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A four-alarm fire this past Wed., July 21st in the engine room of the treatment plant upon which Riverbank State Park rests has caused for the entire park to be evacuated and closed.PHOTO CREDIT:doobybrain.com
The massive North River Wastewater Treatment Plant located on the Henry Hudson Parkway from W.137th Street to W.145th Street continues to dump gallons of sewage into the river after a four-alarm fire that started in the engine room on Wed., July 21st at approximately 11:45 a.m., where a vital piece of machinery inside the plant was destroyed. An exact cause for the fire has not yet been determined.
As the fire spewed black smoke columns into the air, Riverbank State Park, located directly on top of the plant, had to be evacuated.
The park remains closed until a full safety assessment is conducted and electricity can be restored to the facilities, according to Rachel Gordon, regional director for New York State parks. “We’re hoping to reopen within the next couple of days,” said Gordon.
The wastewater started to be directly discharged into the Hudson River yesterday around
5 pm.
According to Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), staff and contractors are working as quickly as possible to get the plant running again. Workers have begun assessing facility damage, cleanup, and are working to bring electricity back into the facility.
In an effort to minimize the hazardous waste discharge, DEP has begun small “pump arounds,” pumping the wastewater flow through another plant located on Frederick Douglass Boulevard and 117th Street.
The DEP has released a statement saying that water quality modeling thus far indicates that there has been no immediate impact to City beaches due to the dilution capacity of the river.
Still, based on recommendations from NYC Health, the following waterways are affected and are being described as not fit for recreational activities such as swimming, canoeing, kayaking, windsurfing or any other water activity at least until Sunday: the Hudson River, East River from the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge to the Verrazano Bridge, and the Harlem River.
Frank Hess, a spokesman for Assemblyman Denny Farrell, said, “This is tragic, because there is a temporary loss for the community in Northern Manhattan [that] uses the River Bank Facilities.”
He added, “We’re hoping that more damage can be prevented, and that they reopen soon, especially with the high temperatures.”
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