Another town deals with dump problems
TOWN OF KINGSTON, N.Y. » Joseph Karolys, long in hot water for illegal dumping in Saugerties and suspected of the same thing in Woodstock, recently delivered at least five loads of dirt to a property on East Ridge Drive in the town of Kingston, making a mess of some roads in the process, town officials say.
Town Supervisor Paul Landi said the dirt was delivered to 175 East Ridge Drive, a property owned by Mary Donovan, on Nov. 6 by Karolys, who has been cited by the state for the illegal dumping of debris at landfills in Saugerties and is suspected of illegal dumping in the Woodstock hamlet of Shady.
“I’m gathering a little bit more information, especially from the state police,” Landi said, adding that he previously was unaware of the extent of problems found by state environment officials at Karolys’ debris processing facility on Route 212 in Saugerties and his landfills on Goat Hill and Fel Qui roads in that town.
Landi said the town of Kingston has had trouble getting Karolys to pay for cleaning up dirt that spilled on roads in the town during one of the deliveries to the Donovan property. Town highway officials said a trail of dirt coated a stretch of about 6 miles on SawkillZena Road, Jockey Hill Road, Hill Road and East Ridge Drive.
Town Highway Superintendent Edward Moore said it took about three hours to clear dirt from 1.5 miles operated by the town. The office of Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan did not immediately respond to requests for i nformation about whether county Department of Public Works crews cleaned up the affected portion of the county- owned Sawkill-Zana Road.
Moore said the dirt trail included rocks that were road hazards.
A man answering the phone at Karolys’ number on Wednesday claimed to be unaware of the incident, and he hung up on a reporter when asked about similar dumping at 10 Church Road in Woodstock.
State Department of Environmental Conservation police raided Karolys’ three Saugerties sites on May 12, 2019, and the state issued a cease-and- desist order against Karolys on July 24, 2019, after results of tests from his landfills found contamination in soil samples.
Ulster County asked the state Attorney General’s Office to investigate Karolys in November 2019, noting the DEC found 39 violations of clean-water and solid waste disposal laws at Karolys’ Route 32 property.
A second round of police enforcement took place on Dec. 12, 2019, after debrisladen trucks continued coming to the Route 212 site on a daily basis.
In January 2020, officials in Woodstock found Karolys was dumping debris-laced dirt at 10 Church Road in the the hamlet of Shady. A May 21 DEC report found the loads contained asphalt, concrete, glass, brick, wood and material identified as coal/slag/ash.