More On That Mudslide

Last Friday, I called the NYS DEC phone number on the sign located along the exit driveway for the County DSS building.  I told someone named Jamie that there was a problem with Outfall pipe number 6, and that someone should come have a look.  Jamie told me that he would reach out to DPW Superintendent Robert Perry to find out what was going on with the pipe.  I described the mudslide to Jamie as best I could, telling him that the end of the pipe was no longer visible because of all the mud now covering it.

This morning, I noticed 5 DPW workers, 3 large pieces of machinery, and a few DPW pickup trucks in the Oakdale lot and nearby on the newly expanded Washington Street lot where the mudslide occurred.  They appeared to be trying to figure out how to approach the problem.

I called the DEC officer Jamie back and he told me that DPW was told that they must uncover the end of the pipe that was buried in the mud, to allow the water to exit the pipe naturally.  "Is that all they have to do?" I asked.  "From our perspective, yes, but they should also be stabilizing the surrounding area so that it doesn't happen again," he added.  Jamie told me that he would be inspecting the site "next month."

A few hours later, DPW had laid down a load of stones (not cheap!) on the mud to allow the monstrous excavator to approach the buried pipe.  In the process, one mature tree was knocked down.  By 3:00, some of the mud surrounding the pipe had been cleared, though certainly not all of it. DPW still has work to do there - the area beyond the end of the pipe looks nothing like it used to.  The sensitive area has been disturbed, to say the least.  Stabilizing the area, should it happen and whatever that might entail, will be likely be more challenging than today's work. 

This is happening because Robert Perry allowed hundreds of dump truck loads full of dirt and debris to be dumped there last year, with no regulation or oversight.  It's no surprise that a big portion of it came sliding down.  More of the dirt and debris appears ready to do the same -- all it needs is a downpour of rain to loosen it.

It is impossible to build a stable mound of dirt while allowing huge chunks of concrete and asphalt to be included in the mix.  Robert Perry should know this, but he allowed it to happen anyway.  Here are some pictures of what I saw dumped in the lot in October:

"Robert Perry should know this, but he allowed it to happen anyway."  The same words could be used for the fiasco on South 3rd Street where Mr. Perry claimed that there was an issue with the subbase (aka, the foundation) of the street, but he had the paving contractor pave over the problem anyway.  That didn't work out too well, either, and we are still paying to fix that big mistake.  The two fiascos are coming from the same place:  A sloppy DPW Superintendent not able, or willing, to pay close enough  attention to his tasks.  How much is his sloppy approach to his work costing us?  When will the sloppiness get us in real trouble, if it hasn't already?

HUDseen first reported on the expanded lot in a post titled What Is A Garbage Tree Anyway, on March 10th, about a week prior to the mudslide.