One of the largest and most complex dredging projects in the country will begin soon to help cleanup Syracuse's Onondaga Lake.

Onondaga Lake has long been considered one of the most polluted lakes in the country.With a long history of industrial pollution, Onondaga Lake was declared a federal superfund site in 1994. The lake is polluted by a long list of industrial contaminants including mercury, PCBs and benzene. This resulted in risks to the environment and to residents who consumed fish caught from the lake.

The dredging project, which will begin later this summer, will be performed in 185 acres of the lake, which represents approximately 6 percent of the 3,000-acre lake bottom. Another 21 acres adjacent to the lake will also be dredged. The dredging and capping work is expected to be done by 2016.

This new phase of the cleanup of Onondaga Lake is major component of a larger, comprehensive remedial program that encompasses 11 additional sites around the lake.

Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens also announced that an informational meeting has been scheduled for June 14 to brief the public on the cleanup.