Posted on October 1, 2018
The state Department of Environmental Conservation has issued a notice of violation to a Queensbury yacht club after a dredging project on Lake George went awry.
The Harris Bay Yacht Club has a state permit to dredge the bay for navigational purposes, according to the DEC. Around 4 p.m. on Sept. 19, a collection bag filled with dredged sediment and water burst.
The collection bag, the agency said, is designed to drain clean water from the sediment and back into the lake. The portion of the bag that tore open, however, was facing toward Route 9L, and water and sediment flowed across the road and into a nearby wetland.
Much of the contents also washed back into the lake and containment area where the dredging happens, the DEC added. When full, the collection bag can contain about 200 cubic yards of material.
An environmental conservation police officer responded to the site that day to investigate. Agency water staff arrived on Sept. 20 to oversee a cleanup of the material and continue investigating. The DEC said an analysis of the dredging material found no environmental or public health concerns, and “impacts to the lake were minimal and short lived.”
The agency issued a notice of violation to the Harris Bay Yacht Club Corp. on Sept. 20 for violating water-quality standards.
The yacht club, according to the DEC, voluntarily ceased dredging operations for the season.
Cindy Quade, commodore of the yacht club, said they have dredged the bay about eight or nine times over the past 12 years or so. She said sediment and debris can pile up in the bay, and the yacht club cleans it out when needed.
Quade said they noticed the containment bag manufacturer provided a different looking bag to the yacht club this time. She did not have the name of the manufacturer at the time of the phone interview, but said they are researching to see what caused the tear, noting that one bag was filled without incident.
The spilled material has been contained, she said, and the yacht club will be removing it offsite.
“We’ll get the answer,” she said about what caused the break. “… We go through a lot of diligent effort before we dredge, and we comply with everything. We have a whole committee that is designed to make sure that we comply, and that we’re kept abreast of what’s going on in the lake because we want to be good water keepers, too.”
Andrew Spath, who lives on Lake George about a quarter-mile east of the club, said the bay’s water was brown for two to three days after the bag broke. Spath said tap water was brown for a while, too, because his house draws water directly from the lake.
“It’s pretty nasty,” he said. “… I had to change two filters already. It’s considerably better now. I haven’t really noticed it with the rain.”
The yacht club was established in 1983 and has 270 slips on the shores of Lake George, according to its website.
Source: The Post Star
