Raw sewage in brief South Glens Falls pipe leak at Feeder Canal; repairs

By Cathy DeDe, Chronicle Managing Editor

The “force main” pipe delivering sewage from South Glens Falls to the Glens Falls wastewater treatment system broke on Thursday, March 5, underneath the Glens Falls-South Glens Falls bridge on Route 9, “discharging an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 gallons of untreated sewage into the Feeder Canal.”

The break occurred on the Glens Falls side of the bridge at Oakland Avenue.

South Glens Falls Village Trustee Claude Middleton, who serves on the Village Water and Sewer committee, told The Chronicle, “Even though this is on the Glens Falls side, this is our sewage line. We’re responsible for the repair.”

Monday he said the Village had installed a temporary line.

From when the break was discovered until then, Mr. Middleton said, the Village moved the sewage via septic trucks on a 24-hour cycle from the pump station to the treatment facility — “where it would wind up anyway,” he said.

The pump station is a red building on the South Glens Falls side of the bridge.

The Village of South Glens Falls declared a State of Emergency on the Thursday morning of the break.

“This situation threatens the public safety,” the emergency declaration said.

However, Mr. Middleton told The Chroncle Thursday, and re-stated on Monday, “There is no danger to the public.”

He said, “There’s no affiliation with the water system and the sewage. There would be no way for this to percolate into the water system.”

He estimated “7,000 to 10,000 gallons” of what he termed “brown water” leaked into the Feeder Canal before the break was discovered.

“Brown water is 99% water,” he said. He said most of what drains into the pump station comes from sinks, washing machines, even flushed toilets is “just water.”

Mr. Middleton said the potential for contamination is negligible, as there is little to no water currently in the Feeder Canal, what is there is not flowing, and the leak occurred far from the end of the canal that touches the Hudson River.

He said the Village was in contact with DEC “right away, at the onset of the emergency. They are awaiting further direction on what correction we should take.”

The next step, Mr. Middleton said, is to get state Department of Transportation approval to begin replacing the permanent main sewer line. He said DOT okay is needed because the work will take place on the bridge.

As of Monday, the Village was re-opening the pedestrian walk on the west side of the bridge that was closed to make room for Kubricky Construction to begin installing the temporary line. Kubricky will also install the new main.

“This is definitely not an overnight process,” Mr. Middleton said. He said they expect they’ll need to close one lane of the bridge for a day at some point as they complete the project.

The break was discovered on Thursday morning by a pedestrian walking across the bridge, who noticed the odor of sewage, Mr. Middleton said. “He lives in South Glens Falls and is familiar with the sewer system. He called our Department of Public Works Superintendent who in turn came down.’

Mr. Middleton said they determined that the waste water was leaking for “45 minutes to an hour.” Typical flow is about 10,000 gallons an hour, he said.

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