On August 2, less than a week before he was due in court to make the case to keep his controversial construction and demolition debris dumps open in the face of stop-work orders, Joe Karolys was arrested and charged with illegal dumping, town police said.

The owner/operator of several controversial construction and demolition dumps in Saugerties, which the town, the state Department of Environmental Conservation and, most recently, the Ulster County Department of Health have being trying to close for months, was arrested and charged with illegal dumping, Saugerties town police said. But according to Town Supervisor Fred Costello Jr., trucks bearing construction and demolition material are still coming on and off the property as of Tuesday, Aug. 6.

Among contaminants found in the six samples taken from the three properties, according to DEC documents, are heavy metals like mercury, lead and zinc; coal ash, coal and slag; and nine chemicals deemed to be “probable carcinogens,” including the banned-for-decades pesticide DDT.