NYCkayaker The Yonkers spill

Tue May 8 08:39:30 EDT 2007

Can anyone recommend a few good places to park and launch on the Long Island Sound?  

Thanks.
-Peter

----- Original Message -----
From: David Gottlieb 
Date: Monday, May 7, 2007 11:15 pm
Subject: Re: NYCkayaker The Yonkers spill
To: Richard Clifford 
Cc: nyckayaker at rockandwater.net

> Richard, 
> 
> Excellent post.....
> 
> I have decided that I will stay off the Hudson at least south of 
> the Tappan
> Zee for two weeks. I do not trust the officials, and want to 
> make sure that
> the sewage is dispersed, and completely broken down and 
> biodegraded before I
> will venture out into the River I love....
> 
> I will reassess in two weeks. In the meantime, I plan on going 
> up to the
> Harriman Lakes (permit required), Long Island Sound, Split Rock and
> Monksville Reservoirs and other areas before I put my kayak in 
> the Hudson.
> If I feel the need for Hudson River water I will drive up to 
> Cold Spring or
> Plum Point Beach and put in there....
> 
> In the meantime, I will go biking and hiking as well as kayaking 
> in the
> above mentioned places. Yeah, I love paddling along the 
> Palisades cliffs,
> but hate the ideas of infectious diseases. I, myself, am not 
> willing to jump
> in. I realize that when I was a kid, a lot more raw sewage was legally
> dumped in to the Hudson on a daily basis than this recent 
> Yonkers¹ spill.
> And the only thing I could catch when I went fishing were those 
> ferociouseels. Since the building of sewage treatment plants and 
> other clean-up
> efforts, the Hudson has come back to life with more than 200 
> species of fish
> thriving in its waters.
> 
> I prefer to err on the side of caution. -- David Gottlieb
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On 5/7/07 11:06 AM, "Richard Clifford" 
> wrote:
> 
> > NYCKayaker:
> > Two things for any of you to consider before going out on 
> the River.
> > 
> > First, the Westchester County Health Department issued its 
> advisory on
> > Friday, May 4. (below) We also understand that the repairs 
> were made sometime
> > on Sunday when the flow was stopped. To me, the spill rate 
> appears to be both
> > an estimate and significant flow into the River. The weather 
> also is trending
> > warmer. All of this may lead to exposure significant amount of 
> bacteria by any
> > boaters. 
> > 
> > Second, there is a story in the Journal News today that 
> places the volume
> > of the spill at 7.5 million gallons. Perhaps a scientist can 
> tell the
> > community about the dispersal, range and dissipation of the 
> sewage. I have no
> > idea if it is in Croton or how far upstream it could have 
> traveled on the
> > current. 
> > 
> > Rob Morrow who is quoted in today's Journal News article 
> makes a good
> > point about being advised of any spills. But, I posted a 
> advisory on
> > NYCKayaker at 11 A.M. on Saturday morning concerning the 
> spill. The bigger
> > issue of advance warning for this area is not so much the 
> sewage spill, but
> > some heads up about the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant. As 
> for his inability
> > to understand or appreciate at the time that he was slogging 
> through raw
> > sewage and excrement, but thought that it was "mud" is 
> something that I hope
> > never to do. Maybe its a good time to come over to the Long 
> Island Sound for
> > some paddling. 
> > 
> > So, why not develop another plan for recreational 
> activities and wait a
> > few days before getting onto the River? And, no, what doesn't 
> kill you will
> > not make you stronger. It will make you sick, as we all have 
> been advised.
> > 
> > You are well advised to make your choices wisely. - 
> Richard Clifford
> > 
> > 
> > FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 4, 2007
> > ADVISORY FOR BOATERS, MARINAS & RECREATIONAL WATER USERS
> > The Westchester County Department of Health is issuing an 
> alert to boaters and
> > marinas on the Hudson
> > River that a sewage break involving a major sewage line at the 
> Greystone Train
> > Station in Yonkers has resulted
> > in the discharge of untreated sewage into the river. Efforts 
> are underway at
> > this time to repair the broken line
> > and expectations are that the discharge will be stopped by 
> early tomorrow
> > morning.
> > As a precaution, boaters and people who use the water for 
> recreational> purposes should avoid doing so
> > this weekend. An advisory is being issued to marinas located 
> on the Hudson
> > River as well as County and local
> > police departments.
