Onondaga Nation leaders are speaking out against a proposed amphitheater on Onondaga Lake near Syracuse, N.Y., saying that the project will cover up rather than clean up a former industrial waste dump at the site.

The proposed location on the lake's west shore was once a dumping site for Allied Chemical Co., which deposited over 60 feet of fill material from 1926 to 1944. Rather than remove the waste, the amphitheater plans call for additional cover and building on top of the hazardous fill.

The amphitheater represents a significant portion of a $100 million development plan for Onondaga Lake that also includes infrastructure improvements, a completing a trail around the lake and various projects linking the lakefront to the nearby state fairgrounds. The development project will be financed in part by the county's recently-reached agreement with nearby Indian tribes, guaranteeing the county $2.5 million per year in revenue from casinos on native land.