Two trash haulers are suing the Westchester County Solid Waste Commission to prevent the county from appointing people to oversee their operations.
State Contracting Corp., based in Hawthorne, and AAA Carting, based in Peekskill, filed Article 78 suits May 29 to prevent the action.
In February, the solid waste commission required them to hire legal and auditing firms after a grand jury implicated the haulers in an alleged extortion scheme involving several crime families.
Andrew McGuire, a principal in State Contracting, is facing extortion conspiracy charges.
State Contracting filed its lawsuit in Westchester County Court while AAA Carting filed its lawsuit in Putnam County Court.
A Westchester County Court judge will hear State Contracting”™s lawsuit June 28 and a Putnam County Court judge will heat AAA Carting”™s lawsuit July 3.
Mark Fitzmaurice, an attorney for State Contracting, said that according to Westchester County law, an auditor or a moderator can only be imposed if a contractor is seeking to reinstate or renew a license, or if a licensee is indicted.
“State Contracting has not been indicted,” Fitzmaurice said. “Andy McGuire has been indicted. His father, George, owns State Contracting and has not been indicted. We respectfully disagree with their interpretation.”
Fitzmaurice said State Contracting is a small father-and-son company and would not be able to afford a monitor.
“It”™d be a huge imposition and may even drive them out of business,” Fitzmaurice said. “The McGuires have never been in trouble in their lives; this is a clear-cut issue.”
Nicholas Caputo, attorney for AAA Contracting said his client filed the lawsuit after failing to reach a resolution with the solid waste commission. He said Navigant Consulting Inc., the company the commission wanted his client to appoint as auditor, was too expensive.
Caputo said AAA decided to file the lawsuit before the four-month statute of limitations ran out.
“It would have a bad effect on business,” Caputo said. “We tried to work it out with the solid waste commission. We got close on many issues; I thought we could come to an agreement.”
AAA Carting”™s owners, Pat Cartalemi Jr. and his son, Pat Cartalemi, face charges of extortion and extortion conspiracy.
Caputo said AAA filed in Putnam County Court because Caputo felt he would have a better shot than arguing in Westchester. He said AAA Carting has offered to hire its own auditor.
“We have a good relationship with the solid waste commission; I understand they are doing what they need to do,” Caputo said. “There”™s no bad blood.”
Bruce Berger, executive director of the solid waste commission, declined comment.
