MAMARONECK, NY (September 12, 2025) — The Westchester Joint Water Works Board of Trustees has awarded a $172,761,500 contract to build the Rye Lake Water Filtration Plant to Yonkers Contracting Company, Inc.
The award, made Aug. 12, went to the lowest of seven bidders on the project, with bids reaching as high as $239,985,000. The amount is approximately $1 million less than the construction cost estimated by project engineer Hazen & Sawyer.
Construction of the filtration plant follows a New York State Supreme Court order issued in 2004 to build the facility by 2008. The project has faced many obstacles.
To offset construction costs, the Westchester Joint Water Works in August 2023 authorized applications to the state for funding programs on behalf of the Town of Mamaroneck and other member municipalities, the Village of Mamaroneck and Town/Village of Harrison.
In December 2023, a $30 million New York State Intermunicipal Grant was awarded to the Westchester Joint Water Works for the filtration plant project to apply toward construction costs.
In January 2025, the Westchester Joint Water Works board passed a resolution authorizing commitment to a project labor agreement with the Building and Construction Trades Council of Westchester and Putnam Counties. The agreement resulted in an estimated construction cost savings of $7 million, which was factored into the Hazen and Sawyer construction cost estimate.
The Westchester Joint Water Works is in the process of securing subsidized interest rate loans through the New York State Drinking Water State Revolving Fund for the balance of the construction cost and is continuing to investigate additional grant opportunities for the project.
On June 24, 2024, the Westchester Joint Water Works, the Town of Mamaroneck and the other member municipalities entered into a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New York State Attorney General on behalf of the New York State Department of Health.
The consent decree consolidated and settled all federal and state claims at less than one percent of the maximum $200,000,000 in civil penalties that could be imposed under federal and state law. It resulted in a total civil penalty of $1,267,466, of which the Town of Mamaroneck share is $211,667.
The consent decree followed a May 26, 2021, notification from the U.S. Department of Justice to the Westchester Joint Water Works and its member municipalities of impending enforcement action to construct a filtration plant.
Yonkers Contracting is expected to break ground for construction of the filtration plant in the fall of 2025, with the plant expected to be completed and operational in 2029.
“Please be assured that our drinking water has always been and continues to be safe to drink, and that construction of this Filtration Plant will ensure the continued safety of our drinking water now and into the future,” said Jaine Elkind Eney, the town supervisor and chair of the Westchester Joint Water Works Board of Trustees said in a statement.
For more information, visit www.wjwwfiltration.org.
This article was drafted with the aid of Grok, an AI tool by xAI, under the direction and editing of Robert Cox to ensure accuracy and adherence to journalistic standards.