Overflowing manhole along the Heritage Trail

GOSHEN – Citing signs of sewage overflows in the Town and Village of Goshen, the Riverkeeper environmental organization has written to officials of both municipalities urging a moratorium on new sewer hookups.

“Recently, Riverkeeper staff observed signs of raw sewage being discharged into the Rio Grande stream, a tributary of the Wallkill River, which in turn feeds into the Hudson River,” a letter to local officials said.

Town Supervisor Douglas Bloomfield said the town is doing all it can to remedy the problems of runoff entering the sanitary sewer system at the Hambletonian Park and Arcadia Hills subdivisions, which feed the village sewer plant. Those remedies include sealing 212 manhole covers to eliminate inflow.

They town also conducted an inflow and infiltration study at Hamiltonian Park to include TV camera and smoke testing of the lines, he said. The town has identified places that need to be worked on and they are working on that. The town is also going to ask about 11 households that have sump pumps connected to the sewers to connect those.

The town has also received a $3,000 grant to conduct a TV camera inspection of 2,000 feet of sewer lines in Arcadia Hills, to look for leaks.