Consultant hired to review tests of Karolys sites
SAUGERTIES, N.Y. >> The town has hired the consulting firm Chazen Cos. to review tests of properties owned by Joseph and Rachel Karolys that the state Department of Environmental Conservation raided two months ago.
Supervisor Fred Costello said information provided by Chazen should provide the town with guidance about how to proceed with legal action against the Karolyses, who own a construction and demolition debris processing facility on state Route 212 and landfills on Goat Hill Road and Fel Qui roads.
All three sites were raided by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) on May 17 and ordered closed by the state in early July due to a lack of permits and various problems at each location.
The DEC said after the raids that soil samples were taken, but the agency declined to provide further details.
Costello said town officials “anticipate, in the very near future, getting access to the DEC testing. We want our consultant to interpret those findings.”
“We haven’t got official confirmation of those findings yet,” the supervisor said. “We anticipate that very shortly, and we want to be able to offer those findings to our residents and hopefully offer them advice as to what the risk may or may not be and anything they can do to protect themselves.”
Costello did not have information about how much Chazen will be paid for its work.
The shudtown orders from the state said the processing plant on Route 212 was in violation of the law because records were not kept regarding the types of materials received there;
there were are no self-inspection records or daily records; and there were no control programs for unauthorized solid waste. Also, the DEC said, the Karolys failed to keep waste confined to the facility, and there was inadequate access to the site, inadequate dust control and ineffective leachate control.
The notices said the Goat Hill Road and Fel Qui Road sites were used as illegal dumping grounds. Saugerties officials said previously that the dump sites exceed the 1-acre limit allowed by the town.