Mayor, environmentalists dispute safety of Kingston creek

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Engineers survey the area Monday near where a sewer main broke on Gilead Street in Kingston. The city's mayor said sewage that has poured into nearby Twaalfskill Creek has been treated and poses no risk to the public; an environmental group says tests show the creek is polluted.KELLY MARSH/for the Times Herald-Record

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Published: 2:00 AM - 07/16/13

KINGSTON ? Mayor Shayne Gallo and the environmental organization Riverkeeper sparred Monday over public safety in the wake of a sewer main collapse that has already spilled 500,000 gallons of sewage into Twaalfskill Creek.

The city reported the spill July 8 to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, saying it was a combination of sediment accumulation and a blockage in the pipe that collapsed the 24-inch-diameter clay pipe.

Contractors, with DEC oversight, have been working since Friday to bypass the pipe. DEC officials were unavailable for comment Monday.

Christine Elliott of Gilead Street said a sinkhole created by the collapse was about 20 feet across.

Gallo said Monday he didn't have an estimate of how much the collapse will cost to repair.

The mayor said testing was done at the creek and there was no risk to the public, and said the water was being chlorinated.

But a Riverkeeper official said Monday the agency tested the water going into the creek after chlorination had been in effect, and that samples it took from the pipe and just downstream contained bacteria indicating fecal counts more than 1,000 times the safe level for swimming and primary contact ? in spite of chlorine being added by the city.

"There's more sewage in the brook than water," said Tracy Brown, the river quality advocate for Riverkeeper.

Riverkeeper said chlorination of the sewage also poses a risk to wildlife in the stream.

Gallo said Riverkeeper has failed to contact his office before coming to its own conclusions.

"They're going to have to take that issue up with the Health Department and the DEC," said Gallo.

jnani@th-record.com

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