Tourists Shocked As Niagara Falls Suddenly Engulfed By Black Discharge
Unbelievable...
Water near the base of Niagara Falls turned black Saturday afternoon, surprising both tourists and residents alike, The Buffalo News reported.
Pat Proctor, vice president of Rainbow Air Inc., which provides helicopter tours over the falls, was one of the first people to notice the black discharge.
“I was just praying it wasn’t an oil leak,” Proctor said. “It looked like something out of a sci-fi movie.”
The Maid of the Mist, a popular tour boat company, took to Twitter to ask Niagara Falls, New York, Mayor Paul Dyster what was going on.
.@PDyster: Why the smelly black discharge into Niagara River on very busy tourist weekend? @NiagaraFallsUSA @NYstateparks
Rolfe Porter, executive director of the Niagara Falls Water Board, explained in a statement that one of the sewage plant’s five sediment filtration basins was being flushed out.
“The substance discharged is a result of the routine maintenance of one of the water board’s wastewater sedimentation basins located at the Waste Water Treatment Plant on Buffalo Avenue. The ‘inky water’ is the result of a routine, necessary, and short term change in the waste water treatment process,” Porter said.
“The blackish water contained some accumulated solids and carbon residue within permitted limits and did not include any organic type oils or solvents. The unfortunate odor would be limited to the normal sewer water discharge smell,” the statement added.
Porter noted the filtration unit was taken offline and flushed out in preparation for Monday, when contractors were scheduled to begin work on upgrading the basin.
City leaders and businesses were still upset with the Water Board’s timing, as the move was done in the middle of the tourism season.
TRENDING STORIES
“We were shocked,” Niagara Falls city administrator Nick Melson said. “We’re very upset with the lack of communication and we’re going to rectify that with all the stakeholders.”
By Sunday morning, the dark cloud of sewage had dissipated.
The Water Board apologized for causing any alarm and assured that there would be better communication in the future.
What do you think?
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for commenting. Your comments are needed for helping to improve the discussion.