Trial of Rickey Lynch of Queens, accused of violating toxic substance control guidelines, begins
Rickey Lynch, left, walks out of federal court in Central Islip on Monday with his attorney, Howard Greenberg. Credit: John Roca
A Queens contractor hired for lead-based paint remediation in a Freeport home was not certified to perform the work and failed to follow workplace regulations, resulting in dangerous levels of lead dust throughout the house, federal prosecutors said Monday during opening statements at the man’s trial in Central Islip.
Rickey Lynch, 60, of Arverne is the first person charged with violating the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 since the statute was amended in 2016 to include enhanced penalties for conduct that poses risk of death or serious injury.
“Instead of making it safer, he made it even more dangerous,” Assistant U.S. Attorney James Simmons said during his opening statement.
Prosecutors said Lynch, who was also charged in a 2021 indictment with making false statements and aggravated identity theft, also allegedly attempted to obstruct an investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency. He is also accused of performing lead-based paint remediation at a Roslyn day care center despite his lack of certification.
WHAT TO KNOW
- A Queens contractor hired for lead-based paint remediation in a Freeport home was not certified to perform the work and failed to follow workplace regulations, prosecutors said at the start of his trial Monday.
- Rickey Lynch, 60, is the first person charged with violating the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 since the statute was amended in 2016 to include enhanced penalties for conduct that poses risk of death or serious injury.
- Defense attorney Howard Greenberg told jurors that Lynch is a “salt of the earth” worker who was unfairly targeted by federal prosecutors after he complained to the EPA that the Nassau County Department of Health failed to inspect his work once it was completed.
Defense attorney Howard Greenberg told the jurors in his opening that Lynch is a “salt of the earth” worker who was unfairly targeted by federal prosecutors after he complained to the EPA that the Nassau County Department of Health failed to inspect his work once it was completed.
Greenberg and co-counsels Jonathan Rosenberg and Nancy Tang later told reporters that it was inappropriate for the federal government to charge their client when major corporations pay fines for creating environmental nightmares.
“Boxcars go off the rails, toxic gas poisons a city or town, and they don’t charge the principals with anything criminal,” Greenberg said.
If convicted, Lynch faces up to 15 years in prison.
The indictment alleges that Christopher and Bunlie Voetglen hired Lynch’s company, Bright Lights Supreme Cleaning, in 2020 to remediate lead-based paint after a routine physical exam found elevated levels of lead in their 2-year-old son Christopher Jr.’s blood. Lead can lead to severe cognitive problems and other health issues, especially in young children, Simmons told the jury.
The boy’s pediatrician then reported the levels of lead in his blood to the Nassau County Department of Health, as required. Health department officials inspected the home and found that lead-paint remediation was required, officials said.
The indictment said that the defendant attended a lead-abatement course in 2018 and received an interim lead-abatement supervisor certification, but that it had expired in March 2019.
Federal regulations require that lead-based paint abatement work be performed and supervised by individuals who have been certified by the EPA. The regulations also establish work practice standards to ensure that lead-based paint removal is done safely.
Lynch conducted the work himself, despite lacking the proper certification to perform or supervise the work, prosecutors said. He also failed to comply with work practice standards and did not use a HEPA filtration system to contain the spread of toxic dust throughout the home.
Bunlie Voetglen, who was eight-months pregnant when the work was performed in January 2020, testified Monday that the dust was so widespread when she returned home from work one day that she immediately packed up her things and moved to her mother’s home in Brooklyn.
When the EPA initiated an investigation, according to prosecutors, Lynch attempted to obstruct the inquiry by supplying a fake subcontractor agreement, an affidavit and other documents.
Prosecutors said Lynch also provided documents with a forged signature of an individual he claimed supervised the abatement work on the Freeport home.
“He was so desperate to avoid law enforcement that he falsified documents and invoices,” Simmons said, adding that the person Lynch claimed had supervised the jobs will testify that he had never worked in Freeport or Roslyn.
Greenberg chastised a man serving on the jury who appeared to be sleeping. U.S. District Judge Gary Brown later angrily dismissed the juror, who had written on his emergency contact form that he didn’t care about the case and would vote with the majority regardless of the evidence.
The trial resumes Wednesday in federal court in Central Islip.
