A new report from the environmental group Riverkeeper confirmed what many New Yorkers long suspected: sewage pollution can make the Hudson River unsafe for swimming.

The report, based on monthly samples taken from sites between New York City and Troy from 2006 to 2010, found that water quality from the Hudson River failed to pass EPA guidelines 21 percent of the time. That’s the equivalent of 1-1/2 days a week.

The study said that was three times as often as at beaches nationwide.

This report comes on the heels of a July 20 fire at a Harlem wastewater treatment plant that caused millions of gallons of sewage to be discharged into the Hudson River. 

With the Associated Press