Last February, residents of North Orange County and South Ulster County were outraged after discovering that Bloomingburg’s sewer treatment plant was dumping semi-treated wastewater into the Shawangunk Kill, contaminating the stream with e-coli and fecal matter. Robert Sassi, Orange County Legislator for District 18, held a press conference last Thursday, June 27 at the village’s plant with Mayor Russell Wood Jr. and officials from Crawford and Wallkill to straighten out the truth of this discharge discovery.

Sassi opened the session by recapping Bloomingburg’s sewer situation. In November 2023, the village received 11 violations from the NYS Department of Biomedical Conservation for dumping millions of gallons of untreated sewage into the Shawangunk Kill since November 2022. Village officials were unaware of this discharge but assured residents that they would work with the DEC to correct the issues and minimize harm to the stream.

Sassi then asked several questions to Wood about the sewer plant’s violations, the actions taken to address the problem, and the potential measures to prevent a similar incident from happening.

“What were those major DEC violations? How have they been addressed today? Was the village ever fined? There was a mention of $37,500 per day per violation,” Sassi said. “Who is currently monitoring this plant? How frequently are the DEC’s visits? What information do we have from the DEC that could help us understand what’s going on?”

Wood first clarified a major misconception: the village’s sewer plant was discharging partially treated wastewater into the Shawangunk Kill, not untreated wastewater. He and members of H2O Innovations, the company that manages Bloomingburg’s plant, explained that the plant experienced system failures due to an influx of non-flushable wipes and other inorganic materials. Normally, wastewater passes through a bar screen that filters out larger solids and enters the plant’s three sequencing batch reactors, to be completely treated. When too many inorganic materials enter the facility, they pass through the bar screen and stick to the system’s valves, causing the system to malfunction and allowing sewage to pass through before the treatment process finishes.

“There’s a series of butterfly valves in the facilities; they’re normally closed, and when they open, they’re perpendicular to the wastewater flow. That is what was capturing the inorganics,” said James Steimle, a member of H2O Innovations. “There’s a serious issue with inorganics coming into the facility, and they staple to the front of the valve. That valve will then close and move to its next stage of treatment, but it won’t completely close and it’ll just keep trying and then fail.”

“That’s what compounded a lot of the issues here. That’s what will not allow the SBR to move to its next stage of movement, or it may stay in a treatment process that it isn’t calling for because it can’t open the valves,” he continued. “That’s what will allow the partially treated wastewater to leave.”

After receiving the DEC violations in November and a certified letter in February 2024, the village and H2O Innovations immediately began working on several repairs to the plant. As of Thursday’s meeting, both pirates repaired the bar screen, thoroughly cleaned the system’s tanks and pumps, and washed the plant’s first SBR. Wood asserted that the plant is currently DEC-compliant and speculated that all three SBRs will be completely clean by this September.

“The bar screen was the first thing repaired, that was in February. That’s been up and running ever since,” Wood said. “We cleaned SBR one here about three weeks ago. That was completely drained down, pressure-washed, all the wipes removed and everything. Once SBR one is back on, we will do the same to SBR two, and when that’s done, we will do the same to SBR three.”

“As far as the major parameters and pollutants entering the receiving stream, the plant has been in compliance for the last two months,” Steimle added.

As part of the DEC’s evaluation process, an inspector visits the plant once a month to ensure that the wastewater treatment goes smoothly. Regarding fines, the DEC has not imposed any at this time.

“From February onward, we’ve been talking at least monthly with the DEC attorney and their professionals along with our professionals. We’ve been back and forth on what we’ve been doing,” Wood said. “There is still talk of fines, but they’re not finalized yet.”

Looking forward, the village and H2O hope to replace the plant’s current bar screen with a modern one, hire more employees to discard inorganics during evening hours, and implement new technology to handle inorganics. Wood stated that he and the village would maintain transparency with everyone on the plant’s restoration process.

“We’re not trying to cover up or hide anything, we’re trying to identify the problems. That’s why we’re here and that’s all we can do,” Wood said.