Community Corner

NJ Continues To Monitor Hudson, Finds 'No Impact' From Sewage Spill

But state DEP officials also continue to advise NJ residents against recreational use of the river

Water sampling of the Hudson River has so far revealed no impact to New Jersey’s shoreline as a result of a massive raw sewage spill after a fire last week at a New York City wastewater treatment plant, state officials said Tuesday. But according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), bacteria levels in the Hudson remain higher than normal, and officials continue to “strongly advise” New Jersey residents to refrain from recreational uses of the river, including swimming, kayaking, jet skiing or fishing and crabbing.

The NJDEP released the update Tuesday on the “potential impacts” of the raw sewage discharge from the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant just across the river from Edgewater, saying the state is continuing to “closely monitor the waters of the Hudson River.”

“Scientists from the DEP continue to monitor the region by boat and air, and will continue to analyze water samples from the Hudson River and adjacent areas,” according to a statement. “[We] have found no signs of any contaminants from the Hudson River. No effluent or discharged materials have been observed floating on the water, no odors are being detected and there is no visible plume of effluent.”

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While the NJDEP says it has conducted water sampling in Raritan Bay, at Sandy Hook and on beaches in Monmouth County, the NJDEP’s interactive map shows "monitoring locations" just north of Fort Lee in Englewood Cliffs and just south of the borough in neighboring Edgewater.

Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich said last week that the borough had been contacted by the NJDEP in the wake of the incident and advised of the potential hazards.

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“The Hudson River apparently is high in contaminants,” Sokolich said at the Fort Lee Mayor and Council regular meeting Thursday. “Until this problem is resolved, we’ve been asked [to advise Fort Lee residents] if they can [to] avoid either being in the Hudson or swimming in the Hudson or coming into contact with the Hudson and boating and things of that nature. If you can, avoid it for the next few days.”

The state will update residents when it’s safe to resume “normal recreational activities” on the Hudson River, officials said.


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