AMSTERDAM, N.Y. (AP) - The city of Amsterdam in upstate New York must upgrade its aging sewer system after a large municipal spill that went unreported dumped millions of gallons of untreated sewage into the Mohawk River in 2013.
Under an agreement with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the Albany Times Union reports (https://bit.ly/1JNE5EJ ) that the city agreed to pay a fine of more than $13,000 and upgrade its sewers by 2017 to lessen the risk of sewage spills during heavy rain.
The agreement requires the city to begin tracking the amount of untreated sewage that escapes into the river when it rains, which overwhelms the sewer system. The city must also file an inventory of sewer infrastructure and a capital spending plan for how the system can be made to operate within water pollution limits.
In December 2013, two pumping stations in the city failed, according to the agreement, and 24 million gallons of untreated sewage spilled into the river over eight days. But the DEC reported zero gallons under a 2013 state spill reporting law that is supposed to protect people from health risks associated with contaminated water.
“A spill of 24 million gallons of sewage into a drinking-water source is an obscene amount,” said Adrienne Esposito, executive director for Citizens Campaign for the Environment, which supported the state sewer spill reporting law. “This is a prime example of why a reporting law like this was needed.”
Human contact with dangerous pathogens in small amounts of raw sewage can lead to short-term and chronic illnesses, especially for children, the elderly and people with weak immune systems.
At least two towns in the Albany area, Cohoes and Colonie, use the Mohawk River for drinking water. A Cohoes official said Monday that the city was not told of the spill, which happened about 30 miles upstream.
DEC said a state form used by Amsterdam to report the spill showed the amount as blank because of a clerical error. DEC now uses the NY Alert email system to report sewage spills but was not using it when the reporting law became effective in May 2013.
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Information from: Times Union, https://www.timesunion.com
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