Putnam Valley fire department seeks $1.75M for cleaning up hazmat dump

Putnam Valley Volunteer Fire Department Inc. is demanding at least $1.75 million from two Westchester businesses to cover the costs of cleaning up hazardous materials dumped at the site of a proposed firehouse.

The fire department claims that Universal Construction of Yorktown Heights and Metro Green recycling facility in Mount Vernon dumped 10,000 cubic yards of construction and demolition materials at 218 Oscawana Lake Road around 2016.

The fire department “did not cause or contribute to the contamination,” according to the complaint filed May 19 in U.S. District Court in White Plains.

But an attorney who represented Universal Construction owner John Adorno in a previous lawsuit filed in Putnam Supreme Court cited evidence that the fire department had institutional knowledge and involvement in the dumping.

“It is a beggars belief that no one at PVVFD,” Albany attorney Alita J. Giuda stated in a March court filing, “was aware of the dumping site of a planned multi-million dollar firehouse project.”

The dispute arose in 2016 when the New York Department of Environmental Conservation received a complaint about the site. Investigators found metal, plastic, asphalt shingles, fabric, vinyl, lumber and ceramic tile.

DEC also ascertained that a fireman, Charlie Milo, had given Universal Construction permission to dump fill on the site, according to a state report. Milo, who volunteered for 63 years and rose to the rank of captain, died in January at age 82.

Adorno told a DEC investigator that some of the materials had come from a demolition site in the Bronx, according to the complaint, but most came from Metro Green’s facility in Mount Vernon.

The fire department hired HDR Engineering to assess the dump. HDR’s 2017 report concluded that the site mostly contained construction and demolition debris and a mixture of sand and silt.

Samples revealed semi-volatile organic compounds, metals, PCBs, pesticides and stockpiles of asbestos-containing materials that are considered hazardous substances.

DEC determined that the fire department had operated a solid waste management facility without a permit, and in 2019 the fire department agreed to remediate the site.

The fire house has been built, and the facility also houses the Putnam Valley Volunteer Ambulance Corps.

Now the fire department is trying to recover its cleanup costs.

In January, it petitioned Putnam Supreme Court for pre-action discovery, to identify everyone responsible for dumping contaminated materials on its property.

Putnam Justice Victor G. Grossman ruled on March 17 that the fire department may obtain information from Adorno that identifies who trucked materials to the site, the owners of properties where materials were obtained, developers and contractors whose materials were hauled to the site, intermediaries who arranged or planned the disposals, and owners and operators of places where the materials were stockpiled before being dumped in Putnam Valley.

The federal complaint seeks to hold accountable Adorno, Universal Construction, Metro Green and currently unknown entities and individuals.

The lawsuit was brought under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Recovery Act, a federal law that empowers people to recover cleanup costs.

The defendants benefited from their actions, the complaint states, so they should bear the costs of their actions.

Adorno and Metro Green did not reply to emails asking for responses to the allegations.

The fire department is represented by Rye Brook attorney William A. Ruskin.