Homeowners plead for help from water company and CHPE contractors after major water main break
"This is going to be very burdensome to clear up," one homeowner said, "and figure out how to pay for everything and get my tenants back in here to a habitable apartment."
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Some Stony Point homeowners are living a nightmare following the inundation of sewage into their homes, which was caused by a water main break about 100 yards away.
They are seeking assistance from their water company as well as several contractors who have been performing heavy-duty work on a pipeline along Route 9W, near the water main break site.
"We'll get through it," homeowner Frank Dickinson said, "but we could use a little help."
Dickinson showed News 12 around his damaged two-unit rental home on Thursday. The ground floors sustained significant damage after the water main break last Thursday at East Main Street and Route 9W.
The water broke through the road's surface, flowed into the sewer, and then pushed sludge up through toilets, bathtubs and floor drains. Four homes on East Main St. were flooded.
None of the homeowners have insurance that covers water main breaks. They are now looking to Veolia Water, which owns the water system, to make them whole.
"This is going to be very burdensome to clear up," Dickinson said, "and figure out how to pay for everything and get my tenants back in here to a habitable apartment."
Flood Remediation specialist Andy Ramirez of Apex Contracting and Remodeling Solutions said he has informed Veolia that the costs of damage to three of the homes he has assessed totaled about $250,000.
He is reaching out to other companies as well.
"Who's responsible?" he asked. "Maybe they each chip in a few bucks and help out these good people here."
Ramirez said he is helping the homeowners file claims with several companies for damage repair.
"Our office team is in the process of identifying other contractors who were working at that particular intersection," he said, "and all of those companies that were working in that vicinity will be placed on notice."
News 12 has reported on the ongoing work on a section of a state-commissioned hydropower pipeline project, the Champlain Hudson Power Express, which will deliver energy from Quebec to New York City beginning in 2026.
The Stony Point section of the project has lasted several months, annoying business owners who have already lost up to 70% of their expected revenue since June, and drawing complaints about pedestrian safety and damage to cars.
A spokesperson for the CHPE project said in an email that contractors on the project had nothing to do with the water main break and no work was being done on the pipeline at the time of the main break, adding that "All questions related to the water main issue should go to Veolia, who have responsibility for all water service lines in Stony Point."
A Veolia spokesperson said late Thursday that the company has not decided on whether to fund the repairs to the damaged homes.
"Veolia conducts investigations into all claims submitted by our customers," she wrote in an email. "Our evaluation of this water main break is ongoing."
