I am writing to report several extremely troubling and unresolved issues regarding Mount Vernon’s compliance with its Consent Order and the ongoing discharge of sewage and contaminated stormwater into local waterways. These problems are not only administrative failures, they are directly threatening the health, safety, and welfare of my neighborhood, Hunt’s Woods.
- Failure of Arcadis Engineering to Provide Required Data
- I have received multiple reports that Arcadis, the city’s consulting engineer under the Consent Order, is refusing to provide Mount Vernon with maps, GIS data, and other critical information, despite being paid handsomely with taxpayer dollars.
- Representatives of the City of Mount Vernon have stated they may have to sue Arcadis to obtain this information, which is outrageous given their role as official compliance consultants. Their refusal is delaying urgently needed solutions.
2. Illicit Discharges and Bronxville’s Noncompliance
- The Village of Bronxville continues to discharge fecal coliform into Mount Vernon’s Vernon Parkway Outfall (61). This discharge flows directly into the Hunt’s Woods Nature Preserve, where I and my neighbors live. Despite repeated concerns, we have not received any updated fecal coliform sampling results, data that Arcadis was obligated to collect and disclose under the Consent Order. City representatives have stated that even they cannot obtain this information from Arcadis.
- This failure strikes at the very core of the Consent Order. Bronxville has refused to acknowledge or take responsibility for its ongoing discharge, nor has it provided any updated reporting. To make matters worse, even though this discharge was documented and filed in federal court as part of Arcadis’s own submissions, neither Arcadis nor Bronxville has addressed it.
- In 2024, Mount Vernon issued a cease-and-desist order against Bronxville after I alerted the city to an attempt by Bronxville to connect a massive increase in discharge into Mount Vernon’s MS4 system. That order was effectively ignored, as none of its requirements were ever complied with. Shockingly, I have since learned that in January 2025, permission for this project was quietly granted on a Saturday, by a non-engineer deputy commissioner with the Mayor’s involvement, and with no proper technical or environmental review. Roughly half to two-thirds of this project is already completed, and those of us downstream will bear the inevitable flooding, contamination, and destruction caused by the permanent loss of capacity in the MS4 system we depend on.
- Bronxville has since added numerous catch basins and new connections that now discharge into the same outfall serving both my neighborhood and the Bronxville Field Club. These flows converge just blocks from my home, compounding already dangerous flooding and contamination risks. The Bronxville Field Club’s unauthorized connection to the MS4 also remains unresolved. My understanding is that there are ongoing “back door” negotiations between the City and the Field Club, seemingly aimed at burying this issue rather than enforcing proper violations or accountability.
3. Public Health Hazard in Hunts Woods / Laurel Brook
- Under Hunts Woods, a sanitary sewer is in a state of dereliction: broken covers, cracked lines, and cross-contamination between sewage and stormwater. This water flows out through Scout Field and into the Bronx River.
- The area reeks of fecal matter. Pets who enter the water often become sick as any of my neighbors will attest too. No parent should let their child near this stream.
- I have attached photos and documentation of these conditions, which amount to an open sewer in a public park.
4. Collapse of Local Oversight
- Mount Vernon’s City Engineer is retiring in a matter of weeks, and the city has not even advertised for a replacement or assistant engineer. This leaves no technical leadership in place at a time of escalating crisis.
These issues are not isolated, they are systemically connected failures that are compounding each other. The refusal of Arcadis to provide data, Bronxville’s unlawful discharges, and Mount Vernon’s lack of engineering oversight have combined to create a full-blown environmental and public health emergency.
I am demanding a clear response as to what EPA/DEC/SDNY and our elected officials are going to do to protect residents and enforce compliance. Our community deserves immediate action, transparency, and accountability. I have included the press, River keeper, The Bronx River Alliance, as well as Pace environmental law clinic on this email along with dozens of concerned neighbors to Hunt’s Woods, left off this email are the thousands who use it as a nature preserve with their animals and for relaxation, as well as those downstream at Scout Field and the Bronx River.
Sincerely,
Gabriel Thompson
