CRACKING DOWN Police converge at debris site after court lifts injunction on dump ban
SAUGERTIES, N.Y. >> Town, county and state law-enforcement officers descended on Joseph and Rachel Karolys’ debris-processing operation at dawn Thursday in effort to shut down the business.
The town has banned dumping at the Route 212 site, and a state Supreme Court justice last week lifted a temporary injunction that stopped the ban from being enforced. Additionally, an Ulster County law states construction and demolition, or C&D, debris from outside the county cannot be dumped within the county, as often is the case at the Karolyses’ business.
Police at the Saugerties site on Thursday arrested one driver for unlicensed operation of an 18-wheel truck, turned away another truck loaded with debris and warned the Karolyses that no further dumping would be tolerated.
“It was important to have a
“It was important to have a large presence of law enforcement to make sure that we were able to stop trucks safely and not cause a traffic problem.” — Town of Saugerties Supervisor Fred Costello
large presence of law enforcement to make sure that we were able to stop trucks safely and not cause a traffic problem,” said town of Saugerties Supervisor Fred Costello.
“The state police [are] very good at doing traffic stops for the state DOT (Department of Transportation), and they found one truck that was overweight and the driver didn’t have a current licence, so he was arrested,” Costello said.
Saugerties Police Chief Joseph Sinagra said Raymundo Morales, 53, address unavailable, was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation. He was arraigned in Saugerties Town Court and sent to Ulster County jail in lieu of $2,000 bail.
Sinagra said Morales was carrying a driver’s license that had been suspended in Florida due to a drunkendriving arrest and that the truck Morales was driving was over the weight limit.
The police chief said he and Ulster County Sheriff Juan Figueroa told Joseph Karolys “that if he accepts any more loads, he will be arrested and charged with the misdemeanor of operating an unlicensed dump.”
“We further advised the drivers that anyone caught dumping would be arrested and charged, and their truck would be impounded, as we did this morning,” Sinagra added. “The truck that was impounded was overweight and had numerous violations. The fine could be around $50,000 for the company.”
The name of the trucking company was not immediately available.
While only two trucks were stopped at the Route 212 site Thursday, several people said trucks from companies that routinely bring debris to the Karolyses’ business were seen getting on the Thruway in Saugerties after apparently being alerted about the crackdown at the Karolyses’ business.
Mike Ferraro, who owns property near the Karolyses’ business, said the police action was long overdue but that he understood how court action by the couple slowed the town’s efforts.
“They had their hands tied because of the restraining order,” Ferraro said of the injunction that was lifted last week. “The town couldn’t enforce their laws ... but this whole time, the town was 100 percent behind trying to stop this.”
Ferraro said he has recorded videos that show truck from at least 17 different companies bringing debris to the Karolyses’ business.
“These are ... mostly out of ... Queens and Long Island and the Brooklyn area,” he said.
The town’s ban also applies to the Karolyses’ two landfills on Goat Hill and Fel Qui roads. Those sites, as well as the operation at 1446 Route 212, were raided this past May by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which reported finding numerous violations.
The town issued stopwork orders for the Goat Hill Road site last Dec. 19, the Route 212 site on Jan. 19 and the Fel Qui Road site on Feb. 1. Those orders were stayed by a state Supreme Court justice, and the stays remained in effect until they were lifted Dec. 6.
The Karolyses also continued to accept C&D debris after the state Department of Environmental Conservation ordered them to stop in early July and after the county issued “cease and desist” orders later that month.
Neither the Karolyses or their attorney could be reached for comment Thursday.