More Pollution, Another Fine For Mount Vernon

MOUNT VERNON, NY — The New York Department of Environmental Conservation has imposed a $55,000 fine on the city of Mount Vernon for polluting the Hutchinson River from its public works yard, according to FIOS1 News. It's the second fine from the DEC in 2017 — the first was $40,ooo for illegal dumping at Memorial Field.

It's just an add-on to the $90 million in penalties the city faces from the federal Environmental Protection Agency for its refusal to repair its failed public sewers, which have dumped raw sewage into the Hutchinson River for 20 years. The US Department of Justice announced it would sue the city in August.

The city's sewage system includes more than 195 miles of sewer lines, 3,200 catch-basins and 3,000 manholes. But since it doesn't work, as CBS2's Lou Young pointed out in 2016, the residents are basically defecating in the river, which runs like an open sewer through the city. Everyone can see it, and smell it.

And it's not just about inaction. The DEC says the city actively polluted the river at its public yard, with illegal dumping, storing unpermitted waste, and dumping waste into the river, according to FIOS1.

Read theFIOS1 report here.