Septic Issues at Lake Peekskill

There's trouble in Lake Peekskill. Residents have been growing alarmed by reports on Facebook of homes with septic runoff coming out of properties and leading into storm drains, and ultimately, their lake.

To quell the concerns, on February 13th the town issued a public statement: "The Town of Putnam Valley is aware of the ongoing situation involving a property in the Lake Peekskill area that has been reported for illegally pumping sewage. This matter is being actively handled by the Town Building Inspector in coordination with the Department of Health and the Putnam County District Attorney’s Office. The case is currently in litigation... Please understand that there is a legal process that must be followed, and that process is underway."

The property in question is located at 64 Lake Drive. In December, neighbors began smelling and seeing evidence that septic might be coming from that property. They sent photos and videos to the Town Code Enforcement Officer, Richard Quaglietta, and on December 22nd the property was given a violation for "illicit discharge". The property owner was directed to apply for a permit to repair the septic system.

But in January, residents worried that the problem was continuing. On January 13th, Quaglietta visited the property and issued a new violation, noting, "A pipe is draining green dye (septic) from this residence onto the road and into a storm drain." (Liquid coming out of a building does not necessarily mean a septic system is failing, but when it is colored by green dye put into a system by an inspector, it does.)

Here is a video of that situation that was recorded by a resident on that date.

As disturbing as that might seem, the property was given still another violation on February 12th, when Quaglietta wrote that he "witnessed dyed water flowing from the crawl space through a pipe into the alleyway at 64 Lake Drive. This is an ongoing violation."

These problems don't come as a surprise to Agnes Powe, the president of the Lake Peekskill Civic Association. She says she noticed in mid-December that a section near the lake's eastern shoreline was not freezing over despite the Arctic temperatures and suspected a home was illicitly discharging sewage. In the weeks after the discharge was reported, that section of the lake finally froze over.

Lake Peekskill residents are particularly incensed because they say septic problems at these homes on Lake Drive have been going on for a long time and never seem to be adequately addressed.

Indeed, last April, neighbors reported smelling sewage and seeing a sump pump pouring discharge into the street at 62 Lake Drive. The state's Department of Environmental Conservation sent one of its police officers to investigate. The property owner initially told him that some workers had simply poured a bucket of water from the dry well onto the street. However, after additional questioning, the DEC enforcement officer wrote that the property owner "admitted that the workers had used a pump and a hose to remove the materials from the dry-well and dump it into the roadway. .. Evidence of the disposal could be observed on the front lawn where the material ran out of the hose, down the stairs and along the edge of the roadway until it entered the storm water drain. Evidence consisted of discolored water compared to the nearby rain runoff and solids along the ground that consisted of a light grey color that was not observed anywhere else along the roadway except between the area where the work was being conducted and the storm drain. An examination of the storm drains showed the same materials and a foul odor coming from them much the same as the dry-well located near the house."

The properties at 62 and 64 Lake Drive are both owned by JEMBA Family Ltd. Partnership. That entity traces back to local resident Eileen Myers, who owns multiple rental properties in Putnam Valley and the City of Peekskill. Myers has been ordered to appear in town court on several occasions and is no stranger to the legal system. She has been sued many times over the last 25 years, including by banks citing lapsed mortgage payments, a law firm citing failure to pay legal fees, a tenant citing an uninhabitable rental, and by the People of the State of New York for fire code violations.

While the recent violations on Lake Drive were considered misdemeanors, there is some speculation that the charges will be elevated to felonies given the pattern of behavior. The town prosecutor says the matter is in the hands of Putnam County District Attorney Robert Tendy, which suggests the charges are criminal rather than civil. Supervisor Jolicoeur says Myers' next court date is April 21st. Neither she nor DA Tendy offered more comment.

Powe says she hopes restitution for her community is part of an eventual resolution, citing the $35,000 the district spent last year on remediation. "It's infuriating," she said. "I would not be surprised to learn that the illicit discharge was going on for quite some time - it would explain why we had intractable HABs [harmful algal blooms] in 2025." Residents of the City of Peekskill can't be too happy either, since that lake feeds into their city's drinking water supply.

The length of time it has taken to address concerns in the last year about these two homes has shaken many residents' faith in enforcement. Yet there were even earlier signals of problems. In 2021, a tenant at 66 Lake Drive, another of Myers' properties, arranged for Fred Cook Septic to pump out the home's metal septic tank. The inspection form the company submitted to the town and county noted "effluent pump failure". As for the questions on the form about whether the inspector saw "evidence of exposed or discharge sewage on the ground surface near the tank or Absorption Area" and "visual observable signs of septic system malfunction”, the Cook employee checked the boxes for "yes". Yet, in 2024, despite whatever repairs may have occurred, a suspicious-looking fluid was again coming from that home.

Many homeowners are unclear who should be held accountable for enforcing environmental issues like these. Septic issues are the purview of the county's health department, which says that if septic failure is confirmed, a homeowner has 30 days to rectify the problem. If, after that period, the problem has not been fixed, they are brought to court and fined. The county can also force a building to remain vacant until a septic problem is fixed, but only the town has the authority to condemn a property. As for addressing environmental damage to a body of water, that is the jurisdiction of the state.

With 97% of the homes in Putnam Valley reliant on septic, it's not surprising that homeowners want assurances that if they spot a problem at a neighbor's home, enforcement will be swift and fixes will be done properly. Small lots around Lake Peekskill make full-blown septic replacement especially challenging, but the rest of the town is by no means immune from these problems. As septic systems deteriorate, as they inevitably will given that many are way past their due date, the necessity for repairs to be done completely and effectively will be critical.

Putnam Valley residents are advised to call the county health department at (845) 808-1390 if they smell or see what they think could be illicit septic discharge.

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