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.
Despite an order from the state Department of Conservation to shut down, neighbors say trucks keep coming in to Joe Karolys’ controversial construction and demolition debris dumps.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation on July 1 ordered controversial Saugerties dump owner Joe Karolys to “immediately begin removing all solid waste” from his three illegal C&D debris dumping sites.
After obtaining the proper warrants, state Department of Environmental Conservation officials finally got access last Friday morning to the Saugerties construction and demolition debris dump operated by Joe Karolys.
“As a 25-year native resident to Saugerties, I have never witnessed something so horrendous as the mess Mr. Karoyls has brought to our town,” writes a candidate for Town Board.
Both the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the town of Saugerties are trying to gets a warrant to perform inspections at Joe Karolys’ controversial construction and demolition waste sites.
Catskill Mountainkeeper, Woodstock Land Conservancy and the Dump Here Never group are hosting a community forum on Tuesday, May 14 at 7 p.m. at the Saugerties High School auditorium at 310 Washington Ave., to discuss the fight against the construction and demolition dump on Route 212 in Saugerties.
The operators of a number of controversial C&D dumps may be filing a lawsuit against the town, alleging that Saugerties is unlawfully interfering with their business.