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Westchester Dumps 4 Million Gallons Of Sewage In Hudson
By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 18, 2010
Modified Nov 18, 2010
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By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 18, 2010
Modified Nov 18, 2010
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Bleccch: Westchester County dumped 4.4 million gallons of treated sewage into the Hudson River last month—and didn't say a word, according to the Journal News. The disgusting event was apparently an "accident," which is no excuse for environmental group Riverkeeper. Riverkeeper's John Lipscombe said, "They've got to warn when there's a release — accidental or planned. It's unethical not to."
The break occurred in Tarrytown and flowed for 39 hours. Westchester County's health officials explained that since the sewage was treated (chlorinated), they didn't feel the public needed to be notified. Still, Riverkeeper says that the levels of Enterococcus, which indicates untreated sewage, were "off-the-charts" in the river near Tarrytown, coming in at 24,196 units per 100 millileters, oh, about 400 times the level the EPA deems is safe for human contact.
Related, here's where your flushes go and it took NYC a year to stop spewing feces into a marsh.
Tagged
hudson river
riverkeeper
sewage
westchester county
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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