> > 
> > It is estimated that the flow rate is approximately four 
> million gallons per
> > day and that this break may
> > result in the release of two to three million gallons of sewage.
> > -30-
> > 
> > Sewage spill stopped, but people still advised to avoid Hudson
> > By DIANA COSTELLO AND HANNAN ADELY
> > THE JOURNAL NEWS
> > 
> > (Original publication: May 7, 2007)
> > YONKERS -"I feel so unclean."
> > 
> > Those words were uttered by Yonkers resident Bob Morrow, who 
> slogged through
> > sewage-infested waters on the Hudson River Saturday morning in 
> his kayak,
> > having not heard the news that a sewer line had ruptured the 
> day before.
> > 
> > Morrow and a friend paddled from downtown Yonkers to the 
> Hastings border and
> > back, as the brown, mucky water splashed on them. The water 
> was thicker and
> > smellier than usual, Morrow said, but he thought it was caused 
> by runoff from
> > recent flooding.
> > 
> > "We had no idea," he said yesterday. "I thought it was mud. 
> How was I to know
> > it was excrement?"
> > 
> > The sewage leak has been stopped, but kayakers and other area 
> residents should
> > continue to avoid any portion of the Hudson River that touches 
> Westchester> County at least through today, according to county 
> officials. The sewer
> > pipeline ruptured on Friday afternoon, spilling around 7.5 
> million gallons of
> > raw sewage near the riverbank.
> > 
> > "We'll re-evaluate tomorrow when we know a little more of the data,"
> > Westchester County Health Department spokeswoman Mary 
> Landrigan said
> > yesterday.
> > 
> > The sewage leaked out of the pipeline slightly northeast of 
> the Greystone
> > Metro-North Railroad station in Yonkers.
> > 
> > Construction crews spent the weekend building a 200-foot steel 
> pipeline to
> > bypass the 4-foot sewer main. They completed the project about 
> 10 a.m.
> > yesterday.
> > 
> > The nearby wetlands appear to have soaked up most of the 
> sewage, although
> > "there's no way to compute" how much ultimately reached the 
> river, according
> > to Tom Lauro, acting commissioner of the county's Department 
> of Environmental
> > Facilities.
> > 
> > Workers yesterday afternoon were busy pumping water out of the 
> marsh and into
> > the sewer system in an effort to capture any of the waste that 
> polluted the
> > area.
> > 
> > "No sewage is going across the marsh into the Hudson," Lauro 
> said. "That's all
> > been stopped."
> > 
> > Although ruptures happen occasionally, the county has never 
> suffered a leak of
> > such magnitude, Lauro said.
> > 
> > County officials believe that April's record rainfall may have 
> contributed to
> > the break, because a landslide on a steep part of the 
> riverbank moved enough
> > trees and dirt that the pipe shifted and broke.
> > 
> > The state Department of Environmental Conservation is 
> monitoring the leak and
> > repair efforts, but did not have any updates as of yesterday 
> afternoon.> 
> > The Hudson River Fishermen's Association canceled its 22nd 
> Annual Hooked on
> > Hudson fishing contest that was supposed to be held yesterday 
> in Fort Lee,
> > N.J., near the George Washington Bridge because of the sewage 
> spill. The club
> > did not want to put any children at risk in case of bacterial 
> contamination,> said association president Carl Bruger.
> > 
> > In the wake of the rupture, Morrow is considering asking the 
> county to send
> > alerts related to the Hudson River to the Yonkers Paddling and 
> Rowing Club, so
> > kayakers like himself can avoid a similar mess in the future.
> > 
> > "The upsetting thing is we really had no process to know there 
> was a problem,"
> > he said.
> > 
> > 
> > Richard C. Clifford, Esq.
> > Attorney at Law
> > 1890 Palmer Avenue, Suite 302
> > Larchmont, NY 10538
> > 
> > Tel: (914) 834-0100 -or- 0757
> > Cell: (917) 854-5824
> > Fax: (914) 834-0888
> > 
> > RichardClifford at earthlink.net
> > RichardClifford at NYSBar.com
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Dan Starer wrote:
> >> 
> >> 
> >> I was thinking of paddling tomorrow after work but the sewage 
> situation is
> >> still unclear. I just talked to an engineer at the 
> Westchester Dept. of
> >> Health. The spill was stopped at about 10 am Sunday and they 
> are advising
> >> not to paddle today. But they won't say if tomorrow is OK. 
> If anyone has
> >> opinions or further info. please post.
> >> 
> >> 
> >> 
> >> Dan
> >> 
> > 
> > 
> > 
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> 
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