Lawsuit challenging water district dismissed

Decision will be appealed

By THANE GRAUEL

A New York Supreme Court judge in Albany on Sept. 25 dismissed a case brought by a local landowner challenging the formation of a water district in Scotts Corners.

The case Donna P. Simons v. New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation and New York Department of Health was dismissed on the grounds that an amended complaint adding the town as a respondent was filed after the statute of limitations had expired.

The groundwater in Scotts Corners has had a variety of environmental issues for years from septic systems and a fuel leak from a service station. A more recently emerging problem was the detection of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as “forever chemicals,” at levels health officials call “unsafe.” The water district’s formation is intended to bring fresh water to the area.

The $11 million plan for the water district was to lay pipes from downtown to the Connecticut border in Stamford, Conn., and tie into the Aquarion water system. The district’s formation was approved by property owners in the designated area, which is basically the Scotts Corners Business District and nearby residences. The water district won’t be an official entity until it’s OK’d by the State Comptroller’s Office, which approves the formation of new taxing districts.

In her suit, Simons alleged that the town of Pound Ridge’s application to form the district “was riddled with misrepresentations, misstatements, errors of law and other fundamental flaws.” It asked that any state approval be nullified.

Acting Supreme Court Justice Kimberly A. O’Connor ruled that the town should have been added within a four-month statute of limitations period. 

“The Court grants the Town and State respondents’ motions to dismiss the Amended Petition/Complaint as time barred, as petitioner failed to timely join the Town as a necessary and indispensable party this proceeding/action,” O’Connor wrote. 

Town Supervisor Kevin Hansan told The Recorder he was pleased with the ruling.

“The NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation and Department of Health recognized the longstanding drinking water challenges in our business district and awarded Pound Ridge $7.6 million to help address a problem that has plagued the area for decades,” he said. “Our taxpayers contribute heavily to the state, and we are entitled to see that investment returned to protect public health.”

“Solving PFAS contamination should not fall on the backs of individual property owners when it’s a communitywide issue,” he said. “Clean drinking water at all of our food establishments benefits every Pound Ridge resident.”

Simons, who owns Pound Ridge Organics, said in a statement through counsel that an appeal is in the works.

“The decision is deeply flawed and it dismissed the lawsuit on a technicality without reaching the merits,” Simons’ statement said.

The town had hoped to have the water district approved by the state by late winter, but the lawsuit sidetracked that.

“This lawsuit has set us back about a year, but we are committed to moving forward quickly and will share more details as the next steps are finalized,” Hansan said.

Whether the state will wait to see how the promised appeal shakes out before rendering a decision on approval remains to be seen.

The town’s water issues were a central topic in a League of Women’s Voters candidate forum on Tuesday evening. A recording is available to view on the New Castle Community Media Center YouTube channel at youtube.com/watch?v=XVGbLs57rfY.

Editor Thane Grauel has been a journalist in Connecticut and Westchester, Putnam and Rockland counties New York for 38 years. Reach him at thane@therecorder.org.