Firm tied to local illegal dumping cited in TrashNet

ALBANY » A lengthy investigation into the illegal dumping of construction and demolition debris from Long Island to the Mid-Hudson Valley has netted charges against 24 persons and 12 corporations, including a Suffolk County company implicated in dumping in the town of Rochester in 2017.

State officials announced the charges Wednesday.

Operation TrashNet involved the state Departments of Environmental Conservation and Transportation, state police and local law-enforcement agencies. Since early 2017, the collaboration spearheaded dozens of undercover details and truck surveillance operations to uncover a number of crimes, officials said.

Actions taken during Operation TrashNet on Long Island and in the Mid-Hudson included:

• More than 550 total tickets issues and charges filed for various misdemeanors and other serious safety violations during enforcement actions.

• More than 170 tickets issued for alleged unlawful disposal of solid waste.

• More than 40 trucking companies identified.

• 81 new illegal dumping sites uncovered.

• 26 trucks seized and impounded.

• 53 search warrants executed.

Among the entities charged were New York Trucking and Carting Corp., of West Babylon (Suffolk County), and Vito Fragola, 44, of Commack, who owns the sand and gravel hauling firm.

Four truck drivers who were arrested May 31, 2017, by state Department of Environmental Conservation investigators — Franklin De La Rosa, 50, Anthony Daniels, 21, Juan Cosme, 45, and James Spoto, 51 — pleaded guilty in August in Rochester Town Court and accepted fines of $1,500 apiece on town charges.

Department of Environmental Conservation cops nabbed the truck drivers on June 5, 2017, following an early morning stakeout conducted from the front porch of the home of Samsonville resident April Van Heusen.

Several dozen dump truck loads of construction debris were dumped at Van Heusen’s front driveway instead of the clean fill sought for the yard. The material reportedly tested positive for several toxic chemicals, including arsenic and lead.

Court papers identified the drivers as employees of Fragola’s firm. Following reports of the connection, Fragola vehemently denied any involvement by his company.

Intrigue surrounded that local case as lawyers in the case whispered to each other in during court proceedings and prosecutors afterward remained tight-lipped about the particulars of the charges and its seemingly lenient disposition.

Statements overheard by news reporters during a previous court proceeding, conducted in neighboring Wawarsing, suggested the loads might have originated with the New York City bomb squad.

On Wednesday, state officials said the investigation is continuing and additional operations to identify and pursue criminal offenders and illegal dumping sites are planned for the coming months.