NEWBURGH – An inspection of Newburgh city sewer mains with a robotic camera has discovered that a sanitary sewer main had been improperly connected to an outfall pipe resulting in untreated sewage continuously pouring into the Hudson River.
An outfall pipe that discharges to the Hudson River at the east end of
Park Place is only supposed to discharge combined sewer water to the river
during wet weather precipitation events. But, during a recent investigation
of the city’s sewer mains, “it was discovered that a sanitary
sewer main had been improperly connected to this outfall pipe, and is
causing a constant dry weather discharge of untreated sewage” through
that particular outfall pipe.
Newburgh officials have notified the proper regulatory authorities and
have developed an action plan to reroute the improperly connected sanitary
sewer main to eliminate the ongoing dry weather discharge of untreated
sewage to the Hudson River.
The city has hired a contractor to perform emergency construction work to install a new sanitary sewer main to direct those sewer flows to the city’s wastewater treatment plant.
In the meantime, officials said the public should avoid contact with the river in the area at the end of Park Place.
