NEW YORK (WPIX) – A worker from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection who had served the city for 33 years lost his life in a boat explosion on the Hudson River Saturday morning, officials said.
The incident happened on a barge at a sewage treatment plant in Harlem around 10:30 a.m., fire officials report. A 59-year-old worker was found unconscious and unresponsive at the scene and was pronounced dead, authorities say.
“The entire DEP family is grieving today,” DEP Commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala said Saturday. “Our employee who lost his life had served the Department and the City with dedication for 33 years. He was a valued and experienced member of the Bureau of Wastewater Treatment, and his decades of service reflect his commitment to DEP’s mission.”
The blast’s force propelled the worker between the pier and the boat, and required him to be extricated, according to officials. The man’s identity has not been released.
Two other workers were injured when the large explosion rocked the sewage transport vessel are expected to survive, officials said.
City officials said the cause of the explosion remains under investigation. The men on the boat, which takes raw sewage from the city to be treated, were doing work involving a flame or sparks when the explosion occurred, the U.S. Coast Guard said on social media.
Mayor Eric Adams said that at this time, there is no suspicion of criminality and no impact on the sewage treatment plant.
The blast spread raw sewage over the deck of the boat, and firefighters and other first responders had to be decontaminated, Simms said. DEP said there did not appear to be any environmental impacts following the explosion.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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