Sewage discharge in Yonkers prompts water advisory
The Westchester County Department of Health is advising people who use the Hudson River waters for recreational purposes, namely swimmers, boaters, windsurfers and kayakers, to avoid direct contact with the Hudson River from points south of Tarrytown in Westchester until further notice.
Due to the excessive rainfall associated with Hurricane Irene, the Department of Environmental Facilities has reported a sewage discharge into the Hudson River from the North Yonkers Pump Station. The volume of water coming into the North Yonkers Pump Station was too much for the system to handle, causing a manhole cover to dislodge resulting in a sewage discharge into the Hudson. The Department of Environmental Facilities has been working to remediate the issue.
The Department of Environmental Facilities will be collecting samples from the surcharging sewer manhole this evening and the Health Department will issue an updated advisory based on the sample results.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York State Department of Health have been notified.