MAMARONECK, NY (September 30, 2025) — Town Supervisor Jaine Elkind Eney led a groundbreaking ceremony for the Westchester Joint Water Works (WJWW) at Rye Lake, marking a pivotal step in securing safe drinking water for over 100,000 residents for generations. The event celebrated the resolution of a 20-year legal battle with federal and state authorities over unfiltered water from Rye Lake.
“I am proud to have led the charge, as Chair of Westchester Joint Water Works, to settle a 20-year Federal and State enforcement action, saving our residents $200 million in potential fines, and ensuring continued safe drinking water for 100,000 residents for generations to come. So many people collaborated to get us here. The groundbreaking was a sweet moment to!” Eney said in a social media post.
The ceremony featured Eney speaking, joined by officials and workers in hard hats holding shovels, highlighting the community’s commitment to improved water infrastructure.
WJWW, established in 1927 by the Village of Mamaroneck, Town of Mamaroneck, and Town/Village of Harrison, has faced scrutiny since the early 1990s for failing to install required filtration. The nonprofit supplies water to about 60,000 residents directly and another 60,000 indirectly across multiple communities. Violations of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and New York State Sanitary Code stemmed from unfiltered Rye Lake water, causing exceedances of disinfection byproducts like haloacetic acids (HAA5), linked to increased cancer risk over time. While the water remains safe short-term, filtration is needed to combat microbial contaminants.
The legal saga began when WJWW missed a 1992 deadline to apply for filtration avoidance, leading to denied waivers and a 1999 state lawsuit. By 2002, a court ruled against WJWW for not building a filtration plant, with further violations noted in 2019. Federal action escalated with an EPA order, culminating in a June 24, 2024, consent decree from a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice, EPA, and New York State. The decree mandates a $138 million filtration plant near Westchester County Airport, due by 2029, with $1.25 million in penalties ($600,000 to the U.S., $650,000 to New York), $900,000 for environmental projects, and $6.8 million for state water quality initiatives.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said, “Public water systems have the critical responsibility of ensuring that our communities have safe drinking water. Thanks to today’s settlement, Westchester Joint Water Works will finally construct a long-delayed drinking water filtration facility to protect the Westchester County communities it serves.”
EPA Assistant Administrator David M. Uhlmann added, “Everyone living in the United States deserves safe drinking water. Today’s agreement requires Westchester Joint Water Works to construct a new filtration system to prevent contaminated drinking water and to protect the quality of water for a water system that serves multiple communities, including at least one that has been overburdened by environmental impacts.”
Additional settlements included a $9 million deal in May 2024 and $30 million from New York State in December 2023, with a land swap approved for the site. Local opposition from Harrison over environmental impacts persists, though WJWW advanced the project with a 2022 SEQRA statement.
WJWW Manager Paul Kutzy noted, “Our number-one priority is to protect the safety of our drinking water supply and the health of our residents. To be clear, the water supplied to WJWW customers has been, and continues to be, safe to drink.”
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.
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