko
Edward M. Michalenko, Ph.D., has served as President of the Onondaga Environmental Institute (OEI) for nearly 30 years. OEI is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to environmental education, research, planning and restoration in Central New York. Dr. Michalenko manages multidisciplinary projects through grants from numerous federal, state, and municipal natural resource management and environmental agencies and departments including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, New York State (NYS) Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), NYS Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (PRHP), Onondaga County, Central New York (CNY) Regional Planning and Development Board (RPDB), Onondaga County Soil and Water Conservation District (OCSWCD) and the City of Syracuse.
As an administrator of Onondaga Lake Management Conference (OLMC) and Onondaga Lake Partnership (OLP) funds, OEI has implemented a number of projects for revitalization of Onondaga Lake and Onondaga Creek, habitat enhancement and non-point source pollution control, including mitigating impacts of sediment and saline water discharges to Onondaga Creek and Lake from the Tully Valley mudboils. As an active participant of the OLMC and OLP, Dr. Michalenko’s applied research has led to a number of innovative remedial strategies for Onondaga Lake. He was first to advance a watershed approach and advocate for comprehensive non-point source control and habitat enhancement plans; first to establish a plan for shoreline remediation along the Solvay Wastebeds; first to promote an inventory, design, and construction of riparian wetlands and tributary restoration, as a means to control flooding, improve water quality, and recover a healthy fishery.
Through development of the strategic Onondaga Creek Conceptual Revitalization Plan, Dr. Michalenko was a local pioneer in promoting green infrastructure (GI); was first to identify Onondaga Lake’s compliance for bacteria, and his research was instrumental in demonstrating the ineffectiveness of constructing future regional treatment facilities (RTFs) for controlling CSOs; thereby, causing Onondaga County to abandon RTFs and saving hundreds of millions of tax-payers dollars. In lieu of RTFs, OEI helped organize, establish, and implement Onondaga County’s award winning Save the Rain program. OEI aided in identification and formulation of Onondaga County’s 50 large-scale GI projects and provided public education, outreach, and implementation for green roofs, rain gardens, and rain barrel installations at private properties throughout key sewersheds. The same research led to conductance of an adaptive management, multi-agency cooperative program entitled the Onondaga Lake Tributary Microbial Trackdown Study (MTS). The OEI led MTS bacteria and bacteroides monitoring in tributaries Onondaga Creek, Ley Creek, and Harbor Brook in concert with systematic trackdown efforts within the urban sewer and stormwater conveyance systems for leakage, breakage, cross-links, and illicit hookups. Over two dozen system corrections were made, greatly improving water quality at relatively low cost. The MTS protocol was recognized, endorsed, and transferred to other aged cities by USEPA. Dr. Michalenko also identified need, requested the NYS Legislature, obtained Onondaga Creek eligibility, and helped the City of Syracuse secure Local Waterfront Revitalization (LWRP) funds.
For nearly three decades, Dr. Michalenko has worked closely with Onondaga Nation leadership and in support of common goals for a clean environment. OEI has conducted water quality monitoring, public education and cultural awareness on behalf of the Onondaga Nation. OEI performed data review, conducted environmental media sampling and laboratory analyses, biological inventory, and habitat assessments, and made two submissions to NYSDEC regarding the Clean Water Act 303(d) list of impaired bodies of water. OEI efforts led to the 303(d) listing of: pathogens in the sub-watersheds of Harbor Brook, Ley Creek, Nine Mile Creek, and Onondaga Creek; Cyanide in Ley Creek, and nutrients and turbidity in Onondaga Creek. OEI has led school education and teacher lesson development in addition to public outreach including printing and dissemination of the Onondaga Nation’s Vision for a Clean Onondaga Lake. OEI is currently working with the Center for Native Peoples and Environment at State University of New York (SUNY) College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) on stream re-naturalization and Brook trout restoration in the Upper Onondaga Creek watershed and in support of the 1000 Acre acquisition by the Peoples of Onondaga.
