DEC Commissioner Visits Oneida County

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens visited Oneida County flood spots today to survey damage and determine if any measures can be taken to prevent future flooding hot spots. Martens made multiple stops in the area where flood damage was the worst. He said it is important that he get out personally to see the damage.

The DEC regulates stream maintenance throughout the state and past regulations have kept streams from being cleaned out regularly. Many area residents feel that dredging of streams could have prevented some last month's flooding.

Martens pointed out that dredging has to be done carefully so as not to negatively affect areas further down stream. He added that because of the scale of the flooding the DEC will have to look at the possibility of more frequent stream maintenance in the future.