Radio Catskill’s reporter Marin Scotten uncovered the troubling details of how the Bloomingburg wastewater treatment plant has been discharging untreated wastewater—up to 120,000 gallons daily—into the Shawangunk Kill, a vital waterway flowing through Orange, Ulster, and Sullivan counties.
Authorities say a sewage treatment plant in Sullivan County has discharged dirty wastewater daily for at least 15-months stemming from challenges with non-biodegradable materials and operational failures within the treatment process, posing significant environmental and public health risks.
Why hasn’t this been stopped? Why have they not done anything?
The BKAA encourages you to call the DEC to encourage swifter action.
Make sure you include – Bloomingburg Sewage Treatment Plant (SPEDES permit #NY0208426)
NYS DEC Region 3 Engineer- David Pollock- 845-256-3000 david.pollock@dec.ny.gov
NYS DEC Dept of Water Protection- Meena George- 914-803-8141 meena.george@dec.ny.gov
Stephen Monteverde- 845-256-3162 stephen.monteverde@dec.ny.gov
NYS DEC Dept of Water- Manju Cherian- 845-256-3179 manju.cherian@dec.ny.gov
NYS DEC Region 3 Director- Kelly Turturro- 845-256-3033 kelly.turturro@dec.ny.gov
NYS DEC Commissioner- Basil Seggos- 518-402-8545
This is heartbreaking!! I had a campsite on the stream for almost 40 years and just sold it. I grieve for the next owner. He probably never knew what was coming. HOW DARE BUSINESS OWNERS RUIN THEIR OWN AWESOME ENVIRONMENT?????
I am so frustrated over this situation. I wrote this weeks ago. I live on the Schwangunk Kill River which is being polluted by the town of Bloomingburg NY. Needless to say, Mayor Russell has done nothing & has lied about his awareness of the situation. Congressman Pat Ryan has passed us off to Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther who has also done nothing. I spoke to Bloomingburg Town Clerk Deborah Beuerman who stated that everything we heard about problems with the plant was just a bunch of hysteria and hype on various social media outlets. Bloomingburg Mayor Russell Wood has lied about the treatment plant problems which goes back to 2022. I am shocked by the lack of involvement from the DEC which should be protecting our waterways.
I think that a Class Action Lawsuit with all the river towns will certainly wake them all up.
These are absolute facts listed below…
BKAA Action Alert Bloomingburg, NY WASTEWATER Treatment Plant Alert ALERT: 120,000 gallons of NON-DISINFECTED WASTEWATER has been discharged into the Shawangunk Kill on a DAILY BASIS from the Bloomingburg Treatment Plant since November 2022. Over 1 million gallons of NON-DISINFECTED WASTEWATER has been discharged in total.
On November 9, 2022 the DEC inspected the Bloomingburg Sewage Treatment Plant (SPEDES permit #NY0208426). During the inspection, it was noted that the automated bar screen at the plant’s headworks (where sewage enters the plant) had been out of service for several months. It was also noted that the tertiary cloth filters (at the end of the treatment process and just prior to release into the Shawangunk Kill) were nonfunctional (this had also been noted on a November 4, 2021 DEC inspection). These two items are critical for removing “rags” (Settleable solids).
• On January 6, 2023 the Bloomingburg Sewage Treatment Plant discharged partially treated wastewater into the Shawangunk Kill. A NY-Alert notification and advisory had not been issued to the general public within 4 hours, this is a violation of the Environmental Conservation Law (ECL).
• On November 3, 2023 the DEC performed an Annual Compliance Inspection which resulted in a rating of Unsatisfactory. Among numerous violations found, the automated bar screen was still disabled and the tertiary cloth filters were still offline. As a result of these two nonfunctioning items, debris and rag-like material have been found in various pipes, pumps and the discharge channel which leads to the Shawangunk Kill.
• During a visit to the plant by a representative of the BKAA on February 8, 2024 these two serious violations still existed. This has resulted in daily NY-Alerts stating that Effluent discharges of about 120,000 gallons of waste water (each day), which has NOT been disinfected, has been released into the Shawangunk Kill. This totals over 1 million gallons thus far. Unfortunately, we have only just recently become aware of this situation or we would have acted sooner. Both the Village of Bloomingburg and the DEC have had more than enough time to remedy this situation.
Video attached…
Feel free to contact me at any time.
PS: Look at this below and these are questions I wish you would publish… no one has answered these questions!
https://longisland.news12.com/state-officials-meet-with-bloomingburg-leaders-to-address-sewage-leak-into-shawangunk-kill
A state official tells News 12 that a meeting between state lawmakers, the Department of Environmental Conservation and Bloomingburg leaders was held last week to discuss problems at their sewage treatment plant that is allegedly dumping millions of gallons of wastewater into the 47-mile Shawangunk Kill stream. RESP: Why allegedly? I would think the answer would be either yes or no. Who can get to the bottom of this matter? Who will state the facts on what real status is at this time. if Bloomingburg will not admit status then who will verify what the real status is at this time. What is the status? Why should downstream residents and the eco-tourist based economy be held hostage to an unconcerned and uninterested Sullivan county township as a result of their inability to resolve the problem?
Assemblyman Brian Maher, who represents several nearby communities where the stream runs through, says he and other state officials met with village leaders last week after News 12’s story about the sewage leak aired.
RESP: What specifically was done to verify the magnitude of the downstream impact? Long-term impacts? How long has this been going on and come up with both immediate and short-term solutions? The official says Mayor Russell Wood claimed during the meeting that the village was unaware of the severity of the problems which are allegedly causing 120,000 gallons of wastewater to be discharged into the stream that feeds into the Wallkill River, even though the DEC reports the agency issued several violation notices since the problems were first found in Nov. 2022.
RESP: Lack of awareness raises issues of competency of both the Mayor, township and operator H2O Innovation the operator? If the date is correct then this has been going on for over a year? Why should anyone believe something is going to be done now? If violations have been issued for over a year and nothing accomplished then something further needs to be done on this matter? Why should the downstream residents see potential health threats? Why should local fishermen have their resources degraded? Why should Ulster Counties ecotourism be compromised for the incompetence of both H20 Innovation and Bloomingburg township? Why should the work of downstream watershed sustainable management be compromised as related to communities that already suffer other watershed based stressors?