Dr. Michalenko is a 2008 and 2012 recipient of USEPA’s Environmental Quality Award and current Chair of the Syracuse-Onondaga NAACP Environmental & Climate Justice Committee working on disadvantage community disaster preparedness, urban air quality, lead in drinking water, and climate resiliency and citizen action. OEI has implemented a number of environmental justice grants for underserved youth and low-socio-economic populations pertaining to messaging health advisories to non-English speaking subsistence-fishing immigrants, urban air pollution, healthy homes, and green jobs training. OEI also served as corporate sponsor for the Partnership for Onondaga Creek, and the Onondaga Earth Corp (OEC). OEI heads AIRaCuse, a collaborative between ESF, OEC, Focusing Our Resources for Community Enlightenment (FORCE), Syracuse City School District, City of Syracuse, and SUNY Upstate Medical University. AIRaCuse is a community-based project providing public access to real-time air quality monitoring data and relevant information through a web-based dashboard used to protect individual and community health as well as advocate for effective solutions to urban air pollution.
OEI is a key participant in the Tully Valley Mudboil Technical Advisory Group (TAG); Dr. Michalenko led an interdisciplinary engineering team through feasibility study of large-scale mudboil mitigation alternatives: in-line and off-line settling basins and creek relocation to a no action decision. Current research focuses on small-scale localized approaches to mitigating mudboils including up-gradient source water controls, at source surface water sedimentation impoundments, constructed wetland settling ponds, and beaver management. Other ongoing OEI projects include restoration of Brook trout habitat and spawning grounds in the Upper Onondaga Creek watershed; riparian wetland and habitat restoration in Ley Creek. Long-term research interests involve Onondaga Lake tributary re-naturalization and high flow water retention and flood control, watershed re-establishment of Brook trout, Atlantic Salmon, and Lake Sturgeon, establishment of an Onondaga Lake Science Center and operation of a floating classroom. Past work includes efficacy monitoring of CSO discharge into the Harbor Brook constructed wetland treatment system; boat steward programming at Onondaga and Oneida Lake Parks to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species; performance of water quality, fishes and benthic invertebrate monitoring and teacher training in support of water quality improvements in the Hudson River; and similar monitoring and public outreach in development of a watershed plan for Poesten Kill; and conceptualizing and performing preliminary engineering at Arsenal Park, Syracuse for compound channel enhancement and downstream floodplain mitigation relieving burdened properties in low socio-economic neighborhoods from the FEMA 100-yr storm event flood insurance requirement.
Dr. Michalenko has performed past research on the effects of chemicals in the environment including the Solvay wastebeds, which form the western shore of Onondaga Lake; mollucsides used to control zebra mussels in industrial cooling waters; sewage sludge additions to strip-mined reclamation sites; and supplemental wood preservative applications to utility poles in Adirondack wetlands. He conducted the first basewide Ecological Risk Assessment of a military installation at Cape Canaveral Air Station, FL, and designed and implemented the first field monitoring program of an aerially applied pesticide for non-agricultural purposes at Cicero Swamp Game Management Area. Dr. Michalenko has co-authored six books and over 40 peer-reviewed technical publications on environmental fate and effects of chemicals for the USEPA, National Library of Medicine, and Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry, and hundreds of records for the Hazardous Substance Database. After teaching high school biology and chemistry, he also held adjunct and visiting faculty positions at ESF, Syracuse University, and LeMoyne College where he has taught courses in ecology, environmental science, American environmental movement, and environmental education for teachers. He received Masters and doctoral degrees from ESF in 1984 and 1991.
Dr. Michalenko also served as the Dewitt Supervisor for 18 years and 11 years as Town Councilor. He was a strong advocate of budget constraint, open government, neighborhood improvements, and the environment. As Supervisor, he was executive to a seven member Town Board, managed Town operations with an annual budget of just over 20 million dollars, and oversaw more than 135 permanent employees across 11 departments including Assessors, Clerk & Taxes, Comptrollers, Courts, Highway, Parks & Property Maintenance, Planning-Zoning & Sustainability, Police, Recreation, Supervisor, and Water. He established Town employment policy and procedures; instituted fair and consistent work practices via the Town’s first ever employee handbook and implemented annual performance reviews for all permanent employees. He negotiated multiple union contracts with blue collar, white collar, and supervisory collective bargaining units of the Civil Service Employees Association and DeWitt Police Benevolent Association. He was able to implement an annual step programs for workers, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars over the long run, while still granting employees 3-5% annual salary increases. While Supervisor, he managed the town budget under the NYS tax cap with an annual average annual increase less than 1.5%. He was able to offset the loss of sales tax revenue without an increase in the overall budget. Ed worked with a number of industries and commercial interests to implement a series of business development projects including Carrier, New Venture Gear, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Dupli-Graphics, Feldmeier, CryroMech, Inficon, Dig-Safe, and Shoppintown. As councilor, he has chaired the Dewitt Solid Waste Committee and Traffic Task Force, and has served on the Engineering, Budget, Fire Protection, and Advisory Conservation Committees.
