The city has failed to meet its requirements outlined in a settlement of a federal lawsuit over clean water violations — missing the mark for the third time since 2021.
The lapse in compliance as the city makes wide-scale sanitary sewer repairs resulted in renegotiated terms with environmental organization Save the Sound. Under those revised terms, the city agreed to spend an additional $140,000 to reconstruct the Sterling Field parking lot in a way that is environmentally beneficial.
Roger Reynolds, Save the Sound’s senior legal director, said the city missed some benchmarks along the way and has accrued $280,000 in penalties.
“These are very big, expensive projects,” said Reynolds. “It’s difficult to be spending money on sewage treatment systems rather than ballfields and we get that.”
The sewer work is part of the settlement of a 2015 lawsuit brought by Save the Sound against Westchester County and 11 communities, including Rye, for violations of the U.S. Clean Water Act. All of the communities named reached settlements agreeing to make repairs and upgrades to their infrastructure.
The updated agreement with Rye, filed on Sept. 6, is under review by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The deadline to meet all the requirements is Dec. 31.
Reynolds said the group was “very pleased that Rye appears to be on track to complete repairs by the end of 2024.”
“They say they are on track and knock on wood, we hope they are,” he added.
As a result of the misstep, the city and Save the Sound agreed to a third environmental benefit project — the reconstruction of the parking lot adjacent to Sterling Field in Disbrow Park — to help reduce stormwater runoff into the nearby Blind Brook.
The area was completely overrun with bamboo, according to City Manager Greg Usry. So, the city proposed cleaning it up by removing debris and invasives, planting native trees and shrubs to restore the local ecosystem, and installing a pedestrian walkway.
The project will also create a bioswale, a natural filtration system, to capture and treat runoff.
Usry said the work is almost complete.
The work marks the third environmental benefit project undertaken in line with the settlement, totaling $440,000 in costs the city covered. Previously, the city constructed a bioretention facility at the Rye Recreation Center on Midland Avenue ($150,000) and is putting the final touches on reconstructing the Locust Avenue parking lot ($150,000).
“We’re thrilled to have those done,” the city manager said.
The initial settlement between the city and Save the Sound came in 2021, leading the city to spend more than $8 million, including an additional $3.9 million in state money, to repair 52 miles of sewer pipe.
But the city fell behind with those repairs, leading to a revised agreement in August 2023.
Poorly maintained sewer systems, which for decades caused millions of gallons of raw and partially treated sewage to enter the Long Island Sound, were at the center of the suit.
That meant the Long Island Sound was not safe for swimming or fishing, which violates the Clean Water Act, according to David Ansel, vice president of water protection for Save the Sound.
Sewer lines under streets and lawns in Westchester were cracked, broken, and leaking fecal matter and other contaminants into local waterways, causing low oxygen and high bacteria levels, according to the lawsuit.
The work continues as roads all over Rye, including Forest Avenue, have been ripped up.
“We are moving heaven and earth to have those wrapped up by the end of the year,” Usry said.
Those repairs aim to stop untreated sewage from leaking into local waterways — protecting the Long Island Sound and ensuring its waters are safe for residents and wildlife.
Clean water is not very visible to the public, but it is very important,” Reynolds said.
