OFFICIAL SITE OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY

(13/P74) TRENTON – There has been no impact to New Jersey’s bathing beaches caused by a New York City sewer plant spill of raw sewage late Monday and early Tuesday into the Hudson River. The Department of Environmental Protection has been working closely with New York officials to assess the situation and has done precautionary water sampling to ensure the health and safety of our residents, Commissioner Bob Martin said today.

Although preliminary modeling results indicated there will be no impact to the state’s beaches,
DEP science teams were dispatched to the Hudson River this afternoon to obtain water samples to verify the facts and provide enhanced information to ensure the health and safety of the state’s residents, said Commissioner Martin. 

Results from the analysis will be available tomorrow.

As a precaution, the DEP today issued a recreational advisory for the Hudson River through 4:00 p.m., urging swimmers, boaters and kayakers to temporarily avoid contact with Hudson River water from the George Washington Bridge and south to Port Liberte. 

The New Jersey DEP was advised by New York City Department of Environmental Protection of an overnight electrical issue that caused the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant in Harlem to discharge raw sewage into the Hudson River starting at 10:50 p.m. on Monday and ending about 4 a.m. today. New York took steps to disinfect the water being discharged from the plant using bleach.