Student Science Project Spurs Buchanan Pond Cleanup

In an effort to gather water samples during their Environmental Solutions class this spring, Hendrick Hudson High School students Brody Marcus, Lux Pyzyna and Samantha Schinder and teacher Alan Zollner visited Buchanan Pond. What they found across the street from the high school and not far from the district’s bus depot was pollution — tires, shreds of tires, and pieces of other microplastics they suspected were harmful to the ecosystem.

Said Pyzyna: “We were not expecting that.”

This discovery led the students to shift their focus. The pond became the subject of their spring project. And the results of their research and a desire for a solution had a direct, positive outcome.

In late June, Con Edison, which owned sections of the pond, informed the district it had completed a thorough cleanup, removing over 1,040 pounds of tires and debris from the site and providing pictures of the end result (pictured below).

“There are a lot of environmental problems,” said Zollner, who recently retired after a long career as a science teacher at the high school. “I wanted to show the kids that they can be empowered to do something.”

The students relied on the assistance of Town of Cortlandt Board Member James Creighton; Con Edison’s Corporate Affairs Manager Mike Pinto; Hendrick Hudson’s Director of School Facilities, Operations and Maintenance Anthony Merlini; and Resource Development Liaison Beth Gruber.

Initially, the students had discussed performing the pollution removal themselves until Con Edison committed to it. The students were pleased to hear their work had an impact.

“There are so many issues with climate change,” said Schnider, who, along with Pyzyna, graduated in June. “To have identified a problem and to help create a solution to fix it, it made me feel really good to have accomplished that before leaving this school.”

The students each handled a different part of the research. They found that tires being disposed in this manner leached chemicals and dispensed micro plastics into the water. They explained how tire particles can end up in a watershed through wear and tear and runoff and how that process damages the ecosystem. The project also offered solutions for disposing of used tires locally through the Town of Cortlandt.

But the primary action item was cleaning up Buchanan Pond, a process which is now complete thanks to their work and the help of Con Edison.

“We were glad that we could help organize a way to clean it up,” Marcus said.