On Sunday, September 27, a power outage occurred at a wastewater pumping station in the Hamlet of Wallkill, causing a sewer overflow on River Road. The Shawangunk town board passed a resolution declaring the pump shutdown an emergency during its October 1 meeting. The board wants to furnish and install new equipment in the facility, and this resolution will expedite the design and procurement process.

The pumping station, located on River Road in Wallkill, serves the wastewater flow for the entire Wallkill Sewer District and two New York State correctional facilities. The facility experienced a weather-related power outage on September 27 in the late afternoon, causing a pump station and alarm failure. This led to 25,000 gallons of untreated sewage spilling into River Road; residents who live on River Road reported seeing sewage coming up out of the ground through a manhole.

“So over the weekend, we had a power outage that caused the pumps to go into fault. When they went into fault, the alarm triggered, but Frontier being the excellent company they are, the phone was dead and the alarm didn’t call anybody,” said Supervisor Ken Ronk Jr. on October 1. “We had a 25,000-gallon spill of sewage material into the river and surrounding road. It was found to be blowing out of a manhole up on River Road.”

H2O, the town’s water and sewer company, cleaned up all the sewage before it could contaminate any water sources or endanger public health. The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation also investigated River Road and confirmed that there were no safety issues following H20’s cleanup.

Members of the town’s sewer department managed to get the pumps back online before the end of September 27. The pumps shut down again a few days later, however, requiring the department to use backup pumps. As of Monday, October 5, the department was still using the backup pumps near River Road.

“Our sewer department guys got the sewer up and running again. Everything was fine until a few days later when the pumps just couldn’t keep up with the flow at the pump station, and sewage started blowing out of the manhole again,” Ronk said on October 1. “We’ve been preparing for this, and we had standby pumps. The guys did some work down at the sewer plant to create a bypass system where they wouldn’t have to block the transfer station. They’d be able to bypass the pump station and pump to the sewer plant, while still leaning a lane open for the transfer station. If you go there, they’ve got two big pumps behind the temporary fencing.”

Part of the pump failures had to do with the equipment’s age; the facility contains pumps and controls that date back to 1983. Over the last couple of weeks, the town board has been working with its engineer and a local contractor on furnishing and installing a new pumping system, pump controls, alarm system, and electrical writing in the facility. Normally, the design and procurement process for the pumps and controls would take up to six months to complete, severely delaying the equipment’s delivery and installation. To speed up the process, the board declared the shutdown an emergency during its last meeting. Ronk noted that the project will cost about a million dollars.

Joe LoCicero, a Shawangunk councilman, stated on October 1 that the board is waiting for approval from the town engineer.