Environment DEC
From the June 2007 issue
Two Companies Penalized for Environmental Violations
Landfills like the above example must have a permit to accept hazardous materials
New York State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo and Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis recently announced guilty pleas from an Elmira foundry and its former plant engineer for hazardous waste violations. As part of the pleas, the foundry's parent company will pay $1.5 million to fund a Chemung County-based program to reduce childhood lead exposure.
Also announced was a settlement of violations stemming from the illegal placement of contaminated fill material on a 677-acre undeveloped site on Staten Island by 380 Development, LLC-the NASCAR affiliate that had planned a motor speedway for the site. The consent order entered into by DEC and 380 Development includes a penalty of $562,500, half of which is immediately payable to DEC. The order also requires a range of measures to prevent stormwater runoff from impacting soil and water quality and to protect ecologically important tidal wetlands, as well as the complete removal of all contaminated fill at an estimated cost of several million dollars.
Kennedy Valve Admits Dumping Lead-contaminated Wastes
Kennedy Valve (KV), an Elmira-based division of McWane Inc., pleaded guilty before Chemung County Court Judge James T. Hayden to two counts of Unlawful Dealing in Hazardous Wastes in the First Degree (a class E felony) under the Environmental Conservation Law. As part of the plea, Kennedy Valve was fined the maximum amount allowed by law, $300,000. Former KV plant engineer Ronald Wagner, 61, of Hornby, pleaded guilty to one count of Offering a False Instrument for Filing (a misdemeanor) for his role in disposing of lead-contaminated wastes. Wagner, who no longer works at Kennedy Valve, was sentenced to a conditional discharge.
McWane, as part of the plea deal, agreed to pay $1.5 million to implement a program to reduce childhood lead exposure in Chemung County and clean up lead-contaminated housing in the county. McWane will not seek any tax benefits for funding the lead removal program and it will not refer to the payment as a "charitable contribution." Between 2001 and 2004, KV dumped waste in the Chemung County landfill, including melt-dust waste, a product generated by the burning of scrap metal in large furnaces. On behalf of KV, Wagner applied for permits to dispose of KV's waste at the landfill, claiming that the waste was non-hazardous. The landfill granted the permits and KV transported tons of what it claimed was non-hazardous waste to the facility.
However, between August 2002 and August 2004, multiple labs informed KV and Wagner, on 10 separate occasions, that KV's melt-dust waste was indeed hazardous and exceeded acceptable limits for lead. Nevertheless, KV continued to ship melt-dust waste to the landfill, ultimately shipping a total of over two tons of lead-contaminated waste. Neither the landfill nor the waste transporter, Upstate Machinery, was permitted to handle hazardous waste.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Paul F. McCarthy of the Attorney General's Criminal Prosecutions Bureau. The investigation was conducted by DEC Investigators Richard D. Thomas and Lt. Michael VanDurme, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Special Agent Darin J. Mugleston, and Senior Investigator Michael Hagler of Attorney General Cuomo's Investigations Bureau under the supervision of Supervising Investigator James Domres.
380 Development Violates Terms of Beneficial Use Determination
380 Development was issued a Beneficial Use Determination (BUD) by DEC in 2005 that allowed them to bring clean fill that met state requirements onto the site for use in grading. After receiving data that indicated some samples of the fill taken at the site exceeded the state BUD requirements, fill importation was halted in September 2006, and DEC required 380 Development to perform a comprehensive sampling survey of the fill material. The results indicated numerous exceedances, which led DEC to pursue a consent order to address the violations, assess a monetary penalty, and require 380 Development to develop plans to remove the more than 44,000 cubic yards of fill material that was found to have exceeded the BUD criteria.
The consent order announced today includes the following requirements:
- Full removal of all contaminated fill by 380 Development within 6 months of DEC approval of a work plan to be submitted by the company;
- A penalty of $562,500, half of which is payable immediately. The remaining half will be due if 380 Development violates any of the terms of the order;
- Implementation of a stormwater pollution prevention plan and other measures to address drainage issues that impact water and soil quality, and
- Protection of tidal wetlands, water bodies and other natural resources on and adjacent to the site.
The investigation into the contaminated fill involved staff from several DEC programs including Legal Affairs, Solid and Hazardous Materials, Water, and Natural Resources. In addition, DEC is investigating additional violations by the transportation and hauling firms responsible for carting the contaminated fill onto the 380 Development site.
