Health Dept: Avoid Contact with Hudson River

The Westchester County Department of Health on Wednesday evening issued an advisory to avoid contact with the Hudson River from Croton Point Park and all points south due to planned sewage discharges overnight in Sleepy Hollow and Yonkers.

In a press release, the department warned those who use the Hudson River waters for recreational purposes (swimmers, boaters, kayakers and windsurfers) to "curtail your activities until further notice."

Because of a sewer line break in Tarrytown, the county expected there to be a controlled discharge of several million gallons of chlorinated raw sewage into the Hudson River at Sleepy Hollow overnight. The Health Department stated that the treated sewage bypass was needed for repairs to be made to the sewer line. There would be a treated sewage discharge into the Hudson at Yonkers as well.

The advisory was sent to area marinas as well as affected municipalities. 

Sleepy Hollow Village Administrator Anthony Giaccio said he hadn't seen this situation in his four years on the job, but he speculated that the discharge would occur near  and the village dock where the county has a SPDES permit. 

SPDES stands for State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. According to the State Department of Environmental Conservation's website, "New York State has a state program which has been approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for the control of wastewater and stormwater discharges in accordance with the Clean Water Act."