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Excess sewer water dumped into the Niagara River again

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(Image shows The Maid of Mist sitting in black-colored wastewater discharged into the Niagara River on July 29.)

The Niagara Falls Water Board (NFWB) says a “wet weather event” has resulted in another discharge of sewer water into the Niagara River.

The board claims they immediately reported the release to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC).

The NYSDEC issued a notice of violation to the NFWB requiring immediate upgrades to the water treatment plant after black-coloured water was discharge into the river in late July.

The NFWB says they have no way of controlling the color or turbidity with respect to the overflow water during a heavy rainfall.

“While outdated infrastructure and system design limitations impact overall facility capacity during heavy volume periods, extensive efforts do remain underway to identify potential short and long term solutions to mitigate these existing facility constraints, which in effect cause such wet weather discharge and overflow situations,” said the NFWB in a statement.

A local Buffalo news stations reported that the DEC issued a statement on the recent dump saying they “immediately initiated an investigation and officials observed badly discolored water in the Niagara River — which clearly constitutes a violation of the State’s water quality standards. These continued violations are wholly unacceptable. The NFWB must take immediate corrective measures and DEC will pursue additional enforcement as appropriate as part of our ongoing actions to hold the NFWB accountable and protect water quality.”

The maximum penalty for violations of the State’s water quality standards are $37,500 per day, per violation.