Dumping case brings intrigue to Town Court
One matter stood out among the others in Rochester Town Court on Wednesday.
Despite hushed whispers exchanged between attorneys, it was impossible to hide from residents this particular discussion: an illegal dumping sting that made news last month.
Statements overheard by news reporters dur- ing a previous court proceeding, conducted in neighboring Wawarsing, suggested the loads might have originated with the New York City bomb squad.
An array of uncommon spectators further distinguished this week’s outof-ordinary hearing. Activists demanded that officials speak louder, reporter cupped their ears, and Rochester Supervisor Carl Chipman watched silently from a back corner.
“I’ll be back. I’m emotionally invested in this,” Chipman said afterward, adding that he has spoken with Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright. The supervisor said Carnright promised he would look into the complaints.
After a brief interaction, and yet another postponement, April Van Heusen was left outside, wondering if two dozen truckloads of waste that were delivered to her front yard from Long Island instead of clean fill will ever be removed from alongside her driveway on Van Tine Road.
State Department of Environmental Conservation cops nabbed the truck drivers on June 5, following an early morning stakeout conducted from Van Heusen’s front porch. Nobody has explained to Van Heusen how the police were tipped off, or why investigators were dispatched from DEC Region 2 (Brooklyn/Queens) instead of Region 3 (Hudson Valley).
Other questions left unanswered include why were DEC police absent from court on Wednesday,
as was the town constable who issued separate charges against the four arrested truck drivers. The defendants, charged with the misdemeanor of dumping illegal waste, also did not appear on Wednesday.
Attorney Scott Russell of Rock Hill, in Sullivan County, instead answered the charges on behalf of NyTAC Corp. of West Babylon, Suffolk County, offering a motion of corporate substitution. NyTAC is managed by Vito Fragola.
“They’re going to step in and do the right thing for their employees,” Russell said. “... If the offer remains the same, I will plea to the charge with the maximum fine. I don’t see that I have much of a choice.”
But Justin Stenerson, the Ulster County assistant district attorney prosecuting the case, offered little in terms of leniency, requesting a guilty plea to the charges and a maximum fine. He called the charge against the defendants serious.
The defense argued Wednesday that Rochester Town Court lacks jurisdiction because the charges fall under an obscure section of the state environmental code.
Van Heusen, meanwhile, said she has not yet gotten test results from the DEC regarding the dumped debris, which she says is contaminating her well water. And she worries that delays might make cleanup impossible if the winter freeze sets in first.
The defendants — identified in previous published reports as Franklin De La Rosa, Anthony J. Daniels, Juan A. Cosme and James Spoto — are due in court Aug. 2.