SOME SWIM CONCERNS
Report says river generally safe but Rondout Creek a trouble spot
KINGSTON, N.Y. » While most of the Hudson River is safe for swimming on most days, the environmental protection group Riverkeeper says some areas — including seven locations between Saugerties and Staatsburg — fail to meet guidelines for safe swimming.
In a new report, Riverkeeper says there could be the need for roughly $56 million in wastewater infrastructure improvements and another $65 million for water treatment plant upgrades in the Mid-Hudson region.
The report, called “How’s the Water? Hudson River Water Quality and Water Infrastructure,” looks at water quality and infrastructure needs along the estuary and puts a dollar amount on the cost of upgrades. “We want to influence the federal and state budgets,” said Dan Shapley, the water quality program director for Riverkeeper.
Overall, the report states, it would take a $4.8 billion investment to improve water quality in the river and its tributaries.
Shapley said the Riverkeeper hopes the data will both encourage the federal government to fund some water projects along the river and ensure the state upholds its commitment to funding the Clean Water Investment Act.
Shapely said the organization collected and tested 8,200 water samples from various points in the river between 2008 and 2016.
The testing found that 21 percent of the samples failed to meet the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s guidelines for safe swimming. Shapley said about 45 samples were collected at each location.
The report says the water quality at both Ulster Landing Beach and Kingston Point Beach was found to be generally acceptable: Only 6 percent of the samples collected at Ulster Landing Beach and 7 percent of the samples collected at Kingston Point Beach exceeded the federal guidelines.
It was a different story, however, along the Rondout Creek.
At the Kingston public
dock on the Rondout, 30 percent of the water samples collected exceeded the federal guidelines. At the Kingston Sewage Treatment Plant outfall, 29 percent of the samples collected exceeded the federal guidelines. And in both cases, the average contamination was greater than the EPA-recommended thresholds for safe swimming.
At the Eddyville Anchorage, 16 percent of the water samples exceeded the federal guidelines, however the average water quality there fell within the federal guidelines.
“Ulster Landing Beach, Kingston Point Beach, on almost all occasions sampled there was good water quality for swimming,” Shapley said. “There were a few times when we measured bacteria
levels above the threshold, but it’s never been that high.
“That’s not the case in the Rondout Creek,” he said. “There we frequently see contamination at levels that are too high for safe swimming.
“There are many places on the river that are good for swimming, Kingston is a great example of that. The river is a good place, the creek is not.”
The primary contributor to poor water quality in the Rondout is the city’s sewer system, which Shapley said is a combined stormwater and sewer system, leading to the wastewater treatment plant becoming overwhelmed during storms.
Kingston Mayor Steve Noble did not respond to a request for comment on the report.