25-05-2025
Hudson river sewage boat explosion kills one worker, injured two
A blast on a sewage transport boat in West Harlem resulted in tragedy. A Department of Environmental Protection worker died. Two others sustained injuries. The incident occurred near the North River Wastewater Resource Recovery Facility. Authorities are investigating the cause of the explosion. The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed no pollution in the Hudson River.
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A longtime New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) worker was killed and two others injured Saturday morning when a sewage transport boat exploded while docked on the Hudson River near the North River Wastewater Resource Recovery Facility in West blast happened at approximately 10:30 a.m. off of 135th Street, where three employees of the DEP were doing maintenance work on board the vessel, which transports raw sewage from the city to treatment facilities. One of the tank holds exploded, blowing black smoke into the air and spewing raw sewage all over the boat deck, said New York City Fire Department Deputy Assistant Chief David workers arrived to discover that one worker, a 59-year-old man with 33 years of service with the city, had been knocked by the explosion and was pinned between the pier and the ship. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Two other staff members were hospitalized, while one refused medical U.S. Coast Guard reported the blast was "reportedly associated with hot work on a boat in a docked status," meaning with open flame or sparks. The cause is still being investigated by city and federal Commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala mourned the loss profoundly and said, "The DEP family is grieving today. He was an experienced and respected member of the Bureau of Wastewater Treatment, and his long service of decades to DEP is a testament to his dedication to DEP's mission." Mayor Eric Adams also went ahead to describe the victim as "a devoted public servant who spent 33 years of his life serving New York City" and expressed his condolences to his family and was no environmental effect reported from the explosion by officials, and treatment operations at the wastewater plant remained unaffected. Hazmat teams decontaminated the area and conducted methane level tests to make sure it was safe to continue. The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed that they didn't find any pollution in the Hudson River after the tragedy occurs as the city of New York marks Fleet Week, a time when maritime safety and public service contributions are particularly in the news. The cause of the explosion remains under investigation.
