City of Beacon Water Filtration Plant Leaked Aluminum Sulfate Into The Fishkill Creek

Photo Credit: City of Beacon

On Monday, March 30th at 3:21pm, the City of Beacon announced via Facebook with a photo that the City of Beacon Water Filtration Plant on Liberty Street had “experienced a leak into the Fishkill Creek of Aluminum Sulfate (or ‘Alum’), which is a coagulant used in the water filtration process.” The photo that they shared showed the water just downstream of the Groveville Hydroelectric Dam, where there are several residential apartments. While Comments were open at first, the City of Beacon shut Comments down shortly after posting the announcement.

The City of Beacon did not robo-call residents to alert them of this leak, which did cause the water in the Fishkill Creek to “appear milky,” their announcement described. The City did not mention the drinking water status, but did state that “there is no threat to human health and safety, and a full review will be done to understand better how the chemical made its way into the Creek.”

In their announcement, the City of Beacon also stated that “the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has been working with our staff to confirm that the leak has stopped and monitor the Fishkill Creek for fish impacts.”

Trout season officially opens Wednesday, April 1st. Two sets of yearling trout were stocked into the Fishkill Creek the 3rd week of March: 360 Brown Trout (9"-10") and 40 Brown Trout (12"-15"), according to the Department of Environmental Conservation.

The librarian of South Avenue Elementary School, Mr. Aaron Burke, usually releases his hatchery of trout in May. He raises his trout as a group educational project with the 5th graders of South Avenue.