I know the Hudson may look tempting today as the temperature reaches over 105 degrees but DON’T DO IT!!! Hundreds of city employees and contractors, including workers from out of state, are trying to repair a badly damaged sewage treatment plant in Harlem that has discharged millions of gallons of untreated sewage into the Hudson and Harlem Rivers. More details after the jump!
(NYTimes)–City officials have advised against recreational activities in either river or four beaches on Staten Island and in Brooklyn.
The scene outside the plant was hectic, crowded -– and hot. With temperatures climbing above 100 degrees, workers took turns ducking into a bus that had been outfitted as a cooling center. The police cordoned off a section of Riverbank State Park, which sits atop the treatment plant, forcing bicyclists and joggers to climb several flights of stairs and take another route.
Much of the crew’s energy focused on the pumping system of the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant, which handles waste from the West Side of Manhattan above Bank Street in Greenwich Village. The plant treats about 120 million gallons.
One of the five pump engines, which help process the sewage, caught fire on Wednesday, forcing city officials to divert the sewage to special pipes that lead directly to the river. The pipes are usually used as a relief system during heavy rains.
Two trucks escorted by police cars arrived at the plant Friday morning carrying temporary pumps. A contractor at the scene said they would serve as a stop-gap measure while the plant’s pipes were repaired. “This is a positive development,†said the contractor, who declined to be publicly identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media. “Finally, it should work.â€
Two trucks that arrived late Friday morning with Ohio and Indiana license plates and one of the drivers said workers had been working on a job on the Ohio River on Thursday when they were sent to New York. The drive took 14 hours.
Materials on both trucks were from ITT Waste Water Management in Milford, Ohio.
Michael Saucier, a spokesman for the city’s Department Of Environmental Protection, said crews were aiming to stop the sewage from flowing into the river before Friday night.
Riverkeeper, an environmental advocacy group, was testing the water quality and were expected to have results Friday afternoon.
Around 1 p.m., chunks of what appeared to be feces — slightly larger than golf balls — drifted north along the pier, towards the plant. It is unclear whether the excrement, which emerged from an opening beneath the pier, near 125th Street, was related to the fire.
