KINGSTON – New York Attorney General Letitia James and Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos Thursday announced a lawsuit against 29 waste haulers and brokers for illegally dumping waste at a site in Saugerties.
The companies repeatedly violated state law by transporting more than 3,000 truckloads of construction and demolition waste originating from the New York City metropolitan area to the site in Saugerties, which was only authorized to accept waste from Ulster and Dutchess counties.
With this lawsuit, Attorney General James seeks full disgorgement of all revenues and profits gained from this illegal activity, and potentially millions of dollars in penalties.
“We have environmental and solid waste laws in New York for a reason: to protect our land, our water, and our people,” said Attorney General James. “By ignoring these laws and repeatedly dumping construction waste where they were not permitted, these 29 companies threatened our natural resources and risked health and safety of New Yorkers in Ulster County.”
“Rather than bring their solid waste to local facilities that were authorized to accept it, Joseph Karolys and dozens of hauling accomplices chose instead to treat the waste illegally, dump it in violation of our stringent environmental laws, and then not address the consequences,” said DEC Commissioner Seggos.
In June 2020, James and Seggos filed a lawsuit against Joseph Karolys, the owner and operator of the Saugerties dump site, for repeatedly accepting C&D waste from the 29 haulers and brokers named in Thursday’s lawsuit, in flagrant violation of New York’s solid waste and water pollution laws. In tandem with that action, the Office of the Attorney General and DEC commenced an investigation into the various companies that brought waste to the Karolys site in Saugerties. The investigation revealed that over a period of three years, 29 waste transporters and waste brokers unlawfully caused over 3,000 loads — approximately 100,000 cubic yards — of C&D waste to be transported from multiple construction sites in New York City and Long Island to the site, which was not authorized to receive solid waste from outside Ulster and Dutchess counties.
The 29 companies named in the suit, along with their owners and/or operators, are:
AGP Industries LLC
American Recycling Management LLC
Atlas Roll-Off Corp.
B&A Trucking Corp.
DNA Transport, LLC
Dynamic Environmental Contractors, Inc.
E&E Commercial Corp.
ECC Trucking Corp.
Finest Materials LLC
H&P Industries Inc.
IEV Industries Corp.
J & D Carrying & Construction Corp.
J.B. Trucking of NY Inc.
James DePietro Enterprises LLC
JK Concrete Ready Mix Inc.
JR’s Premium Trucking, Inc.
K.D.E. Trucking Corp.
La Americana Car Service, LLC d/b/a La Americana Trucking
Logan Trucking, Inc.
Modern Leasing, Inc.
Northside Industries LLC
P.J. Logistics, Inc.
Richmond Construction Inc.
River Transportation Services Inc.
- & R. Construction Corp.
Tully Environmental Inc.
Vigorous Industries Inc.
Way Trucking Corp.
Zevel Transfer LLC
