Port-a-Potties Replace Walmart Bathrooms in Fishkill, For Now

If you're heading to Walmart in Dutchess County, you may want to use the restroom before you head out.

The Poughkeepsie Journal is reporting that the bathrooms at the Walmart in Fishkill, on 26 W Merritt Blvd, are closed. Walmart shopper Lolita Lewis told the Journal that both bathrooms at the front of the store and back of the store were blocked off with upside down shopping carts, yellow tape and "signs prompting guests to use one of seven port-a-potties near the main entrance ."

Lewis was told by an employee to contact Walmart's corporate number about the bathroom situation. After calling, a Walmart spokesperson confirmed that they are aware of the situation.

Payton McCormick, a spokesperson for the store said "Not all of the bathrooms are out of service. There is, reportedly, a family bathroom available to the public, in addition to port-a-johns. The other bathrooms are temporarily out of service."

The Poughkeepsie Journal reports that the  Dutchess County Department of Behavioral and Community Health had been contacted and visited the Fishkill site. There was an sewage odor detected, but no sewage found.

Marie-Pierre Brule, director of environmental health services for the Dutchess County, tells the Journal that she has been in contact with Walmart's managers who told her the bathrooms need "a major repair job."

For now, the seven port-a-potties and hand washing stations will stay in front of Walmart's main entrance.