Construction company, owner admit to illegal dumping, DA says

A Valley Stream man and his construction company admitted Tuesday to trucking 80,000 pounds of debris from Queens and dumping it on state land in Uniondale, the Nassau district attorney’s office said.

Jose Cruz Maltez, 40, pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal trespass, a misdemeanor, and he also authorized the company that he owns, L&J Stucco, to plead guilty to second-degree criminal mischief, a felony.

His company was paid to haul off debris from a Forest Hills residential demolition site and also paid fees to dispose the material at an authorized facility, prosecutors said.

Instead, the debris was left on vacant state property off Meadowbrook State Parkway and Jerusalem Avenue, according to Nassau District Attorney Madeline Singas.

In April, the state transportation officials reported the dumping to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, whose investigators tracked the trash to Forest Hills, prosecutors said.

In the rubble was a receipt for a Queens restaurant, and using that address, investigators canvassed the area for demolished homes, prosecutors said. Photos of a Forest Hills home before the demo matched what was dumped, officials said.

Sentenced Tuesday after the pleas in Nassau County Court, the company was ordered to pay a $1,500 fine and $15,507.71 for labor, equipment and dumping fees associated with cleanup, authorities said. Maltez was given a conditional discharge, with the expectation that he would ensure his company paid the amounts owed.

Maltez’ attorney could not immediately comment Tuesday evening.

State officials said the cleanup will now start.

“New York’s environmental laws ensure there are safe and legal avenues to dispose of construction debris to protect public health and the environment,” state DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos. “There is a cost to dispose of these materials, and in this case, the defendant attempted to pass that cost along to New York’s taxpayers by dumping this material on state-owned lands.”

Singas’ office said a fence has been put up at the site to deter dumping there.