Dr. Michalenko established DeWitt as a distinguished municipal leader on environmental and sustainability issues. Under his tutorship, DeWitt updated its Comprehensive Plan and adopted a Sustainability Policy, Sustainability Plan, Greenhouse Gas Inventory, Climate Action Plan, No Pesticide Use Policy, Tree Inventory and Forest Management Plan, enacted a Tree Ordinance, created a Tree Committee and planted over 10,000 new trees in rights-of-way, parks, and greenspace. For over 15 years, NYS DEC and the National Arbor Day Foundation have recognized DeWitt as a Climate Smart Community and Tree City USA. He instituted the first municipal Emerald Ash Borer Control Program and inoculated and saved over 200 ash trees in hopes a long-term solution. DeWitt is a member of the worldwide network of communities ICLEI: Local governments for Sustainability.
Dr. Michalenko inaugurated the Moving DeWitt Initiative, a town-wide comprehensive trails, sidewalk, and bike route plan, contributing to construction of the Erie Canal trail over Route 481 connecting the National Heritage Corridor along Erie Blvd and the historic Erie Canal. In combination with aggressive acquisition of properties, he greatly expanded public lands and greenspace, amenities, trails, bridges, gazebos, and playgrounds at Avery, Butternut Creek, Cedar Bay, Dunrovin, Franklin Park, Grist Mill, Maxwell, Rush Creek, and Ryder Parks. He helped establish and expanded the Park at Fiddler’s Green along Butternut Creek, and serves as a founding Director of the Fiddlers Green Park Association. Ed led the establishment of a world class all-inclusive recreational sports complex at Carrier Park; home of Syracuse Challenger baseball. Weekend tournaments at Carrier Park provide an over a ten million dollar regional economic benefit annually.
Dr. Michalenko converted town streetlights to LED and installed a 2.6 MegaWatt solar farm on the former DeWitt landfill, thereby achieving over a 33 percent reduction in carbon emissions before 2020 and totally freed the Town from fossil fuel consumption for electricity use. Ed implemented carbon footprint reductions through multiple projects and initiatives including a 51 kW roof top solar array (reducing building electric consumption 15%), updated >700 light fixtures (lowering electric consumption 55% and CO2 output by >145,000 lbs annually), installed insulated white energy efficient PVC membrane roofs to lower heating and cooling costs, purchased Chevy bolt electric fleet vehicles and installed electric charging stations at various locations throughout the Town, added fuel saving idle controls on trucks and snowplows, and installed energy savings software on HVAC systems, etc. Ed banned hydrofracking and the export of fossil fuel from the Town. He led the opposition against a proposed coal gasification plant in Jamesville by providing the Town Board direction for imposing a building moratorium and zoning change consistent with the goals of the Town’s Comprehensive Plan. He designed Dewitt’s tiered Solid Waste Removal System that offers three volume-based service levels, off-curb pickup, lowers costs and promotes recycling.
In general, Dr. Michalenko promoted seven major initiatives: 1) maintenance of a long term budget strategy with <1.5% annual increase to property taxes, 2) development of a town wide network of bike lanes, sidewalks, trails, green space, parks, and recreational facilities, 3) implementation of a storm water management system to mitigate runoff in flood prone neighborhoods, improve water quality, and enhance the environment, 4) establishment of a Sustainability Policy to guide Town practices into the future, 5) acquired alternate energy systems and implemented green projects to lower carbon footprint, reduce fossil fuel consumption and dependency, and reduce costs, 6) incorporated smart growth in business and economic development, and 7) provided accessible, open, transparent, and responsive government.
Modified 05-01-26