Hudson, City says raw sewage from fire-damaged Hudson River treatment plant will clos
Be careful whoever goes in that river in the next few days.
City says raw sewage from fire-damaged Hudson River treatment plant will close Island beaches.
The city Health Department last night posted pollution advisories for Staten Island’s East Shore beaches in the aftermath of a blaze that knocked out a key sewage treatment plant on the Hudson River in Harlem. The overflow has fouled area waters.
Though the beaches are officially open, the city strongly discouraged swimming and bathing until the advisory is lifted, which for now means at least through Monday.
The affected areas are South Beach, Midland Beach, Cedar Grove Beach and Sea Gate in Brooklyn.
The waters off Staten Island "up to the Verrazano" are deemed unfit for recreational activities such as swimming, canoeing, kayaking, windsurfing or any other activity that would entail possible direct contact with the water.
It’s a result of sewage flowing into the waterway after the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant was taken offline yesterday afternoon following a four-alarm blaze in the engine room.
If it’s not fixed soon, beaches might be officially closed.
"That depends on a number of factors which modeling will have to take into account, like tidal flows, sewage volumes and other factors," said Farrell Sklerov, a spokesman for the Department of Environmental Protection.
People near the Narrows should not be in contact with the water, especially on the North Shore, until water sampling can be done to determine the impact of the sewage, said Beryl Thurman executive director of the North Shore Waterfront Conservancy of Staten Island.
"It has been long thought that anything east of Snug Harbor would be safe, but I would think this should make people cautious," Ms. Thurman said. "This is a very sad and concerning situation."
Ms. Thurman said residents fish near the Stapleton home port and from St. George to Livingston, but they should refrain from eating anything that they catch until it can be proved to be safe.
The Hudson River, the Harlem River and the East River from the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge to the Verrazano are all compromised by the sewage overflow, officials said.
Those areas will be shut down until at least Sunday, and the NYPD Harbor Unit will patrol near the plant to keep boaters at a safe distance, the DEP said.
The plant treats, on average, 120 million gallons of raw sewage each day from Manhattan’s West Side and the northern part of the borough.
The DEP is applying chlorine to some sewer outfalls near the plant to minimize bacteria.
"The plant has been re-energized, which is the first step toward bringing it back online. The estimated time to bring the plant back online is still undetermined," the DEP release said.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by nitestrikes
