Sewage sludge? Fuggedaboutit

The Village of Island Park storm water drainage system cleanout is under way. Workers from Park Line Asphalt Maintenance, along with village employees, have been cleaning out the storm drains, sending high-power jets of water through them and examining the entire sewage infrastructure — the pipes, their location and their condition — with closed-circuit TV.

The village has built a temporary drainage site near the Department of Public Works. The State Department of Environmental Conservation provided Island Park with a blueprint of the containment area to protect the environment, and the village built it to the DEC’s specifications under the supervision of Walden Engineering.

“They’re nationally known as an engineering firm with a strong background in the environment,” Mayor Michael McGinty said of Walden. “This is the greening of Island Park. We’re learning far more about the infrastructure than the subterranean maps provide. We’ve learned that there are any number of drain pipes not shown on maps — pipes inserted for no known reason at various places. We now know we have to prepare a specific plan for these basins and drains and laterals after this project, because the system needs preventative maintenance.”

Sludge and waste from the basins and pipes will be dumped at the new drainage site to allow the water to filter out and the solids to dry so they can be taken away. The 40-by-80-foot site has a 3 percent grade and a 3-foot-high earthen berm around it. It is lined with nonpermeable polyurethane sheeting, which is covered with hay bales and secured in place. A layer of bluestone covers the sheeting and hay, and another layer of a permeable geo-textile covers that. The hay bales hold back the solids, which, when dry, will be transported to an off-site disposal area.

The water is filtered out into a sump area, and is then pumped into two 18,000-gallon holding tanks, which allow the separation of water from oil and grease. Once that process is complete, the water will either be used for more drain cleaning or discharged into the catch basin near the DPW yard.

When the project is finished, the machinery will be returned and the entire area will be regraded.