It was supposed to be a federal stimulus project that would create jobs in Central New York, rebuild local infrastructure and help clean up Onondaga Lake.

The $120,000 in economic stimulus money set aside for Onondaga Lake will “improve the quality of life for residents in the area,” U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said last month.

At the same time, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., predicted the lake project “will create jobs across the region and promote long-term economic growth.”

It turns out none of it was true — except for the amount of taxpayer money involved.

The $120,000 will not rebuild infrastructure. It will not build anything. It won’t even clean up a single drop of the polluted lake.

The money — included in the $4.6 billion in federal stimulus funds headed to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — will pay to print a pamphlet about the lake cleanup, Army Corps officials say. Even then, the “State of the Lake” report won’t be completely new, according to Lynn Greer, the Onondaga Lake outreach coordinator for the Buffalo District of the Army Corps of Engineers.

The federal money will pay to update and reprint a 16-page color pamphlet from 2001, which updated the original version published in 1992.

One can only wonder just how much has been wasted…