NEWBURGH – As if the City of Newburgh doesn’t have enough problems with tainted water, tight cash flow, layoff of firefighters and difficulty in retaining police officers, another serious issue has been added to the mix.
A more than 100-year-old water main that runs under the Central Hudson property in New Windsor and into the city’s Washington Lake reservoir, has developed a break and sinkhole that if not addressed, could cause catastrophic consequences.
City Engineer Jason Morris told the city council Thursday night that even though that main has not been used in decades, the leak must be remediated.
“Because of the break on that 24-inch, you could potentially drain Washington Lake through that break through Masterson’s Park and flood the dam inundation area,” Morris said.
A parallel 30-inch water main, which has temporarily been shut off, had been feeding water.
The crisis was discovered when a sinkhole appeared in the parking lot of the Central Hudson facility on Route 207 near the reservoir.
