Sinkhole opens on Grand Avenue, sewage line ruptured

According to officials at the work site this morning the repair will take longer than first anticipated.”

Jerry Brown

Sewage is seeping up from a broken 36-inch sewage line on Grand Avenue after a sinkhole opened up last Friday morning.

According to firefighter Jerry Brown, the Baldwin Fire Department Chief of Department William Dworsak has requested and received assistance of the South Hempstead Fire Department to respond to all fire calls north of the sinkhole with Baldwin's north fire companies. Baldwin's south units also remain available for all alarms, but will experience delays, as they will be using the back roads to access the north end of the district.

“According to officials at the work site this morning the repair will take longer than first anticipated,” Brown said in a Facebook post. “Concerns of raw sewerage entering local homes and properties are now a reality. It has been reported that the sewerage has also reached surrounding creeks emptying into the southern waterways.”

On Facebook, Legislator Debra Mulé said that Grand Avenue will be inoperable for the forseeable future. 

In a press briefing on July 1st, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said that repairs on the ruptiured sewer line will begin on July 10. According to Blakemen, the new sewage lining will reinforce the sewage pipes for "hopefully the next ten years." The sewage waste will be pumped from the streets until the lining gets installed.

— Ben Fiebert