Pipe Break Sends Raw Sewage Into Kemeys Cove

UPDATE — The amount of raw sewage discharged into Kemeys Cove was much less than expected, Westchester County officials said. According to the Department of Environmental Facilities, the hole in the pipe was 2-1/2 inches wide – much smaller than expected. The repair crew was able to seal it with a clamp. The discharge into the river was 14,400 gallons — much lower than anticipated.

BRIARCLIFF MANOR, NY — A sewage pipe broke near the Scarborough train station Sunday and sent an estimated 125,000 gallons of raw sewage into the Hudson River. The break near the Kemeys Avenue pumping station was discovered at 11:15 a.m., the state Department of Environmental Conservation reported.

The force main break was about 150 feet north of the Kemeys Cove pump station and about 150 feet south of Revolutionary Road in Ossining.

Kemeys Avenue was closed to traffic as crews dug up a section to get at the pipe.

The Westchester County Department of Environmental Facilities brought in tanker trucks to haul sewage out at 7:15 p.m. and the flow into the river was stopped.

The repairs were completed and a plate put over the excavation in the road by 2:30 a.m., county officials said.

According to the Westchester County Department of Health the volume was not enough to have a significant impact on the Hudson River.

However, the incident was not isolated, officials at Riverkeeper reported.

"Unfortunately, overflows like this one were reported in many locations this weekend, from the Capital District to Troy along the Hudson River, and in several communities located along tributaries to the Hudson," Water Quality Program Director Dan Shapley told Patch. "There are at least 1,500 miles of sewer pipe in the 10 counties between NYC and the Capital District, more than half of which are 60 years old or greater. With climate change, we will see ever greater precipitation extremes, which will put these old pipes under ever greater stress, and lead to overflows that pollute the river."

Communities in the lower Hudson Valley were inundated with 1-2 inches of rainfall in 12 hours on Saturday.

Shapley said Riverkeeper and a large coalition of organizations are calling for the Governor and Legislature to invest $1 billion in the Clean Water Infrastructure Act in the next state budget.

"We can't stop the precipitation extremes overnight, but we can shore up our infrastructure - and we must," he said.

SEE: Town-by-Town Rainfall Totals For Saturday Storm