The Mamaroneck Sanitary Sewer District Wastewater Treatment Plant (MMWWTP) by Harbor Island Park on the Boston Post Road in Mamaroneck has released 5,000,000 gallons of partially treated wastewater into the Long Island Sound. Sewage from Rye homes is handled by both the Mamaroneck plant and the Blind Brook treatment plant in Disbrow Park.
The reason given for the discharge was “weather conditions – short term partial blend wet weather event” and the discharge was partially treated with disinfection. The Mamaroneck plant is operated by Westchester County and typically discharges treated effluent through a 60-inch outfall pipe extending approximately half a mile into the Long Island Sound.
The disclosure was made Friday morning under the 2013 Sewage Pollution Right to Know (SPRTK) rules administered by the New York State department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC). Notifications of sewage discharges help the public avoid boating, fishing or swimming in waterbodies that may contain illness causing bacteria. Especially in the summertime, high bacteria counts will lead to beach closures for both public and private beaches in Rye and along the sound shore.
