Panel discusses footprint of I-81 viaduct reconstruction

Syracuse native Nina Muller, who recently moved back to her hometown, said she didn’t know she was drinking lead-contaminated water until maintenance was done on her water meter a few weeks ago. 

“He told me, ‘You have lead lines,’ and he told me about the pitchers that were available,” Muller said. “I’m not sure my neighbors know about the pitchers. I need to ask them.”

The pitchers that Muller mentioned are free water filters that Onondaga County and the City of Syracuse began distributing in November 2024 to eligible Syracuse households. To qualify for the pitchers, households must have “pregnant women and children aged six and under routinely present,” according to City of Syracuse, NY Traffic & Infrastructure News 2024 page. 

Central Current and ArtRage Gallery, located on the north side of Syracuse, hosted a panel discussion on Wednesday night that discussed the on the environmental and social burden of the I-81 viaduct. The panel stressing the foreseeable increased risk of lead exposure due to the removal and reconstruction processes set for next summer. Debadrita Sur and Eddie Velazquez, both freelance reporters for Central Current, moderated the event.

Muller asked the panelists for advice during the Q&A portion, seeking to understand why she feels in the dark about her home’s safety, even as “somebody who’s really educated and pays attention to the news.”

Panelist Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, director of the Racial Justice Center at New York Civil Liberties Union, said the lack of knowledge and access to Syracuse lead and environmental risk resources is not a matter of public outreach, but intentional “misleading [of] the public.” 

“They treat us like we are crazy, even though we’re a very robust collaborative group of people (community members working for lead justice), even though we hired a world-renowned water expert who worked on Flint, Michigan,” Owens-Chaplin said.

The conversation emphasized the looming hazards of lead exposure from bridge paint, health risks construction workers working on developments, and other harmful debris and chemicals that could be released once the dirt below the bridge is excavated. 

Panelists Owens-Chaplin and Oceanna Fair, chair of families for Lead Freedom Now, expressed the vitality for city officials to oppose deconstructing the I-81 viaduct.

“Back in the 1950s and 1960s, the community knew exactly what was going on. They weren’t naive to the fact their neighborhood was being destroyed,” said Owens-Chaplin. “It’s a matter of what rights do we have today that we did not have in the 50s and 60s to demand more equity.”

“We try to force [officials] or advocate that they treat demolished parts of I-81 as hazardous waste, because that requires the highest level of federal and state regulations on how to remove that,” Owens-Chaplin added. 

Photo by Leah Cohn

Audience members listen to panelists discuss the impacts of I-81 redevelopments at a discussion event Wednesday night hosted by Central Current and ArtRage Gallery.

Owens-Chaplin mentioned the impact of “lead dust” that could still cause harm and affect local neighborhoods despite the city’s safety efforts.

“Our kids are supposed to not be outside during construction … school will be in session during construction. We have an elementary school right there that’s teaching three-year-olds,” Owens-Chaplin said.

On the other hand, the panelists did expressed the environmental benefits of demolishing the I-81 viaduct. It will no longer serve as part of a mass high transit system through Syracuse, Owens-Chaplin said.

“It would be roughly 31,000 cars driving through this neighborhood versus 110,000 we’re currently seeing, Owens-Chaplain said. “I think the best part of that is all of the tractor-trailers will be rerouted to I-481.”

She noted that with the decrease in traffic, the passing of diesel trucks, whose exhaust emits lead, will also be redirected to I-481. The interstate was designed with lined trees that absorb vehicle pollution. 

“What we can calculate through our independent research is that air pollution will go way, way down,” Ownes-Chaplain said.

Noise pollution is also expected to significantly decrease, panelists said, because the redevelopment project plans to construct sound-repelling walls.

Panelist Darlene Medley, organizing member of Families for Lead Freedom Now, told attendees the quality of life and the mental and physical well-being of her community are most important to her. 

“For me, my biggest concern is the people, nothing more,” said Medley. “I need them to be okay.”

Medley introduced herself as an advocate for families impacted by lead contamination. Her twin sons were poisoned by lead when they were young, and she recently learned her 27-year-old son has high lead levels.

She said she advocates for the parents in the community who feel lost and ill-informed on the lead present in their own Syracuse homes — whether in their water, paint or soil. She told attendees she is angry because she continues to be unable to protect her children from a hidden poison. 

“How dare they make me feel like I failed?” Medley said. “We are asking for our children to be treated with human decency, and we can’t even get that little simple piece of just having a safe, home.”

Like Medley, Muller seeks information despite what it may reveal about the health of neighborhoods that lie in the I-81 reconstruction footprint. 

“It’s pretty terrifying,” Mueller said. “I can understand that people don’t want to acknowledge this reality, but we all need to.”