Peconic River health advisory is lifted a week after sewage leak in Riverhead

A portion of the Peconic River in Riverhead that had been closed to residents after concerns over a sewage leak has been deemed safe.

Contractors were working on encasing a main sewer line on East Main Street at the site of a planned apartment complex last Wednesday when they noticed a break in the line, town officials announced last Thursday.  The broken pipe sent about 10,000 gallons of sewage into the Peconic River, prompting Suffolk County health officials to issue a warning for residents not to enter the tidal portions of the waterway east of Grangebel Park.

On Wednesday afternoon, the county health department sent out an email stating that the health advisory has been lifted as the break was repaired and “recent analysis of surface water samples collected from the potentially affected area indicates this area is suitable for primary contact recreation.”

Riverhead Sewer District Superintendent Tim Allen told town board members at a meeting last week that the pipe leak had been fixed within 45 minutes and that discharged wastewater from the pipe break “saturated into the ground.”

Allen told Newsday that he got testing results from the county health department midday Wednesday and that the “results were exceptional” and showed no bacterial contamination.

Allen said working on sewer lines near the riverfront is “always a concern” and theorized that age may have played a role. “This line was over 100 years old,” he said.

A bypass pump was already on site from previous work, Allen said, which allowed the system to continue functioning during the incident.

“They just had to hook some hoses up, and that’s why it was so quick to get it back running again,” he said.

Sewer work at the site, where a 165-unit apartment complex is under construction, is ongoing. The lines will be encased in concrete and work is expected to wrap up by the end of the week, according to Allen.

Town Supervisor Jerry Halpin expressed relief at the advisory being lifted Wednesday afternoon.

“I’m glad that Tim [Allen] and his team were able to get there right away and mitigate it,” he said in an interview. “This is a really good report.”

By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.com,tara.smith@newsday.comdenisebonilla,

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.