Day 2 Of The Mudslide Response [with update]

Today is Hudson DPW's second day of dealing with the trouble caused by the mudslide which completely covered the outlet of the large pipe in the expanded Washington Street lot.  3 DPW workers were busy early this morning at the site,  and more stones had been laid to keep their machinery from sinking in the mud.  One worker, with a shovel, was up to his knees in mud and flowing water at the partially exposed end of the pipe.  Prior to the mudslide, the end of the large pipe had been fully exposed.  DEC is probably requiring our DPW to return the pipe to that condition. 

The fact of the matter is that if the dumping of the fill in the lot last year had been properly done, or not done at all, all this time, effort and money spent to fix the mistake Robert Perry made would not be taking place.  What could these workers be doing instead of moving tons of mud to expose a pipe and return the flow of water to its proper state, as well as making sure the area is stabilized and another mudslide doesn't take place?  What could we be paying them to do instead? Perhaps fixing the mess on South 3rd Street that was also caused by poor (or zero) planning and a sloppy approach to repairing our ancient infrastructure?

Update, March 3rd:  Day 2 saw DPW finishing up their work  uncovering the pipe.  One more mature tree was felled with a chainsaw.  The stream is a disturbed and dirty mess, precisely the conditions that are supposed to be avoided during any development.  I would say that there is lots more work to be done to remediate the site, but that will likely be up to the DEC and possibly the US Army Corps of Engineers, which granted DPW a permit about ten years ago to fill the area.