Contaminated fill at Central Islip lot to be trucked off LI

Most of the contaminated fill that Suffolk authorities say was dumped illegally at a vacant lot in Central Islip will be sent off Long Island, under an agreement reached earlier this month between state environmental officials and the owner of the site.

Work is expected to begin this week to remove what could be as much as 35,000 cubic yards of fill piled on the roughly 1-acre lot at the corner of Sage Street and Islip Avenue.

The owner of the property, L-C Real Estate Group, will pay to truck the most contaminated fill to a disposal facility in Palmerton, Pennsylvania, according to the plan approved Nov. 16 by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

An October 2014 report by C.A. Rich Consultants of Plainview, a consulting firm hired by L-C Real Estate Group, said contamination -- including hydrocarbons, pesticides and metals -- was found at levels that exceeded state protection of groundwater standards in seven out of 10 test pits dug at the site.

While the majority of the contaminated fill will be sent to Pennsylvania, a smaller portion -- located in the southeast corner of the property, which testing found had contamination at levels below groundwater-protection standards -- will be disposed of at 110 Sand and Gravel in Melville, according to the plan.

Large chunks of concrete mixed in with the fill will be separated out and sent to Hubbard Sand and Gravel Corp. in Bay Shore if the DEC approves, the plan stated.

The work must be completed within 225 days of Nov. 16.

"DEC looks forward to the removal of material from this site," DEC spokesman Bill Fonda said in a statement.

While the current estimate of the fill at the site is as much as 35,000 cubic yards -- enough to fill almost 11 Olympic-size swimming pools -- the actual amount of debris present will remain unknown until work is complete, said Michael White, a Westbury attorney representing L-C Real Estate Group.

"What is uncertain is what volume you're going to get when you start moving those piles," White said.

The Sage Street site is one of four locations named in the Suffolk County district attorney's probe into alleged illegal dumping in and around Islip Town.

Six men and four companies were indicted in December in connection with the investigation, which also includes Roberto Clemente Park in Brentwood, a six-home development for veterans in Islandia and a state-protected wetlands area in Deer Park.

All of the indicted individuals and companies have pleaded not guilty. Jury selection in that trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 9.

L-C Real Estate Group has not been charged in the case, and its attorneys have said the company is the victim of a crime.

But as the owner of the property, L-C Real Estate Group still is liable for cleaning up the site.

"It's something the landowner has committed to and that commitment is made on the fact that there's an environmental issue that needs to be addressed," White said. "We're implementing the plan that DEC says has to be done."

In March, L-C Real Estate -- whose managing member is Islip Town GOP contributor Tommy Lau, filed a civil suit in Suffolk County Supreme Court over the dumping against several of the indicted individuals and companies, among others.

The suit alleged Thomas Datre Sr., his wife Clara Datre and their son, Thomas Datre Jr., and nine Datre family companies, in addition to Ronald Cianciulli and his company, Atlas Home Improvement Corp. of Long Island, were responsible for dumping the material at the Sage Street site.

Lawyers for all the defendants maintain their clients did nothing wrong.

While White said the ultimate cost of the cleanup remains uncertain, the civil suit estimated it to range from $1.4 million to $3 million.

The cleanup plan also contains measures to control dust during the debris removal, and details work hours and other provisions, including a requirement for tracking documents to ensure the waste is disposed of properly.

Five tractor-trailers -- each with a capacity to carry 35 cubic yards at a time -- will be used per week to remove the fill until it is all gone, according to the plan.

Once the work is complete, eight soil samples will be taken at the site in areas chosen by the DEC to confirm all the fill has been removed, the plan stated.

White also said the landowner's representatives have begun informing neighbors of the site of the impending cleanup.

Anthony Guglielmo, manager of Sheron Drugs, which is located across the street from the site, said he was thrilled to hear the debris was going to be cleaned up.

"That's good news," he said. "I'm so happy. It's an ugly site to look at, and I don't want to breathe that in."