Washington Lake drawdown begins
NEWBURGH – Preliminary work has begun to install equipment to lower the water level in Washington Lake to prevent it from over-spilling the dam and risking the contamination of other waters in the area.
The lake, which is the City of Newburgh’s primary water source,
contains the carcinogenic chemical PFOS and several weeks ago, the city
switched over to the New York City Catskill Aqueduct for its water.
Recently the state DEC committed to funding and installing a filtration system and draining purified water to other streams.
Preparation work began on Wednesday with the clearcutting of trees across from the lake on Union Avenue. That is being performed to make way for construction of a service road from Route 300 to Washington Lake for the delivery and installation of equipment for the project, which includes a granular activated carbon filtration mobile unit.
City Manager Michael Ciaravino said the work is “progressing as an attempt to get ahead of the emergency drawdown of the water in Washington Lake ahead of the hurricane season.”
