SPRING GLEN – An oil spill at the old Homowack Lodge in Spring Glen caused a multi-agency response last Thursday, July 9, with officials from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), the Sullivan County Regional Department of Health (DOH), and the Sullivan County Department of Public Safety descending upon the dilapidated resort, which is currently serving as a summer camp for a group of orthodox Jews who are members of the Skver Hasidic dynasty.

At approximately 7:45 a.m. July 9, a breather valve attached to a large, in-ground oil tank, began to overflow as maintenance crews, it is believed, were in the process of transferring oil from one tank to another. The oil then spilled over an adjacent curb, running into a storm drain system, before making its way downhill into a drainage culvert on Phillipsport Road. A local resident, who happened to be passing by, noticed the spill and reported it to the DEC.

Fortunately, the bulk of the spill was contained within this culvert, and only a small portion of the "number four" oil seeped through to the other side of Phillipsport Road, threatening the Homowack Kill, a tributary of Sandberg Creek. Ironically, the culvert in question is clogged with debris, thereby preventing most of the oil from escaping into the nearby waterway. Last week, as a preventative measure, work crews placed a boom along the far side of Phillipsport Road. Dark stains on this boom appeared to indicate that a small amount of oil had leaked through the culvert, but that it was contained within this area, however.

The Homowack has come under scrutiny recently by town officials, after a citizens' group, led by local resident Bill Lucas, began pressuring Town Supervisor Robert Fiore to instruct the building department to begin issuing "orders to remedy" for the numerous code violations at the property. The oil spill seems to have brought the situation to a head.

Sullivan County Commissioner of Public Safety Richard A. Martinkovic said last week that the dangerous situation at the old resort has been developing for some time. But it appears, he said, that the time for action is now upon the owners, and the town, when it comes to addressing the long list of problems on the property, including the sprinkler system, as well as issues involving fire exits. These concerns have been addressed to camp management, according to Martinkovic.

"High noon has come," Martinkovic said.

DEC police who responded to the scene last Thursday cited the resort for a number of violations related to the oil spill, including: one count of failure to report a petroleum spill; one count of depositing a noisome or unwholesome substance on or near a public roadway; and five counts of failure to register a bulk storage tank. The latter of these charges — all of which are misdemeanors — could result in substantial fines, with the penalty ranging anywhere from $3,750 up to $37,500 per day for each of the five counts.

There is also the issue of the current owners operating a camp for children without a special-use permit from the town planning board. The lack of such a permit would mean that the camp is operating illegally and could be creating an enormous liability problem for both the owners and the town. There is also some question as to whether the current occupants have the proper insurance. As of Monday, July 13, town officials and the DOH have asked the residents to voluntarily evacuate the property, with the Town Board of Mamakating issuing the following statement:

"After several inspections conducted by the New York State Department of Health, in conjunctions with the Town of Mamakating and various other health and safety agencies, the Department of Health has requested a voluntary evacuation of the Homowack Hotel in the interest of public safety."

DEC spokesperson Wendy Rosenbach said that the agency was continuing to inspect the premises and that, in addition to the tickets issued last week, the DEC had cited the owners for another violation involving the dumping of kitchen grease into a storm drain. Rosenbach also said that it is possible that the DEC would uncover more violations and that it was particularly concerned with the state of the solid waste management system.

In a statement released late Tuesday, DOH said that it had cited Machne Bnos Square (the current name of the camp) "for numerous, persistent and serious violation of the State Sanitary Code that include inoperable/defective fire suppression and fire alarm systems, pervasive moisture problems throughout the facility from leaking roofs and plumbing systems that have caused significant mold growth in occupied and unoccupied areas of buildings, numerous electrical violations that include water flowing over electrical boxes from leaking pipes, inadequate supervision of children, failure to maintain and operate the on site (sic) sewage disposal system, failure to maintain disinfection of drinking water, failure to protect the drinking water well from contamination."

The Journal also learned late on Tuesday that the office of State Senator Thomas P. Morahan (R-38) had made inquiries into the situation. It seems that Morahan became interested in the situation when his office was approached by the owners of the facility — who are apparently residents of Morahan's district — and asked him to intervene on their behalf. Chief Counsel to Senator Morahan, Stephen Powers, said that the senator was simply following up on a request by a constituent, and that he [Powers] simply wanted to inquire into the nature of the situation.

"The experts from the town and the State Department of Health know what's best," Powers said.

He went on to say that the owners of the property were going to be meeting with officials on Wednesday morning of this past week in to determine if there was any way of keeping the facility open. Given DOH concerns about the property, this seems unlikely, however.

Bill Lucas, spokesman for the citizens' group that has been leading an aggressive campaign regarding the lack of code enforcement in the Town of Mamakating, stated that he wasn't surprised by the latest developments, and that he hopes that this situation serves as a wakeup call for town officials.

"This has been a long time in coming," Lucas said.

Stiffed on the Spill Bill
In another wrinkle to this story, Luzon Environmental Services, a Woodridge company specializing in toxic spill mitigation hired by the owners last week to handle cleanup of the oil spill, has pulled its work crews off the site. The reason for this, according to Luzon's owner, Robert Halperin, is that the owners of the property still owe Luzon a $15,000 judgment for previous spill mitigation done at the property.

"We were misled last [Thursday] night. We were told that there were new owners, so we took a check for $1,500 and did $1,500 worth of work," Halperin said.

Halperin went on to say that he would not do any more work until the owners paid the money owed for the previous work.

"We're not going back," he said.

As of Monday, however, the owners of the resort have hired Conklin Services & Construction out of Newburgh to continue with the cleanup. A spokesperson for the company said that Conklin's team was working under the direction of the DEC, and that the company's scope of work is thus far limited to the spill that took place this past Thursday. She did state, however, that the DEC could ask the company to expand this scope at some point in the coming days, though she was unsure whether this would happen or not.

Once considered an elegant and exclusive resort, the Homowack, like many resorts in the Catskills region, has fallen on hard times in recent years, changing hands a number of times. The property is currently listed in the tax registry as belonging to Ahavas Chaverim Gemilas Chesed, Inc., the Svker Hasidic sect based in New City, NY. The group purchased the resort several years ago in order to establish "Kiryas Skver" a Hasidic community similar to Kiryas Joel in the Town of Monroe.