An Ulster Supreme Court judge has ordered a Saugerties landfill operation to clean up and pay the state Department of Environmental Conservation $8 million.
Justice Richard Mott imposed the penalties on Joseph and Rachel Karolys, J. Karolys + Son, and Michael S. Cummins on May 10 to settle a lawsuit brought four years ago by state Attorney General Letitia James.
Mott also ruled that the $8 million penalty may be reduced in proportion to funds spent on remediating three dumpsites.
The Karolyses owned and operated dumpsites on Route 212, Goat Hill Road, and Fel Qui Road in Saugerties.
Landfills are required to register with the state and obtain water pollution control permits. In 2016, state inspectors  examined the Route 212 site, in response to complaints, and told Joseph Karolys he needed a permit.
He registered the Route 212 site as a waste management facility for construction and demolition debris. No more than 1,250 cubic yards of uncontaminated soil, rock, concrete, brick and block asphalt could be stored there and the materials could come only from Ulster and Dutchess counties.
For three years, state inspectors repeatedly observed violations at the Route 212 landfill and at the unregistered Goat Hill and Fel Qui sites. Thousands of truck loads and an estimated 100,000 cubic yards of materials, according to court records, were trucked from Long Island and New York City and dumped in Saugerties.
Chemical analyses of the rock, concrete, coal, ash, slag, plaster, glass and unrecognizable materials revealed the presence of lead, zinc, mercury, insecticide and other contaminants.
In 2020, Attorney General James sued the Karolyses on behalf of the Department of Environmental Conservation for alleged violations of environmental regulations.
The Karolyses responded that they had endeavored to comply with all water pollution requirements.
Shortly after the lawsuit commenced, the Karolyses created a family trust and named Michael Cummins, an employee, as trustee, according to court records. Then they sold the Route 212 site to the trust and the Goat Hill and Fel Qui sites to Cummins.
Judge Mott nullified the sales last year, and the properties were transferred back to the Karolyses.
The defendants conceded liability in the attorney general’s case, according to Mott, and began negotiating a settlement.
On Feb. 22, the court was notified that negotiations had reached an impasse.
Judge Mott ruled that there were no issues of fact to decide and no dispute that the state was entitled to monetary relief.
He ordered the defendants to submit a waste removal plan to the Department of Environmental Conservation within 30 days.
They must remove and lawfully dispose all solid waste at the three sites within 90 days.
They must pay $8 million to the state within 180 days.
And they may not transfer their interests in the property until after all terms of the judge’s order have been satisfied.
