WJWW to receive $30 million from NYS towards construction of filtration plant

The Westchester Joint Water Works (WJWW) will receive $30 million from New York State towards construction of its proposed $138 million water filtration plant to be built on land at Westchester County Airport (HPN).

The money is coming from the voter-passed Environmental Bond Act and is the largest drinking water grant in the mid-Hudson Valley region.

In an announcement dated Dec. 14, WJWW noted: “The $479 million in state grants marks the first funding awarded through the $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022. The initial funding is projected to save ratepayers an estimated $1.3 billion and create 24,000 jobs statewide. The grants are awarded by the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation, in coordination with the Departments of Health and Environmental Conservation.”

In announcing the awards, Gov. Kathy Hochul said: “No one in New York should ever fear that they don’t have access to clean water. We are reassuring communities across New York that your kids, grandkids, and great grandkids will always have access to clean and safe water. This investment will make life saving improvements to our water infrastructure and safeguard drinking water for millions of people, in addition to saving New Yorkers money and creating tens of thousands of jobs.”

“This funding will help offset the costs associated with building the mandated water filtration plant and in so doing mitigate the impact to ratepayers,” said WJWW Manager Paul Kutzy. “Most importantly, the funding helps facilitate safe water for generations to come.”

Meanwhile, at the County Legislature…

Just where that plant will be built on HPN land is still under consideration by the County Legislature.

On Dec. 14, two County Legislative committees held their last hearing of the year on the WJWW proposed land swap, which if passed would allow the plant to be built at the now preferred location on Purchase Street.

The hearing, a combined effort of the Environment, Climate and Energy Committee and the Public Works and Transportation Committee, was held to report on a visit committee members made to the Millwood Water Treatment Plant in the Town of New Castle, which uses similar technology to that WJWW would use but is 30 years older and far smaller in capacity than the proposed WJWW plant.

The legislators were unanimous in their praise for the way the plant was run, its environmental cleanliness, lack of noise, and efficiency.

WJWW staff at the hearing promised their plant, which will have three times the capacity to service 100,000 customers plus additional future residents and users in new buildings that will be constructed down the road, pledged that their proposed plant would match or exceed all the standards the legislators had seen in New Castle and will be only 4,000 square feet larger. 

Opposition to the proposed land swap by billionaire Purchase landowner Michael Tokarz, his Purchase Environmental Protective Association (PEPA), and the neighboring (to the proposed plant) Quaker (Friends) Meeting House has slowed the legislature’s decision.

Once the legislature has voted on the filtration plant location, the final say will be up to County Executive George Latimer.

Readers interested in seeing the Dec. 14 hearing can find it at the County Legislature website under the “video section” at https://westchestercountyny.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx