NYCkayaker The Yonkers spill

Tue May 8 08:58:49 EDT 2007

Probably one of the easiest places would be Mamaroneck Harbor.  Located at the foot of Mamaroneck  Avenue inHarbor Island Park,  on the left as you enter is a public boat ramp.  Always open to the general public.  Careful where you park.  Parking right next to the ramp is restricted to permit holders after May 1.  Additional parking a short distance away is plentiful. An alternative, at present is Glen Island in New Rochelle.  Once the season opens in earnest, access to the parking and ramp may be limited to county permit holders.  You can access Playland and put in but I find that once the park is open and busy that the pedestrian traffic getting to the boat launce area can be difficult. Then it is on to CT. 

Apparently there are locations on City Island for input but I cannot provide detailed information. 

________________________________

From: nyckayaker-bounces at rockandwater.net [mailto:nyckayaker-bounces at rockandwater.net] On Behalf Of peterbernstein at optonline.net
Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2007 8:39 AM
To: David Gottlieb
Cc: nyckayaker at rockandwater.net; Richard Clifford
Subject: Re: NYCkayaker The Yonkers spill

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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