Raw sewage flooding homes in Mount Vernon

Marcus Solis Image
Friday, January 29, 2021
Raw sewage flooding homes in Mount Vernon
Angry homeowners in Mount Vernon are blasting the city over its response to a raw sewage leak that has flooded several homes and businesses.

MOUNT VERNON, New York (WABC) -- Angry homeowners in Mount Vernon are blasting the city over its response to a raw sewage leak that has flooded several homes and businesses.

"It's absolutely ridiculous," says Wayne Fletcher. "I don't know how much more of this I can take any more."

The sewer lines below 3rd Street between 7th to 13th Avenues have been a trouble spot for years.

Blockages occur where two 24-inch pipes feed into a connector that's only 10 inches wide.

"The sewage is not from my house, it's like from hundreds of my neighbor's houses. If that's not a health risk and a hazard, I don't know what is," says Fletcher.

The city is borrowing a pump from the Westchester County Department of Emergency Management to bypass the clogged pipe.

However, a long-term solution is more difficult, says Public Works Commissioner Damani Bush, "What I'm going to have to do is call the Army Corps of Engineers to take it to a higher level to get some assistance on this because this is out of our purview."

ALSO READ | High school basketball star killed in Long Island crash

Fifteen-year-old Jomani "Jo-Jo" Wright, a sophomore at Uniondale High School and one of Long Island's most promising high school basketball stars, was killed in a car crash Wednesday.

----------

* More Northern Suburbs news

* Send us a news tip

* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts

* Follow us on YouTube

Submit a News Tip