Laborers Celebrate Two-Year Milestone At Site of Kensico-Eastview Water Tunnel

By GEORGE DRAPEAU III

MOUNT PLEASANT, NY—Members of Laborers Local 60 and its statewide umbrella organizations gathered with other trades on Sept. 2 to celebrate the two-year groundbreaking anniversary of the massive $1.9-billion new water tunnel here in Westchester. The eight-year project, when completed, will stretch two miles—from the Kensico Reservoir in Central Westchester to the Catskill Delaware Ultraviolet Disinfection Facility in Eastview here to provide clean water to millions of New Yorkers.

How much water? It was estimated to be enough to serve nearly half the population of the state, or about nine million people, according to the project’s owner, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. NYC DEP noted that the new facilities will also provide more operational flexibility and safeguards to maintain and protect the downstate region’s drinking water supply.

Laborers L.U. 60 Business Manager Anthony Ascencao thanked the DEP for advancing the work under the terms of a project labor agreement (PLA). “We appreciate DEP’s commitment to the skilled trades and to the men and women who make their livings in the construction industry.”

From left, Kim Shutty, CM, of Bidwell Environmental Health and Safety Consulting, Laborers Joeo Tirad, Carlos Carbario of Teamsters L.U. 456, and Laborers Roberto Chavez of Frontier-Kemper Constructors, Inc.
From left, P.J. Smith of LiUNA Health and Safety, Local 60 Alonzo Bennett, LECET’s Beth Cheverie, Local 60 Business Agent Mike Moreira and Business Manager Anthony Ascencao, LECET’s Jeremy Degado, Harold Berean of LiUNA Health and Safety, Local 60 Business Agent Jay Fragoso, Shop Stewart Anthony Ricciardi and V.P. Carols Gonzalez.

Mr. Ascencao also recognized Frontier-Kemper for being “a strong union contractor and for the partnership and cooperation the company has shown to Laborers Local 60.”

He continued, “But most importantly, I want to recognize the Laborers and all the other building trades working on this project. You should be proud of what you’re doing here. A lot of times, we go to work every day, put in our hours, do our job, and go home. We don’t always stop and think about the significance of what we’re actually building. This is a historic project. A lot of what you do doesn’t always get noticed—but this project doesn’t get built without you.”

Some described the work as once in a generation. Others calculate that a project like this only comes around once in a century, which may be closer to the math. The project will be New York City’s largest water-supply tunneling effort in Westchester County since the 1940s. The eight years to completion put the final ribbon cutting into the early 2030s, nearly 100 years after the start of the Delaware Aqueduct in 1937.

The first phase of construction includes site preparation at the DEP campus adjacent to Kensico Reservoir, new road alignments, electrical and DEC management security facilities. The joint venture team, PJS Montesano JV, LLC, combines the resources of Paul J. Scariano, Inc., and Montesano Brothers, Inc. The enterprises was the lowest bidder competing for the contract, which the DEP awarded for $107 million.

Phase II, which is projected to overlap Phase I, will follow by the digging of two large shafts, 400 feet-500 feet deep, the tunneling between the two shafts, and the addition of several new facilities and upgrades at the Kensico campus. All phases of the project are expected to span a 10-year period with the new tunnel coming fully online by 2035.

Other sponsors of the Worker Appreciation Lunch included New York State Laborers’ Health & Safety Fund and the New York State LECET Fund.

NYS Laborers Local 60 gather to celebrate the two-year groundbreaking anniversary.

Photos by GEORGE DRAPEAU III

Published September 17, 2026

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