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FeedNew York Cuffs & Collars - June 15th, 2012
Northern District highlights
Unlawful disposal
(Cortland County)
In late March, ECO Tom Fernandes located a solid waste facility in the town of Cortlandville. The subject had over 1,000 waste tires as well as construction and demolition material brought in from off site. The man admitted that he took tires in for salvage and would remove the rims for scrap and leave the tires on the property. The site was assessed by Fernandes with assistance from the Region 7 solid waste program. The man agreed to settle with a consent order and began a remediation of the site for violating regulations for possessing more than 1,000 waste tires, operating a solid waste management facility without a permit and unlawful disposal of solid waste.
Don’t leave a receipt
(Tioga County)
In late March, ECO Stan Winnick received a complaint of illegal garbage dumping on Frost Hollow Road in the town of Tioga. Upon inspection of the garbage, Winnick was only able to find a receipt from a local grocery store where the possible violators had paid in cash. The receipt indicated that the violator had used his or her “Savings Card” to save $3.28 but, unfortunately for the violator, the “Savings Card” number was printed on the receipt. Armed with this number and receipt, the officer went to the local grocery store in Owego and a co-operative manager there contacted their loss prevention department and gave them the information. Several hours later Winnick was given a name, address and phone number, along with photographs of the transaction and a photo of the vehicle that the cardholder left in after making the purchase. Winnick then went to the residence at the address given to him. Upon arrival, he first saw the car from the photo, and then he was approached by an individual. The officer quickly recognized him as the man who was in the photographs making the purchase at the grocery store. After a quick interview, he was issued a ticket for illegal disposal and ordered to clean up his garbage on Frost Hollow Road.
Border stinkers
(Niagara County)
On March 29, ECO Jason Powers was on patrol in the Town of Lewiston when he received a phone call from Officer Wadsworth with U.S. Customs. Wadsworth was working at the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge performing truck inspections when he noticed a possible leak of an odiferous substance coming from a truck trailer. Wadsworth immediately called Powers and requested assistance with the inspection. Powers arrived approximately 30 minutes after receiving the phone call, giving the trailer ample time to release more foul-smelling substance onto the parking lot. Powers confirmed the leak and that it was leaking from multiple areas of the trailer. He then met up with the driver of the truck and it was revealed to him that the substance was waste sludge which is a non-hazardous but regulated waste.
Given the amount of substance leaking from the trailer and the horrible odor that went along with it, Powers issued the driver an appearance ticket for “depositing a noisome and unwholesome substance on highway” with the opportunity for a corporate substitution from the company. The driver and/or a representative from the company was scheduled to appear in the town of Lewiston Court.
Waste hauler fined
(Livingston County)
On March 21, ECO Wade met with an Ogden man in the town of Geneseo Court to settle charges related to a Feb. 8 incident involving a hit-and-run accident and spilled chemicals. The individual was operating a vehicle owned by a hauling firm on State Rt. 390 and caused a collision with a flatbed truck. He left the scene of the accident and hid for almost four hours before contacting 911 in Livingston County. In the four hours he drove to another county and hid in a parking lot. During this time the load of industrial solvent waste and other wastes leaked onto the highway and inside his box truck. He was charged by the Livingston County sheriff’s deputies with multiple traffic violations, including leaving the scene of an accident. Wade ticketed the suspect for depositing a noisome and unwholesome substance on the highway, several violations for the manner in which he was hauling the drums, failure to report a petroleum spill to the DEC within two hours and endangering public health, safety or the environment in the fifth degree. He paid $3,180 in fines plus restitution of $500 to the company that owned the truck he hit and then fled from.
Training instructor
(Pulaski Training Center)
In early March, ECO Vernon Fonda assisted instructing the physical training instructor school with ECO Beth Haag and Forest Ranger Michael `. The course was attended by 12 officers by five different agencies.
