DOZENS PROTEST AT DEBRIS SITE
County executive, town supervisor echo complaints of demonstrators
About 30 people stood along state Route 212 amid Tuesday morning’s wet snowfall, waving signs of protest as trucks arrived at the debris-processing operation run by Joseph and Rachel Karolys.
“We’re here to bring attention ... about where we stand with the illegal dumping [of construction and demolition debris] across the road,” said protester David Holmquist. “A lot of people don’t know that [it’s] been allowed to continue, so we want to shout that out loud and clear.”
Signs displayed by protesters carried such messages as “Saugerties says no to dumping,” “Enough of your garbage,” “Stop dumping on us” and one that dates back to 1990s protests against a proposed megadump at the Winston Farm, “Dump here never.”
The protesters hoped to encounter trucks arriving at 1446 Route 212 earlier than 7 a.m., which would have been a violation of a court order. None did, but Holmquist noted the arriving trucks sometimes wait at a gas station several miles away if they suspect a law-enforcement presence at the Karolys site.
On Tuesday, Holmquist said, “there were three 10-wheel dump trucks down at the Speedway [gas station at Routes 212 and 32], waiting to come up here and dump.”
The truck drivers also might have had advance knowledge of the protest, which organizers announced ahead of time.
Once 7 a.m. came, five trucks arrived at the processing facility within four minutes of each other and
“We’re here to bring attention ... about where we stand with the illegal dumping [of construction and demolition debris] across the road. A lot of people don’t know that [it’s] been allowed to continue, so we want to shout that out loud and clear.” — protester David Holmquist
were unloaded, though large dirt mounds and screening blocked any view of the materials being delivered.
The Karolyses were issued a stop-work order by the town of Saugerties in January and a cease-anddesist order by the state in July, but a court-issued stay has allowed the business to keep operating as the matter makes its way through legal proceedings.
The state order came in response to the results of tests on samples taken during a raid on the Route 212 facility in May, as well as raids at Saugerties landfills owned by the Karolyses at 90 Goat Hill Road and 3¾3 Fel Qui Road.
The state tests found that all three properties had lead and zinc that exceed standards, while mercury exceeded standards at the Route 212 site and Fel Qui Road dump.
The state also found excessive benzo, chrysene and indeno at the Route 212 and Goat Hill Road sites, and excessive dibenz at the Goat Hill Road property.
Also at issue is where the debris brought to the Karolyses’ site originates. The protesters say it comes from the New York City area, which would be a violation of a new Ulster County law.
The law, which still must be green-lighted by the state, makes it illegal to dump out-of-county construction debris at any site in Ulster County.
Among the trucks that arrived at the processing site Tuesday, three belonged to a Queens company and two bore the name of a Long Island firm.
Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan told the protesters Tuesday that the Karolyses’ operation “just blatantly disregards the law” but that the matter has to make its way through the courts. Still, Ryan assured those who gathered that “we’re pushing as hard and fast as we can.”
Ryan also said he has “met with the sheriff (Ulster County Sheriff Juan Figueroa) ... to see what enforcement mechanisms we possibly have.”
Town of Saugerties Supervisor Fred Costello also was at the protest and said court delays have made it impossible to shut the site down. And he blamed the Karolyses for not playing by the rules.
“There’s been numerous opportunities for the operators to do the right thing here and come clean, and they are just resisting that,” Costello said. “We feel like they’re just trying run the legal system and buy time to continue this operation, and quite frankly, it’s not lawful.
“There’s been no effort to comply with the town zoning law, no effort to comply with the town municipal law, no effort to yield to the authority of the town Building Department, and we believe in those laws,” the supervisor said.
Kate Hagerman, program director for Catskill Mountainkeeper, also was at the protest and said the group “calls on the authorities involved ... to enforce the applicable county and state environmental laws to stop the illegal dumping in Saugerties right away and thoroughly remediate the sites.”
Ken Carroll, who lives near the Karolyses’ Goat Hill Road landfill, said the owners’ actions have ranged from careless to spiteful.
“I come home for lunch, and there’s a pile of rocks ... right in front of my driveway,” he said. “The road in front of my driveway has to be fixed ... and he (Joseph Karolys) doesn’t care. He laughs. He thinks it’s a joke.”
The Karolyses and their attorney were not available to comment Tuesday.